The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 1884. CHRISTIANITY AND FREETHOUGHT.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1127, 17 January 1884, Page 2

The Temuka Leader THURSDAY, JANUARY 17, 1884. CHRISTIANITY AND FREETHOUGHT.

We hate received the following letter:— TO THE EDITOR, Sir, With your permission I wish to make a few remarks with reference to your leader of the Bth instant. You explained to your readers what a cruel murder it was, and finished with the following sentence : ‘This is Dunedin, the seat of Freethought and Atheism, and here are some of its fruits.’ Now, Mr Editor, what on earth had freethought to do with stabbing that woman? It is a bigoted remark. Did you ever hear Mr Stout advising his hearers to commit coldblooded mnrders? Echo answers, No Wfs James Carey, that bmte of all brutes, a Freethinker ? Is it not a fad that the most cruel murders that stain the history of Europe were committed in the name of Religion ? Is it the Freethinkers that advise the Irish people of different sects to rn p et in dradly strife once or twice a year ? N •, sir, it is religious bigotry and ignorance, fed by such sentiments as your leader of the Bth. In fact, Mr Editor, I think the teachings of Mr Stout, of Dunrdin, or Colonel Ingersoll and Thomas Pain, of America, will compare favorably with the nonsens'cal rubbish you hear at the Salvation Army meetings or any of your so called Christian sects. I am, etc , Free Liberty of Conscience. Winchester, June 15th. Our correspondent is mistaken. It was not on the murder of the woman we commented at all, but on the immorality of the people who, while she was dying, brought beer into the room and drank it, and then appear to have consulted together to see how the murderer could be screened from the officers of the law. Everyone must admit that this betrayed a very degraded state of society, and as Dunedin is noted for being the hotbed of Freethought, we do not think it was anything out of the way to attribute this social degeneracy to the<ff'-cis of this pestilential doctrine. The crimes attributed to religion were committed by men not through religious m it.ives, but with the view of aggrandizing and enriching themselves. Religion teaches peace

and goodwill to all men, and deprecates crime. No man ever committed crime in obedience to the voice of the true Christian doctrine, for its fundamental principles are directly opposed to it. It is true that men have made religion a pretext for committing crime, and that difference of opinion on the subject has led to very unfortunate results, but , not one of the various religious systems urged men to do this. All crimes chargeable to religion have been committed by sects in the endeavor to gain an ascendency over others ; it was temporal power and not spiritual peace that prompted the wrong-doing ; in fact, the crimes were political instead of religious, although it is a common thing to charge religion with them. Some of the vilest miscreants that ever polluted God’s earth have professed and even preached the Christian religion, and worked much evil while thus engaged. -Still these were very few compared with the magnificent galaxy of good, saintly and talented men who have ever stood firm by the teaching of the gospel, and have handed down to us the freedom, the knowledge and the civilisation we now enjoy. Religion teaches the existence of two eternities : one of woe and one of bliss ; and impresses upon us that unless we lead good lives eternal woe will be our lot. Freethought teaches nothing. Its votaries are supposed to speculate on what is or is not» according to the capacities and the bais of the individual mind. No fear of Hell or hope of Heaven influences the actions of Freethinkers, they acknowledge no moral obligation except that which the law imposes upon. Now which class is most likely to commit crira 3 , the one who knows no law except the law of the land, or he who feels that even if he escapes temporal punishment he will yet have to pay the penalty by being condemned to torments in the next world ? Reason and common sense will answer that the man under the influence of religion is the most likely to avoid evil. We were near overlooking the reference made to Irish party fights. There is not, and there never was, a particle of religion in these fights. They are purely and simply politic»l. To show how true this statement is we have only to point out that thousands upon thousands of Protestants are enrolled on the side of the National movement in Ireland at present, while there are thousands of Catholics bitterly opposed to it. Still the Orangemen are ready to shed their blood at the present moment to put down the Nationalists.although a Protestant is at the head of them, and Protestants and Protestant clergymen are joined amongst them. No one can say that religion prompts the quarrels under such circumstances ; it is nothing more nor less than, as we have said before, the endeavor of one party to gain the ascendency over the other, and yet people who have only confused notions of what it is put the blame on religion. If every charge made against religion were sifted to the bottom, and the motives of those who brought odium on it by their wicked deeds ascertained, it would be found that they were all committed through the greediness and lustfulness of man. Lest our friend should remind us of the Sraithfield burnings—a stock charge against religionary the way—-we may anticipate him by telling him that Cardinal Pole who was then the highest ecclesiistical authority in England, denounced the affair in the most vehement language, and endeavored to prevent it. And yet this is always charged to religion. It was not religion did this. It was the political party in power at the time that did not feel safe while certain people lived, and so for peace and quietness’ sake they made very peacable citizens of them. The next party that came into power were actuated by similar motives, and so on. And now does not our friend deny us that which he himself proizes so much, that is, freedom of thought ? He calls us bigoted because we dare to think that the looseness of morality in Dunedin is probably attributable to the atheistic tendency of the people ot that city. That is not giving us liberty to think. The fact is, Freethinkers are becoming as dogmatic in their own opinions as Religionists are in their faith. Unless one thinks exactly like them he is quite wrong. The fundamental principle ot Freethought is to think whatever one likes. This principle our friend deviates from, in finding fault with our train of thought. Free--1 bought teaches him not to do that, vet he dot’s it in just exactly the same way that a Christian does what hi- religion forbids him to do, in conclusion, w« have only to say that it will he a woeful day if it evr comes lo pass tit at the Word of God shall be no longer spoken,,

and that no higher influence than the law of the land shall direct the morals of the people !