| OCR Text |
Show ilAllWO CITIZENSHIP" I Ricardo Replies to a Critic Infidelity Defined De-fined Morality Rests on a Belief of an Omnipotent and Righteous God, Who Will Punish Any Violation of the Divine Law A Parallel If Paul Returned Re-turned to Earth Would Be Rejected God's Word Unchangeable. i'i; Mi- Internmnntain Catholic: In your first j,;)r urn'rlc of .November 30, signed Ricardo, you ; ;:r.'!i-' Kev. W. T. Brown of heresy in political ? ...ii"iny. when he distinctly says: i4It remains for i ,,;r vitizenship to say vhvher this nation shall ; -,-(. 1 it- divine task of hallowing the lives of all ,.!,.. dwell beneath its flap.' I quote the word -viiizrnr-hip'' to show where vou made your mis-i mis-i tnk -. UNITARIAN. ! Salt Lake City, December 1. I We observed' that word as clearly as you, but it r,'uie lessens or weakens what we maintained. To '. i.ttiiiijit to defend Ur. Brown and his magnificent ; HiTiiy of baseless generalities, unprovable and un- j vritiaMe. only causes that presumptuous atheist t tn sink deeper and deeper into the quicksands of fallacious reasoning. This nation's population is iij.pr.'ximately say 90.000,000. Out of this number : n'-third or 30,OO0.UOO people profess Christianity, and a great number of this latter multitude only profess it without practicing it. According to re-? re-? liahle statistics we are left two-thirds, or 60,000,000 persons who are infidels, for to refrain from pro- casing that Christ is God Almighty in a public manner is to be infidelic. ''They who are not with 1 iin'.'" says Christ, "are against me. And he that "Tiithereth not with me scattereth." Again. "Be- c'uvko ye are neither hot nor cold I will begin to I vi.mit you out of my mouth.' So we will assume t'i- above ass:jinn as settled, viz.: That they who refrain from practicing and professing Christian- ' in- are inlidels. According to St. John, the Apostle i f love, "a man who denies the Savior is a liar and : !;a not ihe Father."' But enough. To return to i 'ho controversy. How, may we ask, can 00,000,000 infidels mid 3. mO.OOO Christians make the nation in which thev live moral and "incarnate in all its I ;ii:n- and policies tlie sacred hopes and faiths of :im n." as Mr. Brown puts it ? Without a belief in an omnipotent and righteous God who "will deal Mil praise and punishment beyond the grave there I '-an be no morality. Is the law of society of any . fT--T without prisons for punishment? No. Then j why r-honM not the same thing be affirmed of the moral law. i. e., that it is ineffectual in enforcing l,f.,li,-n,-i. without future punishment. It is mental I iui"a ri ginn it for temporal law and n&t for the I more ininoriant moral law. Men may avoid the : I'noji. !,ut Wf cannot escape the vengeance of a ; ;, wh.i-e lioly and sacred nature of pure divinity ; :ec,,il, from the lusts, nassions and fraternal in- i "Ustn-c of rjjen. as we would recoil from embraeinf yr'M bea-t eager to devour us. I V,i;h!it a righteous God to reward and pun- -!!. tiicre e-vi be no morality, and without the Jew's Jew-'s iMI M"iioi hci-ni, Chrit as the second person of the f R":ed Trinity, the Holy Roman Catholic church "d.i'-!, Ch;-t and His apostles established, we can J knowledce of .God. and we must be ' "re.-.l !,, sav: if there be a God He has never re- yea,, llini-(f to us, or to any primitive people, ear a- thi- would be the rejection of all intelli-' intelli-' -Hico, voa-on uvjl human history, we cannot follow !,;'; 1 "ii iV.'sides, every man has a conscience I ' !: tells him in no uncertain tones that he must "ia- .;,,y ( ndrr an account of all his thoughts, - w.c-.K ;,,,, 2Je may stifle it and follow the I't-'il ro;1( to as manv do, but that does not ; - ''Me its existence. If a man shuts his home J I1 that the sunshine cannot enter, it nowise I ' r-v. . ;,.,, th. is no sun. So it is with a man ''I" Hit his darkened heart to the graces and,in-v!'!rs::i-.ii iK. Savior would lavish on him. It does ;' i:i"i,-t rate that Calvary's God is not in ; . c!,!-; -j jmt send sujiernatural knowl-1 knowl-1 ' :-' i a powerful degree to one who is heart and ' -' ! to wallow in ihc lusts of hell. After all I V1 ! our correspondent tell us how the Ameri- ' e; ,, ,,,:,. pOSsibly make iheir nation collec-j collec-j :V, ;V ' i at iliey are not individually? If he can ' V'' !;" if-w. he will surprise us very much. The i ti;v :-;:! heurt of humanity is pitifully in need of ;''';i r I,lU. lUt if no came again, or if Elija, ! ! -pint Christ promised should come in the ; " lionr ,,f tjjp Imman race, the people would cru- ';' ti.f in for interfering with their mammons, ! , ' ; i -a-in-es and their lustful idols. They would :,r 'vL-HHTed seditious fellows and probably stoned '-x 'hey wished to save. arc forced 10 ihe inevitable conclusion that I :" vor,i lmi, come back to the Faith of the t;r' ' t o from bad to worse, or that God will I '': the nit i vers? absolutely. That any one of I M 'liree propositions may come to pass is not :!'-p.-.'-d.k There is an Eternal Creator who hates I :,i'ii:-.v wnTeliing this world every second of I ; ":,r- 'hat He will do no man dare predict, f ; lisili kiKuvn the mind of the Lord or who I !! Hi enunsellor? We may lawfully epec- I j "n what may happen. God in His infinite. I "Vl:;2 kindness, while lespising the crimes of hu- 1 "';iiiity may commission the two prophets spoken 1!l 'b- Revelations of St. John, who will have I I.T'1 .'" rains of heaven, turn drinking J i:;io hl,,f.d and scourtre the blind children of j p': ''t'nrv 1,, llf..lV Hyps 0f fraternal love, chastity. I " ' marriage with no divorce, proper treat- j 111 "f laboring dasses by the rich, and other t I blessings for which the universal pulse of humanity human-ity is throbbing. We are glad our correspondent wrote us and gave us this opportunity of writing this article. He has done us a real favor and we bear him no malice. We would feel the same way had he tripped us in an error, but we always endeavr to argue dispassionately and free from bitterness. We may feel regret that men like Mr. W. T. Brown should devote their lives to fostering Satan's kingdom on earth, but it is because we wish all men well, and that they might live in the truth jnd therein pass to the ripened orchards of Paradise, not to a kingdom king-dom of sorrows and impotent regrets with God's depart you accursed, ringing in their ears for all eternity and out e which there is no redemption. Christ says the Scriptures cannot be broken and they predict as He did Himself that in the last moments and hours of the world that because iniquity in-iquity hath abounded the charity of many shall grow cold. No matter what does come to pass, God grant that ourselves shall be found worthy in the days of sorrows such as hath not been from the foundation of the world neither shall ever be again. We hope the same for all men, but the word of God cannot fall, and that word says many shall curse the mothers that gave them birth.- And again Christ says, "In that day they shall seek me and shall not find me. They shall cry to me, but I will not hear them." Now is the day of salvation, now is the opportune time. Tomorrow death and hell may swallow us, and nothing but a piercing scream of agony mark our swift descent into perdition. Let us be warned by the mourul cry of the sea, when darkness of night overshadows it. Let us be urged by the wailing sob of the wind of a winter's, day, to put on the armor of light. Let us be cautioned cau-tioned by the voiceless 6tars shining like stern judges above the silent deserts and the seas. There is a nameless, tragic secret beyond the portals of the tomb and he to whom God reveals it by a special gift will carry it in his brain, on his brow and in his eyes while ever he roams the valleys, the vales and the byways of the world, the busy hives of men, observing their profound scepticism, incredulity incred-ulity and scorn for what really is. And He said to the multitude, make way, the. maiden onlv sleepeth. And they laughed Him to scorn. RICARDO. j |
