The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1913-03-14

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nor can it be otherwise, if We consider
that it operates with equal violence
in all religions, however opposite
they may be to one another. and in
all the subdivisions of each religion
in particular
I'VE are told by some of the Jew
!. ish rabbis that the first murder was oc-
casioned by a religious controversy.
! and if we had the whole history of
zeal from the days of Cain to our own
times, we should see it filled with so
many scenes of slaughter and blood
shed, as would make d wise man
careful how he suffers himself to be
actuated by such a principle, when it
IOnly regards matters Of opinion and
speculation.
Il would have every jealous man ex-
anime his heart thoroughly, and, be-
llieye. he will often find that what he
lcalls a zeal for his religion, is either
lpride, interest, or Immature.
a man, who differs from another
lin opinion, sets himself above him in
his own judgment, and in several par
Iticulars pretends to be the wiser per
Ison. This is a great provOcation to
the proud man, and gives a very keen
this is the case very often, we may OBJ
serve from the behavior of the most
jealous for orthodoxy, who have often
great friendships and intimacies with
vicious, immoral men, provided they
do but agree with them in the same
scheme of belief. The reason is, be-
cause the vicious believer gives the
iprecedency to the virtuous man, and
allows the good Christian to be the
WOrthier person, at the same time
that he cannot come up to his perfec-
tions. This we find exemplified in
that trite passage which we see quot
! ed in almost every system of ethics,
though upon another occasion:
I see the right, and approve it. too;
Condemn the wrong, and yet the
wrong pursue
ION the contrary, it is certain that
if our zeal were true and genuine we
should be much more angry with
sinner than a heretic;, since there are
several cases which may excuse the
latter before his great judge, but none
which can excuse the former.
III nature is another dreadful imi
tatOr of zeal. Many a good man may
! have a natural rancOr and malice in
his heart, which has been in some
measure quelled and subdued by re-
ligion: but if it finds any pretense of
breaking out afresh, which does not
seem to him inconsistent with the du-
ties of a Christian, it throws off all re-
straint, and RACES in its full fury.
Zeal is therefore, great ease to
a malicious man, by making him be-
lieve that he does Gods service,
whilst he is gratifying the bent of
perverse. revengeful temper
For this reason we find that most
of the massacres and devastations
which have been in the world, have
taken their rise from a furious pre-
tended zeal.
Il love to see man Jealous in
good matter. and especially when his
zeal shows itself for advancing moral
ity and promoting the happiness of
mankind. But when | find the instru-
ments he works with are racks and
gibbets, galleys and dungeons; when
he imprisons mems persons, conis-
Icates their estates, ruins their fam
lilies, and burns the body to save the
soul l cannot stick to pronounce of
such an one, that whatever he may
think of his faith and religion) his
faith is vain and his religion unproft-
able.
After having treated of these false
Zealots in religion. I cannot forbear
mentioning a monstrous species of
men, who one would not think had
any existence in nature, We're they
not to be met with in ordinary CON
yersation; | mean the Jealous in
atheism
"One would fancy that these men,
though they fall short in every re-
spect, Of those who make a profess
sion Of religion. would at least out
shine them in this particular and be
exempt from that single fault which
4, seems to grow out of the imprudent
fervOurs OF religion. But so it is. that
nfdelity is prOpagated with as much
fierceness and contention. wrath and
t INDIGNATION, as if the safety of man
kind depended upon it. There is
something SO ridiculous and perverse
in this kind of Zealots that one does
not know how to set them out in their
( proper colors. They are a set of
f gamesters who are eternally upon the
fret, though they play for nothing.
They are perpetually teasing their
friends to come over to them. though
at the same time they allow that
: neither of them shall get anything by
+ the bargain. In short. the zeal of
: spreading atheism is. if possible more
absurd than atheism itself.
Since | have mentioned this unac-
: countable zeal which appears in athe-
= lists and infdels | must further oh
serve that they are likewise in a most
particular manner possessed with the
spirit of bigotry. They are welded
to opinions full of contradiction and
i impossibility, and at the same time
] look upon the smallest difficulty in
the article of faith as a sufficient rea-
: son for rejecting it. Notions that fall
: in with the common reason of man
e kind, that are conformable to the
Y sense of all ages, and all nations, not
RI r11oDfi0n fhoir fondopav f0r rr0,~,1&