HAS CHRISTIANITY FAILED ?

NZ Truth, Issue 580, 29 July 1916, Page 8

HAS CHRISTIANITY FAILED ?

Dear "Truth," — "Truth-Seeker," m your Issue of July 1, In his fervid endeavor to defeat my conclusions In "Has Christianity Failed?" of June 10, gets himself entangled. It is not necessary to follow him through the mental maze of twists and turnings by which he comes to his own debacle, self-annunciated, "that Christianity has never entered into the collective life of any nation," and "that Christianity never has had any length of time to prove whether It could regenerate the world and civilise mankind, eta" Could anything be said more damning against the "Christ-Jehovah"' religion than "Truth-Seeker'B" own admissions. Candidness can go no further. Now, let us try and analyse some of these causes of the JahvehChrist religion's failure to regenerate man m a degree or to guide m some measure his earthly passage through this vale of tears. Firstly, m the light of present-day scientific knowledge, natural history tells us that we belong -to the animal ldngdom, order carnlvora and vertebrate. Biology informs us that we are made up very largely of living cells and animalculae on whom depend, to a great degree, the health of the human system as a whole. The animalculae are of different kinds, known and unknown. Not only have we within our bodies germs of a friendly nature, but there are continual Ingress from without of unfriendly germs, which are attacked by the friendly ones and engulfed by them, if our system is m a state of health. If not, then disease sets m and we are sick. In fact, to put It shortly, within our system there is continual warfare, and to the knife; no quarter., is given or asked, and I would put It to "Truth-Seeker," if this Is the case m our bodies Internally, how m tho name of sense and truth cahfepiere be anything on the outside .(externally) but warfare also. Here la where Christianity falls, and falls egreglously on the natural history plane. Scientific knowledge on some lines such osantropology was practically unknown when the Semitic individuals produced tho old and new Jahveh-Christ religion, and, there-

fore, while it may have suited those Eastern, races, for some period of time, it will not be satisfactory to the white races m these days of understanding of scientific knowledge and research. There are many arguments that it would have been better for even the Semitic Eastern peoples if, peradventure, a more robust mythology had been enunciated . when the predecessor of the Jahveh-Christ belief was falling into disusage, Instead of amalgamating all the supine and slavish non-resis-tant features of the old Eastern superstitions into the concrete whole that is now known as Christianity. The white portion of the human race is now able to review the religious mistakes of the past and must take an accounting of its religious house and again revert, if only to the main features of the ancient religion of Its forefathers, to the worship of Woodin. Christianity has failed to realise, or at least its founders, the priests of that time, failed, to realise that life is a struggle, that m all nature there is unceasing warfare. Nature is red m tooth and claw, and no "Abacadabra" of phrases or shibboleths of turning the other cheek, or each man his hroSther's keeper, ett^, or going to heaven when you die, if you are good, will enable us to go through our earthly Journey either In comfort or safety. Pitfalls surround us on every hand. Disease lurks m every corner and on every post. Enemies ply their wiles and knaves their toils, and for any religion or superstition to teach otherwise Is destructive of the protective and resistant forces of human nature and being. Christianity has sapped the manly attributes of courage and resistance to their oppressors; from the masses of human beings of the white races for two thousand years, and it Is about time to call a halt ere the white race becomes degraded to the level of Eastern eunuchs and castrates. The bulk of the population of European people are now living m such squalor, ml*ery and ignorance that the world In the last 6000 years has never seen its like. The present "International conflict is another example of this mental degeneration, wherein millions of professedly German Socialists allowed a handful of their rulers to precipitate them into a death struggle with their syndicalist brothers of Prance and their Socialist brethren of Belgium. All the populations concerned were trade unionists, with tha

exception of Russia, and even it has a strong active, though small, minority of trades unionists, and these men who m normal times pledged themselves to assist one another, are now In death grapples anil the end is not yet. The Jahvch-Chri3t religion has had greatly to do with the bringing about of this butchery, for It advocated and preached In and out of season the continual call of subservience of the will of the mass of the people to their rulers, spiritual and temporal. The moral fibre was weakened to the extent that the modern proletariat, was nothing but a roar© automaton who depended m all social affairs upon persons elected to office to initiate, protect, suggest and. guide his every personal and social thought and action. The indirect mode of action Initiated and taught by the Christian ecclesiastical authorities had reached to the extent that hardly any functions were left to the Individual, or groups of individuals, and tho bulk of tho people had as their theory of life, nearly absolute dependence upon either political or religious "Moseses," to steer them through the earthly waters and beyond. Tho proof of tho pudding Is the eating. No better has ever been found than that homely test, and, gauged by that scrutiny, Christianity has failed absolutely. It Is beside tho question 10 sny that It has never been subscribed to smfflclenlly by a nation or In suiilirl.-nt numbers. It has had a trial of thousands of years, and has had millions of devotees, and by all human loses and experiences the tlmo has been umplo and tho trial has been thorough. Humanity! The white portion of it bus tried It and found It wanting. In all that obtains to a virile, stalwart and noble mythology it la lacking. It Is v religion for fttavcH and thralls, not Htvinen. its essence, obedience it ml m«.'>4cnesß, m antagonistic to n nation of l>r»ve men. It hrm bred iiotlihij-r l>'is <-conomk» serfs und religloun hys>uer;it«.H. knuve* and fooln. dupes urn! nn:v.<-?, A«aln. th« Christian arid ih«> «..»U! V<;<<t;imem.« j'.ru rt rnatts of con i rail if lions. &iut<>incnut of the most fU-MnJtn moment tiro made which contriivort am* unotlur. No definite Hn» of action or fulvlets Js liiltl ilown. What l» said In one por lion l» Ju»l the opposite m another part. No two epistles of the "Apostles" are tho »ame. In fuel. In many pun ii they disagree with on<.» another. The whoku, work, composed of many books as it l«, I* a very fallible, contra, victory composition and full of Imtc:i".*cle*. It has lewd aod ob*c«n«

passages. Its remarks on natural phenomena are a laughing stock and to follow its diverse arid contradictory advice would lead an individual. either to the mad-house or the mortuary. For a review m a masterly, manner, giving chapter and verse, of the complete list of contradictions, etc., and a mass of other information pertaining to the Christian Bible, I recommend Professor Foote's "Students' Bible Hand-Book," price 6d, obtainable from any respectable bookseller. To sum. up, religion is a waning force, amongst the intellectual portion of mankind, but as the bulk of people will most probably require some spiritual guide or religion, then I say we must have a noble, virile, courageous mythology, and I emphatically advise a return to that grand and soul-inspiring religion, j the worship of Woodin. — Yours, etc. | , "D.C." Auckland. - . :■

Dear "Truth," — Just a few words to say that, m common -with, many others, I thoroughly endorse "D,C." m Ma letter •'Has Christianity Failed?" It was a failure from its inception and the longer It has been m existence the stronger this has been demonstrated. It has been one of the greatest inflnAnrf>q for evil that this hoary old world has known, and it has been one of the most terrible scorpions with which the human bdck has been, flayed. Bigotry, intolerance, crime and bloodshed have walked m its train. If it were not for Che culpable ignorance, stupidity and gullability of the masses it could never have had vogue. Mankind has paid m oceans of blood and misery for its obtuseness, and we still have to suffer even m this age for our ancestors' criminal lack of intelligence. Wo oil hope this war — as "D.C." points out (with nearly all the nations subscribing to Christianity) — will very materially assist 4n giving the final death-blow to the present day conception of Christianity. On all sides one can hear murmurs of "Where is God that He allowed this war to take place?" "Why does He allow His children to be slaughtered at the behest of kings and kaisers?" Let us hope that these murmurs will lead to a mental awakening-. One marvels at your correspondent, Truth-seeker," who replies to "D.C." m your issue of July 1. Much better would it have been had he signed himself "Apologist," for he propounds no/ argument against Christianity's failure; m fact, he makes the caso very much stronger against 1L I would ask "T.S," "What Is religious Truth? Is there such a thing? Can any religion, past or present, justify itself m the searchlight of reason or truth? Religious apologists, when up against Intelligent criticism, always take shelter m the coward's castle of "Belief." Strange, because T. 5.," from his letter, Bhowa himself to have had an education, that he should enunciate such statements. No ecclesiastic would be so foolhardy as to bolster up his particular superstition by reason, intelligence, experience or logic. . These qualities, as Socrates pointed out nigh upon 1800 years ago, are powerless against religious belief: for religion is not reason, therefore, it Is not reasonabla To attempt to Justify Christianity by logic Is not the method of one skilled m religious discussion, and when next "T.S.^ tries to uphold Christianity m argument, first let him "take a few pointers fropa the ecclesiastical authorities of the Christian Church and he will then oee how very unsophisticated he is m religious upholdment I certainly agree with w i).C.".in his contention that It is high time we had a change from the present Christian religion to a more robust one, and from my reading of the religion of Woodin it certainly offers many Inducements to the white race. Our Norse and Viking ancestors were without doubt grand and noble, men, giants 'm physique and of a sound mentality. They were fair to look upon- and their women were comely and healthy. The desirable qualities were nqpoubt due, m no small measure, to the aid given by a robust | mythology, and I believe the white race could not do better than harken back j to the religious theory of their an- '' oestors, the Goths and Gauls. We are very far from their manly qualities to- i day.— Yours, etc^ ; H. a HAMILTON. j Mt. Eden, Auckland.

pear- "Truth," — In this, my second letter. I 'wish, to deal with some historical facts that havo a powerful bearing on the development of the character and calling of the Jews, as we know them to-day. History proves that not only was their 1 Industry hampered by a severe prohibition of "Intercourse with Christians," and by an increasing practise of spoliation and displacement by Christian princes, but all civic and honorable employment was almost universally forbidden to them, one pope going so far as to restrict them to the profession of vending "old clothes," which has survived m many of the poorer, modern Jews. Finding themselves thus virtually restricted, m the course of time, to one single profession, of which, moreover, they had" a royal monopoly, the "shent per ahent" gentleman naturally took every possible advantage of it. However, powerful as it is, this consideration la only of secondary importance m the development of the Jewish character. It Is thirteen centuries of the most barbarous persecution (by Christians) that has made the modern Jew the astute, skilful, acquisitive and mysterious Isolated ffguro we to-day have In our midst. In all tbo blood-stained annals of the development of religion there Is no chapter that could compare for s moment with the purely religious persecution of the children of Israel by the followers of- the gentle Christ They are "Insulted, plundered and despised by all Christian nations." Mr. Lecky says, from the third century to the sixteenth, Indeed, he extends the period of persecution, to the 'French Revolution. "They show no signs of life," says Dean Milman, "but In their cries of agony they only appear In th« autials of the world to be oppressed, robbed, persecuted and massacred." The persecution of the Christians by the noraan Emperors is Insignificant In comparison. The Jews of Germany .In the eleventh century, of Franco, In the fourteenth, or of Catholic Spain m the fifteenth, suffered infinitely more than the whole Christian Church from Noro to Constantino. Thousands are executed with all the pomp and circumstance of religious fanaticism; thousands aro massacred by Christian troops and peoples; thousands fllay themselves to escape a worse death; women slay their children, men their wives and daughters for their \ honor's tsake. and they die together to escape the vile mobs that ore led

sometimes by proud Christian priests: thousands perish of starvation, of shipwreck., of pirates, of slavery, having j been mercilessly plundered and exiled. And, throughout the whole of \thar long period they are systematically insulted, robbed and treated like wild tfeasts, ever since the «con verted (sicl) Constantine was taught to call them the most hateful of all nations. Theologians, including the divine Aquinas, justify, the Christians who plunder them, and others defend the appalling sufferings inflicted on them, on the gTound that, as popes and theologians declared, "they have become slaves for ever by the death of Christ." A brief survey of their history sufficiently explains all that^s unusual m their present character. Before his expatriation it would be difficult to find m the Jew any trace of those features which have earned him so much approbrium m the Christian Era. The Jews were not only literally faithful to the monetary principles of their law, but, carefully adhering to the spirit of their great legislator, they remained •averse to all forms of commerce,' and devoted themselves solely to agriculture." What has the erudite Biblical scholar, "Let Truth Prevail" to say to that piece of information. With the commencement of the period of emigration, the spirit of commerce is necessarily engendered. Yet there Is still no trace of any unpleasant feature m their commercial transactions. There is evidence, for instance, of an Important Jewish colony In China long before the commencement 'of the Christian Era. This colony was extensively prosperous and its members attained high positions of honor and authority* m the land. There are extant to-day inscriptions that speak m high terms of their fidelity m- agriculture; In traffic,' m the army, the magistracy, etc Such, also, is the condition of the Jewish colony at Rome. Under Julius Caesar and Augustus there was a large and most flourishing Jewish population m the city. They obtained the .■; rights of citizenship, many of whom were In high honor at the court. They had full liberty of cult and public religious demonstration, a Synagogue and a cemetery (m the Vatican, according to many writers). The laws of Pagan Rome concerning them are m luminous contrast to the dark laws of Christian , Rome and the Church of Rome^— lnoaei communi Romano Inreviventes adeant solemn! more Indicia — and they were even protected by law from interference on the Sabbath. The only difference between the Jews "and the Romans is that of religious observance, and m this they were granted full liberty. The only accusation made against them Is that of credulity (which might have bean retorted with much propriety). There is no single trace of an accusation of cupidity, or intrigue, or disloyalty. Yet appalling persecu--1 tion soon was to decimate their ranks, which, with the Editor's permission, 1 will analyse to a concluding letter.— Yours, etc., BARA FOSTUS. Auckland.