Newspaper Page Text
THE ATLANTA GEORGIAN AM) NEWS. SATURDAY, MAY 18, 1907.
By REV. EVERETT DEAN ELLENWOOD,
Pastor Universalist Church
A WORD is a symbol of an idea.
This 1s the reason that certain
: words possess tho power to
strike terror to the heart, and flii the
consciousness with apprehension. And.
Just 08 the nameless terrors of early
childhood, such as the feur of the dark,
and the belief In ghosts and hobgob
lins, sometimes follow the unfortunate
victim well into the years of maturity,
so it 1b that the persistent domination
of ancestral Ideas often renders certain
words perpetually obnoxious to our
minds.
No word In our language is more
persistently misused and misunder
stood, by being made to serve os a uni
versal "bug-a-boo," than the word
"Infldel.” In many sections of the
country its application Ib equivalent to
slander. More than once has Its use
resulted In bloodshed, and it Is very
generally conceded to be a criticism
nnd condemnation sulllcient to bring
the recipient, henceforth the suspicion
and ostracism of his fellows.
The word Is one of the direct prod
ucts of the development of religious
thought. Every age which the world
has known has found it necessary to
keep certain learned men at work at
taching'labels to the new Ideas con
tributed to society, by that particular
age. There came a time, in the gradual
growth of man’s consciousness of God,
that Individual conceptions had reached
sufficient definiteness to be capable of
difference. When God molds a human
soul He throws the pattern away. The
mind, fresh from the Mind of the
Maker, is an Individual thing, and the
apparent design is that unity should
come about through diversity. The
law of the survival of the fittest oper
ates, whether we recognize it or not. It
was but nn entirely natural conse
quence, therefore, that, in the dim and
misty twilight of thelstlc consciousness
In the dawn of clvtlizallop, the aggres
sive thinkers, drawn together by a
mysterious nnd divinely implanted
gregarious impulse, should have
tempted a unification or harmonization
of their varying conceptions of deity.
Here was organized the first great the
ological combine, and the-dangerous
domination of the ’’trust’’ began.
Thenceforth men engaged In the se
rious business of the manufacture of
creeds. Here also there came Into be
ing by stern force of necessity our
modern word, “Infidel." For, as soon
as men had established, beyond all
question, that which must henceforth
nnd forever be recognized as "the true
faith." then It followed that language
roust possess a word which should des
ignate the occasional Intellectual rene
gade who might have the obstinacy nnd
the temerity to dissent from popular
opinion and disregard established au
thority.
For convenience of consideration so
ciety’s infidels may be grouped In two
classes, these two classes being thought
of as theoretical Infidels, and os prac
tical Infidels. The first class occupy the
realm of the intellectual conception.
The second class are the product of the
moral consciousness. The first class
receives the most and requires the least
attention at the hands of religionists.
The second class thrives upon theology,
nnd continues its insidious work of
undermining society, with the sanction
and often the actual co-operatton of the
orthodox.
The theoretical infidel Is the one for
whom the name was made. He Is the
individual nlready referred to, tho one
who finds himself unable to honestly
accept as his own the conventional
Ideas of God and of human destiny, and
has no hesitancy In openly stating his
reasons for his dissent. He refuses to
allow his soul to be fastened upon the
authorized trellis, to support its waver
ing growth, but demands that It shall
be allowed to make its way Godward
-through the strengthening sunlight of
Inwardly revealed truth, untrammelled
even by the master minds of tho the
ologies of all the ages. Sometimes the
Joy of freedom which exhilarates his
soul and sends the wings of his aspira
tion to the very throne of God, domi
nates him to such an extent that he
oven tries to help his shackled brethren
to unbind their souls, that they, too,
may lasts tho sweets of liberty. Then
there rises up some zealous "defender
of the faith once delivered to the
saints,” and In the rage of righteous In
dignation, hurls at the would-be eman
cipator the awful epithet “infldel." The
awe-struck world, trembling, waits, like
Jonnh of old, to see what will become
of the offender, nnd almost expects him
to wither away, like the blasted fig
tree.
But God Is always more gracious and
merciful than aro those who make it
their business to defend Him from
slander. No thunderbolts fall from the
sky to annihilate him who has dared
to speak that which to him la truth,
beautiful and convincing. The rain
from heaven continues to fall Impar
tially upon the infidel and upon the
orthodox, and tho moon comes out and
the stars tako their accustomed places
In the celestial chorus, and tho rhythm
of earth’s unending melody swings on,
oven as yesternight.
Time was, however, when, with tho
raising of the cry of "Infldel," tho mob
of the "faithful" began to gather fagota
for a fire, wherewith to liberate the
soul of yet another heretic, or to oil
up the thumbscrews whereby there
REV. E. D. ELLENWOOD.
might be wrung from pain racked tips
an hypocritical recantation. Hut now,
about the worst that may happen to
the man who hears himself called "in
fldel," Is that he may be so exceeding
ly foolish as to allow himself to tipis
be made unhappy, even for a precious
passing moment. And even this need
never be hts experience, If he will only
remember, as admonished by one of the
world’s ancient seers, "these things
happen to them by reason of their Ig
norance.” Before the man who has
been dubbed an Infldel allows himself
to become unhappy over it he should
carefully examine the religious belief
held by the brother who has thus la
belled him. Then It will almost inva
riably follow that, so far from feeling
any Indignation, he will be truly grate
ful for the compliment so directly be
stowed.
Tho theoretical Infldet has never
hindered, but has always sensibly
helped In the onward march of the
world toward an enduring civilization.
His Inability to recognize the voice of
the God who thundered In tones
wrath and hatred in the ears of his
fellows, has never prevented him from
hearing and heeding the "still small
voice which spoke In his own soul,” and
so It is that even the most zealous de
fenders .if the authorized belief have
been obliged to admit that those~whom
they cluss as Infidels have been "mor
ally u.iright," and are considered as
good citizens and neighbors. In one
of the books in a certain library, pre
cious und helpful to milliuns of men.
we read that One who came to teach
a new way of life, and about whom
many strange things have been taught
and believed, declared, one day, in
ringing tone3 of command: "Not every
one that sayeth unto me. Lord, Lord,
shall enter Into the kingdom of heaven,
but he that doeth the will of my Father,
who Is In heaven.”
Nor has the theoretical infldel ever
sought or been able to destroy any
thing absolutely essential to true re
llgtous faith. Is it not a pitiful con
ception of God that can conceive that
He would ever allow anything essen
tial to the moral and spiritual welfare
of His children to be utterly dest
or lost to human hearts? These
men wlto become so wildly excited
tor fear the knowledge of God lg some
how or other going to be lost to
humanity, unless they shall strive with
might and -main to keqp men from
thinking new thoughts which may ren
der obsolete time-honored beliefs, need
to go away in a quiet place, for a little
while, and' study the history of the
development of moral consciousness.
Then they will ceitalnly learn that re
ligion Is something entirely too funda
mental to depend for its preservation,
upon any book or any creed that was
ever fashlontd in the mind of a man.
God docs not require that we shall
defend Him from attack. "Truth,
crushed to earth, will rise agnln; the
eternal years of God aro hers: but
error, Wounded, writhes with pain and
dies amid his worshippers.”
The religionist, who, by intimida
tion. by abuse, by boycott, or by fana
tical appeal to prejudice, endeavors to
prevent the denomination of any new
theological teaching, only makes a
flagrant and pitiful attempt to bolster
up a decadent belief.
The religious world has nothing at
all to fear from tho theoretical Infldel.
Truo religion Is always strengthened
by every attack which may be mode
upon it. Just ns the oak tree preserves
Its majestic proportions by tho help of
the winds which, for generations, have
labored with Its branches.
It Is the practical Infldel whom socie
ty has much occasion to regard with
anxiety. He Is the man who abun
dantly confesses Ood In the creed and
most shamefully denies Him In his
life’s common practice. He prays long
and loud In tho prayer meeting, en
treating God that He will come speed
ily and manifest Himself to a sinful
and unbelieving generation by the utter
destruction of all infidels, and tho next
day proceeds with utter Indifference
to suffering humanity's mute appeal, to
collect from his poverty-stricken ten
ants the necustomed rent for the filthy,
insanitary tenements which they are
obliged to call "home/* leaving with
each receipt a tract exhorting those
who are being destroyed by his prac
tical infidelity to come and acknowl
edge his God and thus flee from the
"wnfa to come.” The practical Inlldd
Is the smug, unctuous Individual,.who
carefully obeying the technical Inter
pretation of the law of the land, gives
no heed to the law of the conscience,
which is tho law of God. but manipu
lates legislatures, courts of Justice and
even at times religious tribunals, to aid
him in robbing tho widow and defraud
ing tho orphan. He throttles honest
competition and strews the commer
cial highway with the clean picked
hones of those who have dared to
dream that they too might preserve an
Independent business existence, and,
with the proceeds of Ills legalized pi
racy, he builds colleges, founds hospi
tals and libraries, and endows churches,
where the orthodox faith of the fathers
may be vigorously defended, and where
the young may be taught that “it is
necessary to destroy many roses in or
der that one perfect blossom may re
ceive the wondering admiration of
men." Tho practical Infldel Is a wel
come member of every church that
lifts Its spire heavenward. No con
gregation of believers is without him.
The discord of his profession with his
practice drives many an honest doubt
er from the house of God. His the
ology Is safely orthodox, but his relig
ion is mostly wanting find he rests
upon society like a curse. He worships
at the shrino of Mammon nnd pays
tithes into the treasury of God. lie
dupes his fellow-men by his theoret
ical piety nnd even deceives himself
Into the belief that he is a chosen ves
sel of the Almighty. He furnishes the
most stupendous problem with which
modern society has to deal, a problem
which touches at one point or another
every son of God. This Is tho Infideli
ty which deserves tho prayerful and
the strenuous attention of our churches
and our preachers, for It Is the only
infidelity which has power to destroy
the body and plttrully dwarf the souL
It Is the Infidelity which makes It pos
sible for a man to siieak the truth with
smiling lips while his heart Is block
and loatbsomo with the horror of a
living lie. This is the Infidelity which
shall one day reduce organized society
to anarchy and to moral chaos, unless
thero shall dawn in the hearts of these
practical Infldels the realization that
selfishness Is a more deadly sin than
heresy, and that It is far better for a
man to dissent from his fellows In the
conventional Idea of aod than that his
dally life should reveal no conscious
ness of the presence in his heart of
“that Power, not ourselves,, which
makes for righteousness.”
If we can have. In this country, a
powerful and effective campaign of
protest against practical infidelity, then
we may rest assured that whatever
there may bo of theoretical Infidelity In
the minds of men will easily take core
of Itself.
Jacobs* Prescriptions
There is more to the proper filling of a prescription than Is appar
ent *t first glance. The success of the physician, the health, the very life
of the patient is dependent upon the care and judgment of the com
pounder, and the quality of the material he uses.
Accuracy is everything, and the pharmaceutical chemist must give
his entire mind and thought to this one particular line, if he Is to give
the best that is in him.
Jacobs* Prescription Department
has prepared forlhis contingency, and in'this department maintains four
expert pharmacists who devote their entire ttme to the filling of prescrip
tions. They have no other duty and no other thought, and their expert
enco, coupled with the use of the most complete laboratory of drugs and
chemicals in the United States, supervised by the same executives whose
care has been the cause of our success, assures both physician and pa
tient *-
Accurate Service—Fresh. Drugs
Reasonable Charges
In building up this unusual establishment we have borne in mind that
the rudiments of the druggist’s succeai is the proper dispensation of drugs.
Our service is prompt We maintain a messenger, service that will call
for and deliver your order.
Jacobs* Pharmacy
6-8-10 Marietta Street. 23 Whitehall Street.
LEAD
Others follow. That others Imitate our habits shows
that our policy Is sound.
“Asconite”
Stands for quality and quality saves money. Uso AS
CONITE QUARTZ or GRAVEL ROOFING and your In
vestment Is secure. "You can put It on."
ATLANTA SUPPLY CO.,
MANUFACTURERS,
29-31 South Forsyth Street, Atlanta, Ga.
J. C. Greenfield, Pres. C. ‘A. Peek, 8ec.
r-
mmmm
NEW LINE TO
New York, Philadelphia
ALL POINTS NORTH AND EAST
Via CINCINNATI
i
SEJ