Kentucky Irish American., 1914-04-11

dirty wash for the admiration and
edification of pastor and people.
After this there will be a hymn or
prayer, in which there will be much
mention of sweet Jesus and of the
love and charity OF Christ. What a
travesty! o tempora, mores!
Later on this same pastor will do
some loud lamenting and complain
ing about an empty church. Yet
would It not be a wonder II IL were
otherwise? Who can blame a good,
upright Protestant, who is a sincere
Christian, II he stays away from a
place where instead of the charity
of Christ an un-American hatred is
preached? Who can blame him II he
insists that his wife and daughters
keep away from a place where their
sense of modesty, decency and pro-
priety is insulted by a shameless
recital of personal moral depravity?
Why is it that so many devour
these filthy rags and their oozing
slime of falsehoods with a relish
that reminds one of a certain text
in which the dog, returning to the
vomit, has a conspicuous place? Old,
y
are dished up with an extra yellow
veneer and crimson streaks; slam
ders which have hundred and one
times been decisively and con-
clusively proved to be absolutely un-
true. What a side-light upon the
intelligence, honesty and Christianity
not only of a multitude of misled,
misguided and misinformed dupes,
but even of ministers and editors of
church papers who endorse these
Christless calumnies, aid in their
spread and call them exposures" in
stead of what they really are-fetid
falsehoods? Why is this? Should
we, as an answer to this question
quote the ancient Latin sayings:
"Simile simili gaudet" and "Asinus
asinum fricat," which the Anglo
Saxon has translated into Birds Of
a feather flock together"
Among my friends 1 count a
goodly number of Protestants-
good, honest, upright people whose
friendship l highly prize. l also
believe, with the Iconoclast, that
most American Protestants are hon
est and fair-minded; that they de-
test as much as Catholics the un-
charitable and feelingless, the bar
barous and brutal attacks of the
Missouri and Georgia savages, some
of whom shamelessly prefix Rev"
to their names; that they see and
feel how diametrically opposed to
the letter and the spirit of the Bible
and of the constitution of the coun-
nj M
hatred and fanaticism is. l have
often wondered why some of these
and well-wishing Chris
tians and American citizens have
not made more efforts to discredit
the output of these journalistic
which reflects such an
odium upon their religion, gives the |
Bible the lie, blasts at one of the |
of the constitution, and |
is deadly menace to common de-
cency, a menace to religion, State, |
family and individuaL But after 4
thinking the matter over and plac- |
Ipg myself in their position, / can |
not blame them. l imagine they |
feel about like the man who is ex-
pected to reach in under the dung
hill and pull out the skunk that has
lodged there. If the liberty of the |
press should ever be curtailed and |
4 censorship of the press be estab-
ished in this country, it will be
owing to the publication of just
such british, indecent and uncon-
ititutional sheetlets, for no decent,
government can
allow its moral atmosphere to be
polluted by the malod-
,rous exhalations of featherless
buZzards.