Blue-grass blade (Lexington, Ky.). (Lexington, Kentucky ...€¦ · case and as Christianity is now...
Transcript of Blue-grass blade (Lexington, Ky.). (Lexington, Kentucky ...€¦ · case and as Christianity is now...
THE FOROE OF FAOTS ANDFIGURES
By dimming Severance
Nothing has greater force in car-
t
¬
illg conviction to rational mindslimn facts and figures for these arcthings that demonstrate truths anddefy refutation When you havo afact that can bo shown and demon-
strated¬
you have tho best of an ar¬
gument with any opponent and canknock him out in ono round if ho willface it
As Freethinkers wo havo tho factsand figures to show that Christianityis not only tho biggest fake and hum-
bug¬
in tho world but tho greatestfailure when the realization of prom ¬
ises and predictions arc taken intoconsideration
Christianity has always claimed tobu a divinely inspired religion withqualties superior to all others anda dead certainty of some day beingtho ono andonly religion on thisearth Claiming to havo conic directfrom God the Creator and Controller
T of the Universe it declared he couldand would insure such a conditionand so this boast and predictive af¬
IIrmation was made At the name
of Jcsas every knee shall bow ofthings in heaven and things on earth
aand things under tho earth and ev¬
ery tongue shall confess that JesusChrist is Lord to the glory of God
the FatherChristianity has entered the 20th
century of its existence and by look ¬
lug backward wo can sec what it has
done and by computing results we
can see how near this prediction isto being verified It has claimed
much promised more and accom ¬
plished little Instead of being tho
one and supreme religion after allthis lapse of time it is not even first
in point of numbers among other re-
ligions
¬
for Buddhism exceeds it by
many millions and a now religion
founded by Mahomet tho Arabiancamel driver nearly 000 years afterChristianity started lies 170 million
devotees whoso knees refuse to bow
to the name of Jesus and whose
tongues if they speak his name utterit in derision and contempt
With all the exaggerations thatChristians make regarding theirnumbers their highest claim leaves
them numerically less than onofifthof the population of the earth Ifthus is the best they could do withGods help in over 1900 years theymust if honest and candid admit thatMahomet has revealed greater powor
to do things than God and Jesus to ¬
gether for comparatively he hasdone a greater work in the 1300
years just passed than Jesus tho lead ¬
er mid Savior of all mankind and
JehovahIs this fact alone sufficient to
knock all divine claims out of Christ-
ianity f To a reasonable man it must
b for where there is nothing to
show that an omnipotent God is
boosting Christianity thero is noth¬
ing to base belief on that he is Ifthat hellfire and damnation religion
had gone ahead and converted thewhole world as it expected to and
said it should then it would have
had a fact that no opponent could
have failed to be influenced by and
everybody being Christians therewould have been no opponents This
is a very plain presentation of the
case and as Christianity is now dy ¬
ing of dry rot and its power is wan ¬
ing every day that comes and goes
if it ever had a chance to influence
the whole world that time is past and
gone When this religion attainedits greatest power and had the most
converts it was using fire and sword
force and violence to mako converts
and the moment it ceased to use such
means for that purpose that moment
it began to wane and weaken to
droop and die-
Christianity lies never been the
same force in the world since itceased to bo a militant power and itnever will bo again for talk alone is
not sufficient to make people accept
it When they had to or go to pris ¬
on and have their properly confiscat-
ed it was easy to catch em forChrists sake and tho glory of God
When tho Inquisition was in force
and all its implements of torturo were
being used to make Christians thatBible prophecies might bo fulfilled itwas a bold man indeed who would refuse to accept this religion of love
and mercyand that was the time
when every ono in Christian landsto be orwas a Christian professed
had to migrate as did the Moors
when driven out of SpainToleration was never a feature of
Christianity when it had unrestrainedpower but with fire and force itfailed completely to accomplish its
intentions and I now throw this
fact into the face of every Christian
that exists to show that what it fail-
ed
¬
p to do in the past it cannot possi ¬
bly do in tho future There is no
more show for converting the world
to Christ than there is for seeing all
men think alike or look alike and
the rotten stuff put forth in his namo
will be more and more rejected as
the world rolls on Facts and figurest
a
I
provo this statement for as eminenta Christian hs Ilev Charles Hussollof Brooklyn Tabernacle admits thoroare double tho number of heathen inthe world today than thero were 100years ago and wo do not have to goout of your own socalled Christiancountry to find by government fig-
ures¬
that only a little over onethirdof our people are professed Christ ¬
inns and church members and sucha poor showing ten years ago is whatcaused Christian influence to havenoses in tho census of 1010 Thatfact has been thrown at them so manytimes it caused a sure spot and itirritates our Christian friends muchto hear of it It certainly is a factthat speaks wry loudly and factsnot in their favor are offensive thingsto be suppressed if possible
Hnssell and see what he is compelledRussell and see what he is compellelto admit though why he said it whenthe policy of Christians is to blowhind and claim everything is notclear
If we lookout upon the heathenworld however sympathetic we may-
be in respect to foreign missionarywork doing all in our power to makoknown to the heathen tho grace ofGod and the Great Redeemer w-
are nevertheless compelled to admitthat there is absolutely no hope ofour ewer causing every knee to bowund every tongue to confess Christin heathen lands oven as we havelong ago given up hope of accom-
plishing¬
suchwork in civilized
landsThisis plain talk and right to the
point and in spito of his religion isevidence ofa streak of horse senseand candor not to be found very of-
ten
¬
in a Christian preacherTime Methodists who keep boasting
of building a church every dayshouldchew up and digest or reflecton this true statement by comradeRussell of tho universal brotherhoodthat Christ wanted to establish withthe Jew God as the basic idea to
workonNo men and brethren fellow cit-
izens
¬
saints and sinners there ismighty little consolation in facts andfigures for Christianity for theyplainly show the doom which awaitsit which in the process of time willbe just what nil religious systemsexperiencedeathand oblivion-
It is now dying as indisputableevidence shows but wo cannot expect
a quick death for such never comesto superstition in any form but thevery fact it is in decline and surelypassing away is a source of joy andgladness to all rational human be-
ings
¬
who know its true history andwhat a curse it has ever been to
humanityToCharles Russell and
other mourners I extend my condol-
ence
¬
for their mental sufferings forsympathy is one of my strong char-
acteristics
¬
but at tho same time Iam very glad that is occurring which
causes them to weep and waiLSo Let her go Gallagher and
tho sooner the betterLos Angeles Calif
A FIRST OAUSE
What Caused It to Cause a Universe6000 Years and Not 60000000
Years Ago
Otto Wettstein in FreethinkersMagazine
There is no First Cause therenever was a First Cause Withinan eternal selfexistent universe evo
luting processes are eternal
It never beganit can never end
A single parties of matter cannot be
rented neither can it be annihilatedConsequently the universe being com-
posed
¬
of eternal existing particles is
eternal And each particle represent
in energy and force being energy
and force has ever been active tojperpetuate the evolutionary processes
of finite forums beings and bodies butthese by virtue of their own potencies
being destined to final destruction anddisintegration tend in infinite varia-
tion
¬
and transformation to perpetuatethe process forever
All attempts to solve the riddle of
cosmic existence by postulating a
First Cause or God existing
prior und exterior of the universe
must and will ever remain efforts of
childish reasoning and a lamentable
failure It explains nothing It simply
divests the visible everything of and
invests in invisible nothing with pote-
ncies
¬
Ir power to cause all phenom-
ena
¬
Hut ifter this cunning coup
detnt the identical mysteries which
first prompted such a solution stillstaro us in tho face even in augment ¬
eddegreeACause or God im-
plies
¬
an infinite something which
however wo know absolutely nothing
possessing attributes and powers
superior to those existing in natureand amply sufficient to cause to springinto existence miraculously from proexistim nothing an infinite universe-
A First Cause or God must
possess within itself transcendentqualities of selfexistence and all the
1
necessary attributes to exist uncausedmid eternal as n First Cause andwithout again necessitating in turnanother cause to cause it
It implies that such II First Cause
or God prior to tho imaginaryII beginning was not a cause buteternally inactive latent nonproduc-tive deadan absolute condition ofnegation or nothing
That such First Causo during allthe Infinite cycle of ages precedingsuch beginning did not produce asingle effect
It implies that after being eternallydead or inactive and cause of abso-
lutely¬
nothing during all tho ages ofbeginninglcss time it did suddenlyand miraculously so stupendouslychange its nature as to create a uni-
verse¬
And lust though not least it pre ¬
seats to thinking men and women thofollowing grotesque proposition Theuniverse exists consequently a Godor First Causo must have pre-
ceded
¬
it This First Cause is eter¬
cal never was created and neverneeded a Creator It ofcourse iseternal and as such existed from alltime Six thousand years ago ac¬
cording to Biblo chronology thisFirst Causo caused the universe
No other cause or thing existed withor beside it prior to that time Duringall the ages of beenmiingless time itdid not cause a solitary thing not aworld sun moon star or even a singleatom Eternal darkness reigned su-
preme
¬
and infinite vacum was mon-
opolized¬
solely by this First CauseThis is a correct representation of
things existing during the eternityprior to 0000 years ago when the uni-
verse
¬
according to the Christian my ¬
thology began I
But now the question arises whatcaused the First Cause after aneternity of nonactivity to create theuniverse Hero certainly is a magnifi-
cent
¬
and imposing effect if trueThe Theists God or FirstCause certainly didnt cause it forwhat these would not do or cause tobe done during the vast eterity pre-ceding this imaginary creation they
ofcourse would never do This FirstCauso is supposed to be omniscientomnipresent and unchangeable con ¬
sequently what this First Causecould or would not do during 9999999999999999999 continued ad infinitumyears preceding the begin ¬
ning it of course would never doWhat then caused the universe or
caused tho H First Cause or Godto create dt after an eternity of nonexistence There is no effect withouta cause But for an eternity all ex-
isting¬
causes had not produced a uni-
verse
¬
whntin the name of reasonthen WAS THE CAUSE which cans ¬
ed the First Cause to create theuniverse when it did But I need g-
ao furthera cause being needed tocause the First Cause to cause orto precede the First Cause of theTheist If we keep on in our crucialtest of First Causes we will nodoubt need another First Causeinch another and another ad infin-
itum
Thus we see that all argumentpredicating a First Cause a
God a Creation or a Begin ¬
ting apes not explain but infinitelymystifies existing problems and thatthe only rational assumption is the
eternal existence of all matter whichassessing within itself all tho neces ¬
any attributes of selfexistence andselfformation not creation needsno Creator or First Cause tocreate or manipulate it
Existing today absolutely proves
that in its elementary form it has al ¬
ways existed and so will always exist
urthermore assuming harmony and
order today and evolving worldssuns systems trees flowers and menproves it has ever evolved such formsand that consequently there neverwas a first world sun tree or manbut all such phenomena aro but repeti-
tions
¬
of similar phenomena havingevolved forever
Because it is plain that any partic¬
ular first world sun or system wouldagain imply an eternity of time pre ¬
ceiling the formation of such firstphenomena but which if true wouldabsolutely havo prevented such firstworld sun or system at any time Itis either eternal standstill or eternaletivityboth cannot be trueWhich then I ask is time most rea-
sonable
¬
that n First Cause ofwhich we know absolutely nothing
can exist uncaused and then fromnothing create an infinite universe orthat tho latter which today exists inaugust splendor selfevidentand real
is selfexistent and eternal
Is ita fact that curates generally
visit Christian homes when the hus-
band
¬
is at work
Time clergy aro notorious for theirpartiality to tho fair sex and purraround tho ladies like black tomcats
J
MAN OF HIGH IDEALS
So you dont care to oncourngothat young poet with his otheroalIdeas Interrogated tho olgar sales
manI dont caro a continental about hitethereal ideas growled time groceryman as long as they dont cost mo
anythingDidover cost you anything
I should say sot Tho other dayho came In and raising his righthand struck a dramatic attitude andsaid I love everything thats goodThen with his left hand ho helpedhimself to the candled citron and tho60 cent almonds I dont doubt thatho likes things that are good butblamed If hes going to make this asupply station
When He Needed CompanyBrother Philander said the Os
borne Farmers village deacon ourminister has worked hard and seemsdiscouraged Isnt there some waywe can shqw our appreciation of hisworth and cheer him uI 11reoplied old Philander we might try at-
tending the midweek prayer meetingThat is his loneliest hour
Took Precautions-I want to hire a canoeAccustomed to rowing one I sup ¬
poseNeverwas in one
Can you swimNot aWell strokeIvance Ive been left In the lurch by
enough suicidesIA Vivid Portrayal
Why my dear expostulated MrPonsonby I wasnt drunk last nightI was merely Imitating a drunk manto fool you
Well sniffed Mrs Ponsonby allI have to say is if that was an imi¬
tation you are wasting your talentsin the grocery business Youd draw
100 a week in vaudeville
EducationThe HostWhat piece will you
have Miss TootsieMiss Tootsie Please carve me the
left square tangent east to 76 segmentabove the loin diagonal to fat paral ¬
lel to Oh I beg pardon I learnedthe cuts In cooking schoolPuck
No Indeed-I heard a man worth 1000000
wish he had some small changePshaw A man doesnt have to be
worth 1000000 to wish that
MORE SLEEP WANTED
The DeaconParson I wish youcould make your sermons a littlelongerThe
Preacher pleased Why soThe DeaconWell It seems like 1
hardly get to sleep before its time toget up
It Wasnt RealLast night I had
A juicy steakBut sad to say
Wan soon awake
How He Did ItHow asked the young lady as
she looked with admiration at therugged nonagenarian have you managed to live so long and preserve yourhealth so well
By rigorously declining to practisewhat my friends have preached hecandidly replied
Slightly MixedWhat was the lesson at school this
afternoon Tommy asked the fondparentHad
a reading on the destructionof Tyre responded the youngster
Hm Automobile accident I sup-pose
Partly SoMy good woman does the system
of visualization seem to take withyour children at school
Not all of em mum The doctorsaid wld Mamie and Tommy it hastook tine but lilllys aint took a bit
TooFacedYou say he is twofacedI say he Is toofaced his wife has
him so well trained that he novelopens his face except to say metoo
A Queer SortWhat sort of fellow is LathersHe puts the accent on the first syl
lable of the word hotel
Its StyleThat singer has a velvet voiceI suppose that accounts for the
pile she gets from it
It1 r IC
DO YOU
rfdnyn come roundOf coitmn they do
Ill Just be boundTheyve como to you
And made you crosiAs everything
And loft no heart
In you to singNor any wish
To labor moreBo tired and sad
And sick and sore
We nil have daysOf sober brown
When we are blueAnd frown and frown
And grumble tooAnd fume and fret
Thats how wo al-
Ways act and yet
Although theres someExcuse for such-
I dont see howIt helps us much I
PERCY KNEW
Algy The beauty of this play Per
cYlsPercyOh that second one fromtho end there Ill bet
Great ShrinkageThe last years bathing suit will shrink
And shrink both day and nightUntil at last It shrinks so much
The bather shrinks from sight
All the SameWhat is the trouble with your hus
band of late Mrs Green asked thecorner grocer He acts queerly-
In what way queried Mrs GreenIn
surpriseWhycame in here tho other
day and asked for a pound of Rockyfeller butter Never heard of such a
thingOhthats all right John couldnt
think of petroleum butter
Things Will Take a TurnIt was the kind of banquet we some ¬
times read aboutTho tables fairly groaned under
their load of good thingsBut the hungry guests quickly rel-
ieved them of their burdenAfter dinner speeches were next in
orderThenit was the guests who
groaned
The LureLadyI want to put In this adver
tisement for a cook It will go Inthree lines wont it
Clerk after counting No madamWell have to charge you for fourlines but you can put in four morewords if you wish
Lady suddenly inspired SayPoliceman stationed opposite cor
ner TitBits
Blasted HopesMr Stubb Maria do you remember
that millinery store that had such agreat display of fall hats Wellthere has been a fire down there andeverything is reduced
Mrs Stubb Gracious what achance for bargains And everythingis reduced John
Mr StubbYes reduced to ashes
EVIDENTLY SOMETHING ELSE
Bleeker I hear he died of appendi
cltlsBoxterOh it couldnt havo beenthat why that was what they operated on him for
Thats SoThe bell Is like a man All up
And down the world he beats Itlie gathers honey ull his life
Some other fellow eats It
The Oracle ExplainsStudent of Politics And what be
reely this hero coalition they do betarklng about
Oldest Living Local AuthorityWell Its like this Some parties saysthis an some says that an totherBut what I says there no knowlns norno telllns nnmark my words I
haint far wrong Puck
UIII n iitc
NOT THE SAME
Mother queried tho pretty daughter did father have his salary in-
creased when ho married you 7
No deer answered the motherHow much was ho gettingOnly ten dollars a weekBut I suppose ho had a lot of
money saved up didnt boNot a dollar he spent his money
as fast as ho earned ItDid you get along comfortablyYes and wo were very happyWell motoher you know dear
George hasnt been able to save acent but
See here young lady if that povertystricken dude dares show his facearound here again Ill get your fa 1
ther to kick him into the middle ofnext week
Tricky SandyWhile passing by an old fashioned
inn the tourists were attracted by anancient bagpiper who was tootingatrocious sounds through an instrument that was both dilapidated andsqueakyGreat
Jericho Sandy exclaimedone in desperation Why dont youhave your bagpipes repaired
And the old man ceased playing andlooked up in astonishment Haversmon ye dlnna understand If ma bagpoples wor in good tune the Inn monwlnna give ma two shillings to moveon
Too Much of a Good ThingOur gas meter said the alleged
funny man who was trying to makolight of his bill for illumination reminds me of a centipede
Whats the answer queried theinnocent bystander-
It has so many unnecessary feetyou know replied the other
After being out 13 seconds the juryreturned a verdict of justifiable homiride and the Innocent bystander wasdischarged from custody
The SpendthriftTjarksSee where some astronomer
says Halleys comet may charge theearths atmosphere and well neverhave any more rain
BjenksBy George Give me thatitem to take hom-
eTjarksInterested ehBjenksI should say so I am going
to show it to my wife every time shenags me about saving up for a rainyday
WHAT NEVER WELL HARDLYEVER
LovelornOh Myrtilla you dontreally and truly mean that youllnever never see me or speak to me
againMyrtlllaYes sir I do and whenyou call tomorrow evening Ill tell youwhy
SkepticalLittle Coy Blue said the modern kid
Its now up to you to showMe if you really are Little Boy Blue
And have any horn to blow
Another HeroHes a champion is he He doesnt
look it Champion of whatYou dont keep abreast of the
times Hes the champion clgarrootsmoker lights one with the stump ofanother rolls them himself as he goesalong and smokes sixty without letIting any of em go out-
DangerBe like the early bird my son ad
vised the fond parent and you willcatch the worm
But the uptodate youngstershrugged his shoulders
No earlybird business for me heresponded forcibly I might catchthe hookworm
Perplexing CaseProfessor after calling on blank
and waiting for him to reciteSeemst-o me Blank you ought to be ableto answer my question with all theprompting youre getting back there
Blank Well professor theressuch a difference of opinion aroundme thatTho Gargoyle
A SuspicionWhat la a political rainbow
chaserThere are various kinds repliedSenator Sorghum although I suspectthat most of them are more or less In-
fluenced¬
by the legend that everyrainbow has a pot of gold at tho endof it
Gentle PersuasionMcCorkle Is it right to speak of a
man as of tho male persuasion 71
McCrackle It Is If the subject isunmarried
McCorkle What has that to dowith it-
McCrackleWhy If he la marriedhis wife persuades him
1 1j