THE CHRISTIAN BATTLE FIELD.

Freethought Review, Volume I, Issue 8, 1 May 1884, Page 4

THE CHRISTIAN BATTLE FIELD.

"Think not that I am come to send peace on Earth; I come not to send peace but a Sword." St. Mathew XI. 34.

• There are some extraordinary contradictions in connection with the Christian faith ; according to one testimony the advent of the founder of this wondrous creed, was heralded by Angels, who proclaimed " peace on Earth and good will towards men." But it appears to me that in this case as in the Charge at Balaclava "somebody blundered." In the earlier ages of civilisation it might have been right to say of the people :

1 Their's not to reason why ; Their's but to believe and die"—

and like the brave and devoted slaves— the gaudily attired human machines employed by crowned tyrants —to waste their blood and sweat for the aggrandizement of the privileged few. The spread of knowledge has however changed the state of things, and though humanity still suffers from innumerable woes, not the result of physical causes, but the direct products of ignorance and crime, the Pioneers of Freethought are continually asking " the reason why." The professed attitude of the Christian Church was for many generations aggressive, against paganism, ignorance and tyranny, at first; subsequently against Science, liberty and truth, but still aggressive. " Peace on earth and good- towards men " was a myth. The sword, the dungeon, the stake were realities. Though to-day the church is not strong enough to v/ield the sword, nor to drag its victims to the stake or the headsman's block, the keys of the dungeon have not yet been entirely wrested from her hands, and the desire to persecute those with whom she differs is as strong as ever ; but the Army of Progress is now the invading force, and Christianity has to stand on the defensive. Now and again she singles out some advanced picket from our ranks, on which to vent her wrath ; as the post of honor is necessarily one of danger, ' our brave comrades have at times to suffer. The most recent examples of these are Messrs Foote, Ramsay, and Kemp, and though last not least, Charles Bradlaugh. While on one hand we mark the ferocious spirit displayed by the disciples of this " religion of love," it is also well to observe how the professed defenders of Christianity are compelled ever and anon to make concessions to the spirit of the age. In the same issue of a local paper— ' Star' of March 12th — I read news from both camps. The Freethinkers of New England, U.S.A., are reported to have formed an Association with the following ends in view: " that Churches be not

exempt from taxation, that judicial oaths be abolished, that all laws enforcing the observance of the Sabbath and Christian morality (?) be repealed, the Bible removed from public schools, and government aid refused to sectarian teaching." If this report be true our American brethren have sketched out a tolerably broad programme, sufficiently comprehensive and aggressive to meet the views, I should think, of the most advanced Freethinker. My attention was next drawn to the following facts which I summarize from a paragraph in the paper named. At a meeting of clergymen and sunday-school teachers presided over by an Archdeacon, a minister of the Church read a paper on the best method of making sunday-school work effective." —" He advocated teaching children as little of the dogmas of religion as possible, and the inculcation of the more important principles of Christianity " —whatever that may mean—in the minds of the children as being the best means of training them for an age when there was so much questioning and scepticism (the italics are mine). He also advocated the improvement of sunday-school buildings in country parishes ; where, we may presume, ornamentation is not too abundant; and further suggests the " making of childrens' services as bright as possible," which in my opinion will necessitate the elimination of the terrors of Hell. A discussion followed as a matter of course and it was finally resolved that the editor of the ' Church News' be requested to publish the essay in question. The next column to which I turned contained a brief report of the Freethought Convention sitting at Dunedin, who passed a resolution sympathising

with Charles Bradlaugh; thus we see, war between science and priestcraft is continually going on, and the weakness of our opponents displays itself in their spasmodic struggles for the supremacy ending in concession. In the meantime, foremost in the van stands the stalwart figure of Charles Bradlaugh; abused, insulted, belied, " stormed at with shot and shell," he still shows a bold front to the enemy, and justly does he deserve our sympathy and help. To his friends and admirers I dedicate the following lines :

DARE TO HAVE A PURPOSE.

Tune—Moody and Sankey's Collection, No 7.

Faithful to his promise true, In form and presence grand, Defying all his foes can do, See our hero stand.

Hail! Hail to Bradlaugh, standing there alone, Who dares to have a purpose, and dares to make it known.

Free to the air our banners toss, For justice boldly stand,

And brave the champions of the cross By joining Bradlaugh's band. Shout, huzza for Bradlaugh. standing there alone, Who owns no god but Justice, and dares to make it known.

Priests and courtiers, great and small, Who lord it o'er the land, Now perched on high will surely fall, When met by Bradlaugh's band. Shout, huzza for Bradlaugh, who dares to standalone ; Who owns no god but Justice, and dares to make it known.

With Watts and Aveling, Symes and Moss, And Saladin the grand, And gallant Foote and Ramsay, We'll shout for Bradlaugh's band. Hail ! hail to Bradlaugh, he shall not stand alone We'll hold aloft his banner, and proudly make it known.

Charles J. Rae.