The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 1885. DESECRATION OF CHRISTMAS.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1286, 6 January 1885, Page 2

The Temuka Leader TUESDAY, JANUARY 6, 1885. DESECRATION OF CHRISTMAS.

The Hon. [{chert Stout, Premier of the Colony, in company with his cobelievers of the Freethought persuasion, celebrated Christmas night with a concertand ball in the Lyceum, Dunedin. While Mr Stout was a private citizen no one took much notice of bow be spent bis Christ mas, for no one had a right to question bis actions so long as he did not violate the laws of the. country. But, being Premier of this colony, 91) per cent, of be inhabitants of which are Christians, it appears to us that it would be more in keeping with good seusej if he were to avoid such exhibi-

tions of his iufi-lelity, With Christians Christmas is the most sacred festival of the year ; and it must grate most harshly on their feelings to see the man whom they have elevated to the highest, position in the land mocking the Rodeoim r whose birth they celebrate at this season. But Mr Stout was not satisfi"d with the concert and ball. He delivered a lecture—a sermon per haps it ought to be called—on Jesus Christ, in the course of which he tried to prove that the Saviour was only a mere man, that Christianity was extremely wicked, and that infidels alone were “ the salt of the earth.” Wc have seldom read anything so shallow, so ignorant, and so illogical, as tliat Christmas sermon of Mr Robert Stout, lie started by asserting that Christ had no Chuich on earth, that he was a Jew, and attended the Jewish synagogues, “He had no Church and His followers did not solidify into a Church.” Further on he asserted that Christ taught nothing new; that He was only a Moral Teacher,' and not the founder of a new religion. Any Sunday School boy can find any number of arguments to refute this. He could tell Mr Stoat how Jesus said “Upon this rock I will build my Church,” how he commanded His disciples to teach all nations, and how they could not, “ enter into the Kingdom of Heaven ” unless they conformed with the doctrine he laid down. The Bible is the only authority on this subject, and it teems with refutations of Mr Stout’s arguments. But it is needless to discuss this subject. To say that Jesus Christ estalli.-/icd no Church, and that he taught nothing new, is simply nonsense. Yet, alter all, Mr Stout wished to honor the memory of Jesus Christ. He denied that He was the Son of God, or that He was anything more than human, but he admitted He wasa Great Reformer, like Mahommed, Luther, etc., and as such he would always revere His memory. Now Jesus Christ was either the Saviour promised to the Jews, or else the greatest impostor that ever lived. When asked by the High Priest “ Art thou Christ ?” Jesus replied, “ I am,” and on many other occasions He proclaimed His Divine origin. Because Christains believe He told the truth they honor and glorify His Holy Name; but Mr Stout says that He was only a Great Reformer. He virtually asserls that Jesus Christ was a liar and an impostor ; yet he reveres His memory. The worst that can be said of Christians is that they are mistaken in their belief; hut what can be said of Mr Stout, who venerates the memory of a man whose whole life, according to his belief, was a deception and a lie ! He thus poses as the admirer of hypocrisy, lying, and imposture, and proclaims his .admirationof the impostor whogulled the world into a belief in the faith which he (Mr Stout) asserts hasvielded evil fruits. Charming reasoning ; beautiful logic : noble sentiments, these, coming from the Premier ! Wo, like many others, believed that Mr Stout was a clever man, but after all we are afraid that he is what some people call him “a shallow sham.” But Mr Stout was not satisfied with honoring Jesus Christ; he went the length of calling on his brethren to follow His example. “Now since this is Christmas night,” he said, “ I think we cannot do better than follow many of the precepts that Christ taught.” Some of them only ; not the whole lot of them. Yet in the beginning of his lecture he said Christ taught nothing new ! Only that he is so staunch a teetotaller we should «ay he had been keeping Christmas in the real old-fashioned way ; for his address was untruthful, illogical and inconsistent trom beginning to end. He was pretty severe on Christianity in general. He began by accusing the Catholic Church of turning people out of her fold, and giving over offenders to the “secular arm!” In the Anglican Church similar things occurred, and in (he Presbyterian Church similar things were occurring to the present day. Well, we were not aware of any persecutions in the Presbyterian Church lately any more than in any other, but this is a simple of the truthfulness of Mr Stout. And this is Freethought—this blasphemous rant, and this Christian colony is to submit to have vile nonsense dinned into its ears on Christinas Night by its Premier. Wo hope the day is not far distant when people will realise that men of this kind are not the sort to be placed in such high positions as that now occupied by the Hou, Robert Stout.