Blue Grass Blade

Hagerstown, Maryland.

Friend Hughes:—Today's Blade contains an excellent article on 'Who is The Infidel,' quoting some excellent points by Rev. Fay Mills, all of which show how indefinite, misleading and repellant to uninitiated young and old people the term 'Infidel' is, and, incidentally, how impolitic it is for Rationalists to accept and adopt it as a propaganda name.

On the second page of his 'Age of Reason,' that great Rationalist, Thomas Paine, said: 'Infidelity does not consist in believing or disbelieving; it consists in professing to believe what he does not believe.'

And he ends his 'Examination of the Prophecies' as follows: 'The priests exclaim against something they call infidelity. I will define what it is. He that believes in the story of Christ is an infidel to God.' (Emphasis on this latter sentence is Paine's.)

Ought we not follow so wise, intelligent and sagacious a leader as Paine and 'turn the tables' on Christians, rightly calling them Infidels and ourselves Rationalists?

For in his preface to the 'Age of Reason,' Paine says: 'The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is Reason. I have never used any other and I trust I never shall,' after which he continually appeals to and exalts reason throughout his entire writing, calling the leading one 'The Age of Reason.'

What better name then is there for his favorite cause than Rationalists, instead of the false term 'Infidel' which he disdainfully rejected and scornfully hurled back at Christians themselves.

Are we smarter than Thomas Paine, that we reject his leadership in this matter?—D. WEBSTER GROH.