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Untitled Article
conviction , what means more adapted to that end * could be deviled ? Prevent diversity of opinion * indeed ; the faiost that can be done , is to produce ' uniformity of expression . Churches of humbler form ah < jb means , bav £ tried their power in the same way , They have their little'tests tt > fence their little circles ; They roll their mimic echoes of the thunder of excommunication , dud within their pale
keep men ' s tongues quiet or servile . The influence extends beyond all churches ; and they who worship no god , are horrorstruck at those tvho only adore one divine person ; , and he who knows nothing , shudders at him who does know something , though he only believes a little . Hence a monstrous mass of ignorance , servility , and hypocrisy of profession , in religion . But
this preserves purity of faith , we are told . What faith ? For all are , or may be , thus preserved . It destroys all purity of faith ; for that consists in the impartiality of the adoption , and the honesty of the profession . All that is most valuable about faith is destroyed * Truth is reduced to the level of error , by being separated from the Clear perception of its nature ^ of its evidences , and of its tendencies . The Christian ceases to sit at the feet of
Jesus ; or , if he does , it is with his ears stopped , and a creed in his hand for his eyes to rest upon . Where there is individual honesty , there must be variety of opinions . The Gospel is rdore glorified by a hundred different but independent interpreters than by a thdusand implicit believers . Thfe real and final unity of principle , iritist be pursued by art unbounded individuality of thought and speech . These are th £ intellectual evils of the
practices described . Of not less magnitude are the moral evils . Td bring insincerity into direct contact with religious faith , must needs deprave thfe whole character . Its simplicity is marred ; social integrity is impaired ; fraudulence ahd trickery are associated ttith the notion of religion 5 public morality is lowered ; and all this is done for the sake of elevating opinions , or
supporting a system dr a sect . O , they are the great reformers , —they are the real chatiipions of truth , —who assert every man ' s right to a distinct opinion , if he have mental energy enough to form one ! and Who would no more sit in judgment on his character , nor in any wriy affect his reputation or comforts , on account of his con- elusions , than they would on account of his stature .
' "If these things be don £ in the green trcte * what shall be donfe iff thedty ? * If thtis ii fares with sincerity in the Church , what fehould we Expect in the world ? though truly it can scarcely be much worse . Still it is hot behind in thfe emulation of evil ; Hdfr common it is for falsehood to be consecrated , and
insincerity to be Gnfdrced ^ fcveri by the ehactmerits of law , the administration of j ustice * and the institutions df government . How bfifcri is ihe criminal recommended solemnly to deny his crirnihality , and by orie falsehood take the chance of inducing other telsfchootiB , Arid the evasion of justice ! Hriw often tnust aii
Untitled Article
7 O& &ubornUti 6 ti of Insincerity .
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Citation
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Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), Oct. 2, 1832, page 702, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1822/page/52/
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