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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