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Freethought Review, Volume II, Issue 15, 1 December 1884, Page 1

"Asmodeus" discusses the truth and utility of Spiritualism at some length in the ' New Zealand Times' of the 23rd ultimo. He is candid enough to admit that " its own friends are often its worst enemies, " by their ill-judged, injudicious advocacy, intemperate " disputation, and contemptible credulousness," but is unconscious that he lays himself open to similar charges. His arguments are of the usual vague character so common among Spiritualists. Reason must be kept within bounds. Intuitions are trustworthy, he declares, and wide-spread beliefs are conclusive evidence of matters of fact, "if modern " spiritualism is a fraud and deceit, then are ancient " miracles (so termed) mere myths." No doubt ; but two errors do not make a truth. The Freethinker laughs at " occultism," in which " Asmodeus " has such faith, because he knows enough of the history of opinion to be aware how easily the human mind becomes the slave of superstition. Looking at the question from the historical and scientific point of view, it is evident enough that spiritism is little more j than theology in a state of decay. The old beliefs are rejected by the intellect, and the new do not at present satisfy the emotions. People have so long been taught that virtue will be supernaturally rewarded that they feel themselves defrauded when convinced that this is a delusion. As " Asmodeus " puts it, "the leading " principle of our advanced civilisation is the rights of " man, —he is to receive fair wages for his labour. To " tell a mason, or bricklayer, or carpenter, that rearing " a beautiful edifice was sufficient recompense for the " labour bestowed upon it, would be received with de- " rision. And so with every other occupation of life. " And yet the highest occupation of all, the practice of " virtue, the exercise of charity, self-controlin short, " the preparation for the hereafter, commands no " remuneration ! If so, creation is a fraud, a mistake, " and the evolution of species a mockery. Our progress, '' our science, our evolution to a higher phase of humanity « — a phase so high, so sublime, as to approach demi- " godhead' is all for nothing. Upon this part of the " question I have no issue with the creeds of the day, " but am chiefly concerned with those who take reason for a guide, and, like Thomas of old, believe nothing " they cannot see and feel." This is an exquisitely naive confession of inability to grasp the very elements of moral science as developed in modern times. Granting the utility of the notion of personal rewards and punishments in a future life, in the earlier history of our race, by which time was gained for social influences to produce altruistic sentiments which have now become hereditary to some extent, it is clear that just so far as a man does right, merely for the hope of reward, is his character inferior to that of the man who acts rightly without being influenced by any such motive. In our day it is only the criminal classes who are habitually influenced by considerations, which, transferred to another world, Christians and Spiritualists

profess to be the only ones that can prevent them from being as wicked as, on their showing, " Materialists" ought to be, but somehow are not. " Surely this idea of compensation," says a writer in the ' Westminster Review,' " is one of the most ex- " quisitely ludicrous that mankind has ever had. Compe?isation ! For what For an act of self-denial ? But " what self is it that you deny ? Not the good self, " certainly, for that is precisely what you indulge. The self,' denied, can be nothing but the brutethe " greedy, selfish, cruel beast—and this it is which " wants to recover damages ! The more you have " within you of this brute, the more damages you " claim ! But the fact that you are not satisfied shows " you to be undeserving. The greater you feel your " sacrifice to be, the lower you stand in the scale. " Moreover, what kind oi compensation do you claim ? " Do you want to be better, or to be worse ? If better, " you are claiming a repetition of the very acts by " which you represent yourself as damaged ! Logically, " the damages can only be awarded to the brute. But " in that case your petition bears a wrong address; it " should be directed, not to God, but to the Devil !" The truth is that the character and conduct most conducive to the happiness of the human race is often in conflict with that of the individual, and the good boy " Tommy," as in the recent apologue in ' Blackwood's 'Magazine,' too often ends his career by " throwing " dust in people's eyes " in order to gain both "praise " and pudding." In the matter of dust-throwing, there are no greater proficients than the churches as represented by their especial " pillars." Under the heading of " Esoteric Bosh,' the ' Satur- ' day Review ' has an article dealing with some of the ! nonsense which seems to have so much impressed " Asmodeus " and his likes. It says : — " For nearly " ten years people who do not confine their reading to " novels have heard hints and rumours of a Theo- " sophistic Society, of a wonder-working Indo-Slavonic- " American Sibyl, and of the marvellous Thibetan " ' adepts.' A wholly unreadable book, named ' Isis " ' Unveiled,' was published by some person or persons " interested in this movement. It seemed about equally " composed of'Zanoni' and the'Strange Story,'popular " conceptions of Eastern mysticism, a dash of American " spiritualistic twaddle, and other equally valuable in- " gredients, with an immense stock of ignorance about " the real nature of ancient religions. No one could " stand ' Isis Unveiled,' and afterwards shorter manuals " of the latest phase of credulity were put out under "the names of 'Occult Philosophy' and 'Esoteric " ' Buddhism.' " It goes on to say — " The evangelists " of ' Esoteric Buddhism,' which is a mixture of Yankee •'gush and shrewdness, with some misapplied tags of " modern science, an exhaustive ignorance of the

" history of religion, and some miracle-mongering, have " no doubt about the continued existence of several " sorts of souls, some of them bogies. This draws " them close to that intelligent body, the Psychical " Research Society. For the patrons of psychical re- " search Esoteric Buddhism has this charm—that it "offers the greatest quantity of prodigies with the " slightest possible basis of evidence." It seems that the whole thing has been exposed by Mr. Arthur Lillie, in a pamphlet called " Koot Hoomi Unveiled" (E. W. Allen). " Asmodeus " should read it, when he may possibly understand why the people he calls "fools" and "blind," " malignant and stoney-hearted," are not prepared to follow his lead. They know the country too well. The rank growth of the weeds of superstition indicate the proximity of the old theological bogs. It will take time to drain them, but the work will be done at last.

The vitality of erroneous opinions, when associated with self-interest, is well illustrated by the manner in which " protection " is growing into public favour. ' Hansard ' supplies evidence that too many members of both Houses are profoundly ignorant of the very elements of economic science, which is perhaps not to be wondered at when it is remembered how small a portion of the public has as yet grasped the idea that political action has any connection with scientific knowledge at all. Implicitly, no doubt, the fact is recognised that, to secure good results, sound knowledge is required, but few people seem to realise that any knowledge bearing on the political life of a people, is, or may be, organised into a body of reasoned truth. In politics almost any fallacy will impose upon even intelligent men if it appears to jump with their wishes, and the more illogical an argument is the more it " tells " in an election or in a division.

As Mr. Herbert Spencer has pointed out, even our language has been moulded in accordance with economic ideas which are palpably fallacious. He says: — "It is, indeed, marvellous how readily we let " ourselves be deceived by words and phrases which " suggest one aspect of the facts while leaving the " opposite aspect unsuggested. A good illustration of " this, and one germane to the immediate question, is " seen in the use of the words ' protection ' and ' pro"'tectionist' by the antagonists of free-trade, and in " the tacit admission of its propriety by free-traders. " While the one party has habitually ignored, the other " party has habitually failed to emphasise the truth, " that this so-called protection always involves aggres- " sion ; and that the name aggressionist ought to be " substituted for the name protectionist. For nothing " can be more certain than that if, to maintain A's " profit, B is forbidden to buy of C, or is fined to the " extent of the duty if he buys of C, B is aggressed " upon that A may be ' protected.' Nay, ' aggres- " ' sionist' is a title doubly more applicable to the anti- " free-traders than is the euphemistic title ' pro- " ' tectionist,' since, that one producer may gain, ten " consumers are fleeced."

An attentive consideration of this passage might have prevented Admiral Scott, who recently gave a lecture in the Colonial Museum on " The Development " of the Industrial Resources of New Zealand," from

recommending that they should be bolstered up by the adoption of a protective policy, of which there is already a great deal too much in our tariff. How compelling the consumer to pay the producer more than he would have to pay the importer under a free-trade system could " maintain the quality of the goods and keep down prices," as he asserted, does not appear, and the proposition reduced to its elements is really a contradiction in terms.

Admiral Scott, who was introduced by His Excellency the Governor (who presided at the meeting above referred to), as an old friend of his," is probably a clever and well-informed man. On many subjects he is perhaps an excellent authority, but it is a pity no member of the New Zealand Institute who was present at the meeting had the courage to point out that his assertion that " the gloomy state of " England's trade was a consequence of her free-trade "policy," was entirely erroneous. A gentleman who quoted from Mill ought to have known that, cum hoc, ergo propter hoc is the most vulgar form of the fallacy of generalisation, where causation is inferred from casual conjunction. Similarly in the case of the United States and Canada, whose prosperity he attributed to protection, entirely ignoring all those causes, such as vast unoccupied territories, a constant stream of immigration, great internal industrial freedom, &c, &c, which ensure progress in wealth in spite of the " aggression " of sections of the community upon the rest. It might as well be said that the cause of the wealth of London is the number of thieves it contains. With regard to the States, Mr. Mongredien has put the subject in a concrete form in his " Western Farmer " of America," where he estimates that the American farmers are taxed 400 million dollars every year in order to make the fortunes of the Eastern States manufacturers! In his " Free-Trade and English " Commerce " he proves conclusively that while England has benefitted enormously by free-trade in good times, countries where an "aggressive policy" has been in vogue have suffered even more than England in bad times. This is what might be expected, for any infringement of natural liberty is sure to produce evil in varied forms.

The Rev. Mr. Fancourt (Anglican) preached recently in Wanganui on the growth of the Frcethought movement, and strongly urged his hearers to carry out the doctrine of Christianity in both letter and spirit. For the benefit of some of our Christian friends who do not know their Bible as well as they should, we will give them one text to start with :James V., 14th and part of 15th verse : " Is any sick among you, let him call "for the elders of the Church, and let them pray over " him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord, "and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the " Lord shall raise him up." Now this is clear, —no sending for the doctor. True, you might incur a criminal prosecution for neglect, as recently happened in England, where, in a Christian land, a Christian magistrate fined a Christian man for carrying out in the letter and spirit this text of the Christian Bible, and thereby losing his child. Furthermore, you would give to Freethinkers a second edition of one of the grimest of jokes they have had for some time ; and if it should cause them to laugh, you have your reward in contemplating their punishment, for has not the gentle

and philosophic Jesus said, " Woe unto you that laugh " now, for ye shall mourn and weep," i.e., laugh and be damned ! A biographical notice of a very religious family, quoted by a very religious contemporary, states that " for five generations the family had been possessed of " sterling qualities of head and heart, and that during " that time there had not been in it a prodigal nor an " infidel." Then follows the moral:—" It is better " than keeping houses or lands to keep holding on to " such precious legacy of faith and worth." Passing over with a smile the usual goody, truthful, regardless of police records, coupling of prodigal and infidel, we cannot but shudder at the intellectual and moral state of this family, which for five generations produced not a single doubter. Think of it! For five generations men and women thought David, Jacob, and Noah were holy men, and held up their unsullied lives as fit examples for children to follow. And then, no doubt, instead of holding on to houses and lands, they made over the precious legacy to the Church (or why the moral ?). There is one thing certain, and that is, that owing to the progress of Freethought, the next five generations will not be so barren of infidels. The ' New Zealand Methodist' gives as an instance of the power of special prayer, that for 120 years a ship has annually left England for the " Moravian " Mission," in the arctic regions, without the loss of a single ship or passenger by storm, iceberg, or wreck. We wonder which the rev. editor prefers when he travels, a vessel well prayed for and poorly officered, or the reverse. We know which we prefer. Now, that ungodly Cunard Company, after thousands of trips at almost racehorse speed across the Atlantic, also boast that they have not lost a single ship. But then they take good care to pay highly for the best commanders obtainable ! —as perhaps the Moravian mission does, and so " keep their powder dry." But, Mr. Rev. Editor, is not this statement rather rash ? Suppose next year proper precautions are not taken, and a vessel is lost. Won't the heathen laugh ! It seems to us that you have placed your God under an obligation, and if a vessel or passenger should come to grief, that you will be quite justified, like the poor African, in smashing up your idol.

This naturally leads us into the question of insurance —and we wonder if this " Moravian Mission " insure their vessels, and, if so, whether the insurance companies make any reduction in premium owing to the " special prayers?" We have often thought it lacking in faith for the sects to insure their churches, for surely God can look after his own. However, by a late return we see that during last year over four hundred churches in the United Kingdom were struck by lightning. This surely must be because God, amongst the numerous sects of America, is somewhat perplexed to know his own ; unless it is to reprove those unfaithful servants who have erected lightning conductors on the house of God itself.

The same paper also gives a graphic description of the great fear in an Indian village during a lunar —how, with the blowing of horns, sounding of gongs, etc. (like the concert before the walls of Jericho), the inhabitants endeavour so to frighten the moon as

to prevent her from swallowing the earth, or, having swallowed it, to compel her to disgorge it without delay. The 'writer then naively remarks that, as they always seem to succeed, so the Hindoos go back to their homes perfectly satisfied that they have rendered distinguished service to the whole human race. Just so! —enlightened Methodists, but poor heathen Hindoos Now the poor Hindoos have some foundation for their simple faith, for a lunar eclipse always does pass away ; but how about these Christian prayers, for rain, for instance, that are of no avail, unless the wind is from the right quarter; or for the conversion of Freethinkers, which are also of no avail, unless Freethinkers first agree to subordinate their reason to religious hysteria. A truly faithful Christian, not understanding the spirit of the nineteenth century, has requested Bishop Moorhouse, of Melbourne, to pray to the Almighty God to strike with sterility the rabbits of Victoria, and so abate the rabbit nuisance. A few years ago this would have been looked upon as a most natural request, but now, owing to the spread of Freethought, it is ridiculed from one end of the colony to the other. We fail to see why, for surely the God who removed the sterility of Abraham's Sarah could, and should, impose sterility on the rabbits—for no one can deny that this would be a great blessing to man, whereas the propagation of the Israelites (if you can believe the Bible records) was one of the most damnable curses of ancient times ; for, not content with murdering and rapeing the surrounding nations, this insignificant handful of " God's own people " actually presumed to crucify and put to death the creator of this vast and incomprehensible universe.

The Rev. Mr. W T hitehouse (Anglican) gave a lecture in Wanganui on Freethought, and we were scarcely surprised, though rather disappointed, to find that it contained about as much argument and unproved assertions as the usual run of sermons. We were told that the Church need not fear Freethought, and that to shun enquiry shows that its foundations are false. We take the rev. gentleman at his word, and say that the Church has, and does, shun enquiry, and therefore its foundations must be false. Need we mention the names of Hypatia, Bruno, Galileo, Bacon, Vesalius, Colenso, and Darwin ?—and further ask, what is the present attitude of the Church respecting evolution and geology ?

Of course the French Revolution was dragged in, for we never yet heard a lecture on Freethought without this being instanced as a case of the excesses committed by a people when they have thrown over all belief in a God—totally ignoring the historic fact that these were the natural results of centuries of degradation and outrage, committed on the people by a tyrannical government and a corrupt aristocracy. And to the shame of the Christian Church, it was allied with the tyrants ! Can it be wondered at that when the inevitable conflict came (a conflict foreseen and foretold by the prophet Voltaire), that the degraded people could not discriminate between the Church and the tyrant ? No ! And we say that that Church was largely responsible for these excesses, and truly reaped where it had sown !

Again, the rev. gentleman brought forward the old charge that Freethought destroys without building up, and, before it could meet with his acceptance, it must offer something better than the inspiring faith of Christianity. Even supposing that Freethought had nothing to give (wnich we will not admit), why, if we believe that Christianity is founded on superstition, that it is injurious to the moral and intellectual improvement of the human race—why should we be called upon to build something in its place ? And we retort by asking the Church what it gave in place of the grand old philosophy and sciences of Greece and Rome ? The page of history answers that it gave us the flames of the Alexandrian library, and the heavy blackness of the dark ages, when to investigate the mysteries of nature was to be charged with magic, and to doubt was to be burned at the stake.

After charging Freethinkers with picking out passages from the Bible away from their context and criticising them, the lecturer gave, as the testimony of Thomas Paine, that the Bible was the best of all books. If this is not picking out a passage away from its context, we do not know what it is. Can anyone in his senses (unless he is trying to throw dust in the eyes of his Christian audience), who has read " Paine's Age of " Reason," bring him forward as a testimony to the truth of the Bible ? It only bears out our contention that the day will come when the Deist, Paine, will be claimed as orthodox by the Christian Churchbut, until this lecture, we had no idea that the time was so near.

Then we had the assertion that as science teaches that truth alone can live, how is it that Christianity lives ?—totally ignoring the older and more numerous faith of Buddhism, Confucianism, etc. Also in the assertion that the Christian minister holds out a hope beyond the grave, totally ignoring the text about " broad is the way," etc. And how about election, and pre-destination, which has driven many a man to madness and despair ?

In the ignoring of hell fire, and in quietly keeping in the background, or attempting to explain away the curses uttered by Jesus, the lecturer only showed the advance made by Freethought even in the Church itself. By all means let the Church grow out of the barbarous belief in hell, but we will put the logical question—if no hell, why a Saviour, for what arc we to be saved from ? Of one thing we are very certain—that the progress of Freethought is demonstrated by the fact that if this lecture even had been delivered thirty years ago, the rev. gentleman would have been deprived of his living.