Blue-Grass Blade from Lexington, Kentucky • Page 11

1 I htl tnE I BLUE GRASS BLADE 11 inc them before the school begins You can then familiarize yourself with the subject to be treated and what they mean It will give you a better start To get the benefit of the reduction in price you should order the textbooks through the Blade In other words just write to us and say you wish them and we will order them sent to you through the express office 0 or you can send the four dollars and sixteen cents to us and we will pay direct leaving you only express charges to pay whichwill not be much We are happy to announce that Mrs Helen Lucas of Marietta Ohio has already purchased one scholarship and promises another Other friends have written that they will do the same thing and to all such friends who propose aiding the school in this manner we request that they take time by the forelock by sending in the name of the student now and the tuition fee by August 1 It is with a supreme confidence that we approach the beginning of this educational movement We have from time to time given an outline of the several subjects we propose to treat this coming year Our hope is that we have whetted the appetite and created a desire for more The school will be able to furnish it in better form Read the prospectus on another page in this issue Send in your name at once if you are going to join Tuition fee can be paid August 1 Dont hesitate or delay Get in line liner FREETHOUGUT FUNERALS There is no subject about which Freethinkers are so sensitive as the manner in which we shall part with our beloved dead Now is there any subject about which Freethinkers as a class can well afford to take a deep and serious interest in that from time almost immemorial they have been hampered by creed and custom until it has become difficult in many instances to successfully overcome these influences and environments During tho past few weeks tho Blade has been in receipt of several communications upon this subject and for a sound practical commonsense solution of the question we commend the article appearing in another column of this issue from the pen of James Morton Jr While it is radically different from tho known opinions of many Freethinkers it is none the less a departure from prevailing customs that might well be adopted by Freethinkers for the purposes suggested The fact of death affects principally those of kin to tho deceased With the multitude it is not the ar fact of death but the manner of dying Assuming jurisdiction over body and soul 1 the church has assumed the right to mumble perfunctory prayers at birth at marriage and at death No act can be committed by the individual but what the church assumes a sort of guardianship or control The cradle and the brave have been made special fields for their operation Regarding the latter the Christian world has built up a system that is as nauseating as it is costly and Freethinkers can well afford to make a speedy departure The first step in this direction came when Cremation was inaugurated and its increasing popularity testifies to tho soundness of this method of disposing of tho deadrrllO time will come when the people will understand that the church is incapable of praying a man into heaven or keeping him out of hell and the burial service will undergo a change The fact of a Freethought funeral or otherwise must largely be left to the desires of the immediate family of the deceased In all cases where the family do not share the Freethought views entertained and expressed by the deceased while living there can be no Freethought funeral and while some Christian form of burial may be given we know that it neither injures or helps the dead In such cases it is useless to complain or criticise irrespective of the manifest injustice perpetrated Again it is the desire of many Freethinkers arising principally from custom that some sort ofa cere mony be held over them when dead and to this end Some even go so far as to make provisions therefor before the end comes Christian people have argued and talked that to be buried without some ceremony sUggests that it is being buried like a dog and the same scrupulous care that moved Voltaire to guard against such a proceeding induces Freethought funer ads There is no earthly reason why Freethinkers should ape after Christian customs and while the subject is a serious one with many yet the further we can get from Christian form and ceremonials the better For our ownpart wo much prefer a brass band to play Johnny goes marching home than to have any of the old hymns commonly used on such occasions The air suggested would also be much near the truth Freethinkers do not need show or display Ifa ceremony is desired let it be as simple as possible A gathering of friends at the residence with a few appropriate words in the nature of an everlasting farewell are all that need be required and should please the most fastidious tastes There is much worthy of consideration in them ticle to which we have referred and it can be read with a great deal of profit 4 e3 tia.