Not its most enthusiastic apologist would call Black Rock a religious
community, but it possessed in a marked degree that eminent Christian
virtue of tolerance. All creeds, all shades of religious opinion, were
allowed, and it was generally conceded that one was as good as another.
It is fair to say, however, that Black Rock's catholicity was negative
rather than positive. The only religion objectionable was that insisted
upon as a necessity. It never occurred to any one to consider religion
other than as a respectable, if not ornamental, addition to life in
older lands.
During the weeks following the making of the League, however, this
negative attitude towards things religious gave place to one of keen
investigation and criticism. The indifference passed away, and with it,
in a large measure, the tolerance. Mr. Craig was responsible for the
former of these changes, but hardly, in fairness, could he be held
responsible for the latter. If any one, more than another, was to be
blamed for the rise of intolerance in the village, that man was Geordie
Crawford.
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