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Show Anosticismand Deism Explained I IEffect of Agnosticism is to Deaden Conscience Crime is Only That Which Becomes Public. L . ! if (Written for the Intermountain Catholic.) Referring to agnosticism (which was treated last week) the subject deserves I more than a passing attention. The y tmriewy of modern thought is, if not in the open and avowed denial of God, ni least to a negative denial of his existence. ex-istence. The bitter controversies between be-tween different forms of Christianity i;iv? in a measure ceased. Abuse and misrepresentation of one creed are relegated rel-egated to the past, and are no longer i popular either in the pulpit or public prers. Church and their adherents are measured and judged according to their present worth. The evils that they do or sanction are public, property. The i under current of modern thought is. if not direct opposition to all creeds, at least infleffereiice and atheistic in its tendency. The theories in vogue and Advanced by men of science are, that fit best man can not affirm with logical logi-cal certainty the existence of a supreme su-preme being, the immortality of the soul and future punishment or rewards. re-wards. Herbert Spencer, a professed agnos-! tic. in one of his works affirms that three possible theories may be assigned for the origin of the universe. '(1) The universe is self-existent; (2) the ; universe is self-create; and (3) the i universe Is created by an external i grncy." He rejects the firsthand sec-' sec-' f end as absurdities, also the third, i which would imply an admission of a Fupreme being. Here is an instance of a man of pro-i pro-i found learning, thorough and far- reaching, scholarly attainments and I philosopher, so swayed by intellectual j pride as to refuse the only possible ex- j i plantation for the origin of the universe J ihat could or has ever been given, i namely, it was created by God. Hux- hy. who belongs to the same school, writing on the immortality of the soul, jays: "I have never seen an argument i en that subject which, from a scientific j point of view, is worth the paper it is written upon." s With such great minds impugning the foundation of religion, is it to be won- dered that the great masses of the peo- i p!e who never reason, who are op-f op-f posed to any cheek on the passions, should feel justified in breaking the ; chains of all moral restraint, enjoy life I ii neens ne ai ine expense 01 otners, leaving the uncertain future of the agnostic, take care of Itself? J( A census of our population would dis close the unpleasant fact that the overwhelming over-whelming majority of our population arp practical agnostics. "With these the j arguments drawn from reason or prescription pre-scription in favor of God and life eternal etern-al have no weight. The writings of Herbert Spencer. Huxley. Proper, Darwin Dar-win or the lectures of Robert Ingersoil. " which emancipate the mind from religious re-ligious restraint and give liberty, are more efficacious, because they are in line with man's natural inclinations. Put when these natural inclinations, yarning for a share of that happiness whjrh this world offers, outsteps the boundaries of law and order, the great i'Hiors in the world of thought, whose own p-ace may be disturbed and whose 5 1 -oijcify stands in danger of being con fiscated, cry out against anarchy, communism com-munism and nihilism, which are the logical results of agnosticism To this the professional agnostic will aver. In the lecture of Mr. Fiske at Harvard Harv-ard university, he said: "In a far more reverental and justifiable spirit the agnostic, like Huxley and Spencer, acknowledges ac-knowledges the limitations of the human hu-man mind and builds, as far as he may, j leaving the rest to God." "Builds"' I what? ethical theories to restrain the passions. But how leave these to God. ! who is unknowable, and whom they re-l re-l ject? Neither Spencer nor Huxley can ret their ethical principles on God or future punishments and rewards. Why should the anarchists? Rejecting God and the divine will as the basis and fundamental principle of virtue, the agnostic is forced to find some common com-mon basis for humanity to be honest and virtuous, one that will accommodate accommo-date the millionaire and hod-carrier alike. Apart from God what are the ethical principles for virtue and morality? Self-interest, say some. This excludes all but self. It means selfishness and is opposed to the broad priniple of Christian Chris-tian charity. It excludes conscience, and is devoted exclusively to one's self. It is suitable to and adopted by the rich, but when presented to the toiling masses as a working principle, it assumes as-sumes a different aspect, and as a basis of morality will ever prove a failure.. Others place it in utility, which is equally groundless. Utility will suit the trust company, but not, for the same reason, will it be suitable for the I working classes. For the former it means the preservation of his wealth and protection when they deem it opportune op-portune to weld the chains of slavery "tighter around their independents. To the latter utility means to avoid starvation. starva-tion. Utility says to the wage earner, "If you are rot satisfied, quit: if you try to enforce your demands you will go to the penitentiary, sure." Self-interest and utility on agnostic principles have different meanings for the rich and poor. Others say that moral sentiment which pervades the human race will serve as a basis of ethical principles. But this moral sentiment is created ac cording to ones environment. That of the anarchist, and agnostic, who are guided by the same self-interest to get what you can, Auld be disorder. That of the Socialist would be equality and division of all unnecessary property. Ethical principles founded on moral sentiment, when divorced from God, have" different meanings according to the education, environments and social standing of the classes to whom they are applied. All ethical theories of the agnostic pre-suppose a higher standard of humanity than the world yet produced. pro-duced. They suit the rich, because all are framed to protect him and. if needs be, to conceal his irregularities. The effect of agnosticism, reason as one may. is to make the best out of thi life, deaden the conscience, and the only great crime is that which becomes public. pub-lic. To be continued.) |