The silver state. [volume] (Winnemucca, Nev.) 1909-1925, 1914-09-12
MERELY A PRIVATE THINK

War brings in its train not only a
plethora Of horrors, but as well an
olla-pedrida of absurdities.
None is more Inconsistent and
strikingly grotesque than that
which, proceeding from the hight of
the sublime-man's inherent faith In
a Creator-descends to the depths of
the ridiculous-the belief that God
will decree and assist in the slaughter
of hundreds of thousands in order to
crafty the homicidal prayers of 9th
ers.
The saturnine humor in the whole
thing is that every one of these
Christian nations-each having priests
and ministers of the same faiths pray
ing that God viii give it a murderous
Nelson lock on its opponents-seems
to have implicit confidence that its
prayers alone will prevail with the
Almighty.
Catholic France on Bonded knees
begs God to permit her to put the
children Of Austria to the sword.
And Catholic Austria swings in
cense in blessed censers in rhythmic
accompaniment to the same cut
throat orison against France.
In cathredal and in church, Prot
estant England begs the Redeemer to
be with her with His might as she
seeks to slit the throat of Protestant
Germany.
And from Kaiser to woodcutter,
cultural prayers ascend to the
Throne of Grace begging the God of
Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob to
be with the Fatherland as it caves in
John Bulls head.
In each nation, Protestant and
Catholic and Jew unite in a pan
religious invocation to the Almighty
that in His beneicent mercy He will
grant to His selected children the
blessed privilege of making of other
nations an abattoir. a shambles, and a
slaughter house.
While peace has been driven from
the continent, Catholic cathedral,
Protestant church and Jewish syna-
gogue in each particular nation at
mathis and vespers beg the Son OF
Peace that the dove shall not return
rave over a sea of blood; that the
only olive branch she shall bring
shall be one to laurel that particular
nation with victory-while in other
nations widows are weeping, children
are wailing and famine stalks abroad
in hellish glee.
If Turkey shall become a party to
this al1-world crime, then from st.
Sophia the muezzin will call all the
faithful to pray that the God who
raised up Mohammed will nerve them
with power of the Everlasting Arms;
that He will be with them and of
them until they and their allies rise
~gloriousIy victorious from an orgy OF
blood.
And il Japan and the Orient also
shall elect to join the murderers, the
God Of the East will be invoked
through Buddha, through Brahma and
through Confucius-to grant His di-
vine championship to them as He did
to Tamerlane and to Genghis Khan.
II it not a blasphemy against the
Everlasting that His "deeply-relig-
ious'' children 50 degrade Him that
they pray to Him to make easy the
way for them to cut the throats Of
His other "deeply-religious" child
rent
Have we not advanced at all since
tho day when ancient murderers
slaughtered the defenseless by the
thousands and the tens Of thous-
ands-claiming that in a divine Wis
ion God had commanded them SO
to do; havs we stood still since the
time when, with hands reeking in the
blood Of their brothers and their sis
tiers, these universal Gains assembled
into the Holy Of HOLES and thanked
the Almighty in that He had made
potent their butchefing arms, had
blessed them in their holy ~massacres7
How IL the God that reigneth
from Everlasting to Everlasting TO
choose between the prayers of Cath
Ole France and Catholic Russia on
the one hand, and Catholic Austria on
tho otherf
How is the Omnipotent that hear
eth the cries Of all His children
that doth the ravens feel, yea provi-
IDENTIFY careth for the sparrow-to de
eide whether He shall help Protestant
Germany to make a Chicago stock
yards out of England, or shall assist
Protestant England in irrigating Ger