The Latest Infidelity.pdf 487KB May 19 2009 - R.L. Dabney Archive

528 THE LATEST INFIDELITY.
if there is a God, he is culpable for it. He is exceedingly blam-
able for all this misery which should have been prevented by
him. That is to say, the caviller is altogether in sympathy with
these creature sufferers as against their hard master. Of course,
then, this humane and sympathizing caviller is doing everything
in his power to minimize the hardships so blamably inflicted
upon his fellow-creatures. Of course he is steadily devoting his
best energies, his time, talents, and money, to repairing the
cruelties which this bad God has let loose upon poor fellow-
mortals, to comforting the sorrowful, to supplying their desti-
tutions, and especially to removing their ignorance and vices
and irreligion, which he knows to be the practical proximate
cause of so much of these pitiable sorrows. Of course this just
accuser thinks he has no money to waste upon the pomps and
luxuries of life, no time for any needless amusements, no time
or talent to expend upon personal ambitions or any selfish aim.
Of course he husbands all conscientiously for the sacred object
of minimizing these evils of human existence, and mending so
much as may be mended of the neglects of this cruel God. If
he does not, is he not himself like the cruel God? Is not this
accusation of God, coming from such as he, too much like
"Satan reproving sin?" Does this agnostic waste any money
upon Havana cigars and costly wines, which he would be better
without; upon expensive architecture and furniture, where he
sees more honored men than himself do with plainer; upon par-
tisan political campaigns, which, whichever way they go, only
leave the country more corrupt—sacred money which might
have been used to ease the sick of their agonies, to feed the
starving, to wipe the tears from the face of the orphan, to make
the desolate widow's heart sing for joy, to dissipate the ignor-
ance and vice and ungodliness from the heart of the youth who
must otherwise reap the harvest of temporal perdition from
these seeds? I bring no charge; but I submit that, unless the
agnostic is truly acting in this philanthropic way, decency
should close his mouth. For shame's sake let him not blame
God for the results of a neglect which he himself practices.
The most probable rejoinder of the agnostic will be, that
he sees the majority of the professed Christians also practicing
this unphilanthropic neglect. My answer is, that I admit with
sorrow that it is partly true. It is also true that nearly all the