The independent. [volume] (Elizabeth City, N.C.) 1908-1936, 1928-09-14

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ed the speaker and called for more.
"W. O." faced his audience with a
thirty minute speech in which he
traced the hostile religious spirit OF
our own age to an outworn Jewish
theology. He challenged the Jews to
atorie for the guilt of their ances-
tors by giving the modern world a
new religion based upon the true
revelations of God to humanity
thru the medium of modern science.
But the Elizabeth City editor
made two speeches. His audience
wanted to hear more. Called back
to the floor wv. o. gave them a
racy discourse on the alarming state
of Democracy in North Carolina.
I believe the spirit Of youth in
North Carolina will carry the State
for Smith in November" he said,
"but 1t will carry it over the heads
of the old order of gutless politi-
clans most of who are cowed b5
their preachers, afraid Of their Sen,
ator Simmons and making no seri-
GUS fight In behalf of the national
ticket"
Among other things the editor
said:
These are topsy-turvy times.
guess all times have been topsy-
turvy. Most of our notions about
life are fixed in infancy and adole-
scence and in many cases our minds
are closed thenceforth to all new
discoveries theories and nnova-
tions. '&..r~ - -----'r-I go
I'VE boast mach of the billions
we spend on education and religion
and some point with pride to the
millions invested in scientific re-
search and exploration. But we
have with us millions of stuffed
minds that are impervious to reason
or a new idea. They were so stuffed
with superstition and nonsense In
their impressionable childhood that
not enough room is left in their
skulls to inject single gramme of
modern culture with the aid Of a
hypodermic needle.
so many human beings behave
like children because that is ex-
actly what they are, Intellectually
children.
"And so we have with us the
patent medicine vender, the chiro-
practor, the professional evangelist,
the Ku Klux Klan, a tabloid press.
the Fellowship Forum and the Anti
Smith Democrat. all thriving upon
the fears, prejudices and errors in,
stilled In adolescent minds that
were early stunted and never grew
up.
mo wonder we behold in twen-
tieth century America the shame
full and astounding spectacle Of mil
lions of Christians opposing the
presidential nomination of another
Christian who happened to be wean-
ed on brand of spiritual baby food
that differed in formula from the
pap they were nurtured on 80.
Religion is responsible for pretty
much all the confirmed ignorance,
bigotry, intolerance and hatefulness
in human nature. say that reli-
sion is responsible because once
you have confirmed a weak human
intellect in the belief that 1t is in
partnership with deity and that all
the essential truth in the world is
bound up in the bible inscribed to
that deity. the case of that human
is utterly hopeless. Anything that
IS in conflict with the creed and
dosmatics imprisoned Galileo and
forced him to recant and destroy
the telescope with which he dis
covered a universe not described in
the bible. And only yesterday Pro-
testant religious fanatics in Amer
lea besieged Southern legislatures
j to prohibit the teaching Of the
theory of evolution in our public
schools. -
mo people on earth have suffered
mere persecution at the hands Of
differing religionists than the Jew
ish people. It is as if Retribution
we're melting out to the Jew fair
measure of punishment for the
spirit of religion which he imposed
upon our modern world. The God
of religious fanaticism in the white
mans world to-day is the God Of
Israel.
1T was the Jew who gave us the
God that ordered frail and aged
woman to be stoned to death be-
cause she gathered few sticks Of
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