Charles Chilton Moore

Who was Charles Chilton Moore?

Charles Chilton Moore was an American atheist, and the editor of the Blue Grass Blade, one of the United States' first newspapers promoting atheism.

C. C. Moore's grandfather was the 19th century religious reformer Barton W. Stone. Moore became a preacher, in his grandfather's tradition, but came to doubt the Bible and its teachings. He left the church, passing through deism and agnosticism before becoming an atheist. He founded the Blue Grass Blade in 1884 in Lexington, Kentucky. Due to financial and legal problems, he was only able to publish it sporadically. The journal contained articles advocating such positions as agnosticism, women's suffrage, and prohibition.

Moore spent time in prison for his outspoken opposition to religion and The Bible. In February 1899, he was indicted for mailing obscene literature through the mail - a federal crime. The obscene literature in question was a discussion about free love that Moore had engaged in with a local judge in the pages of the Blade, but merely printing such a taboo conversation was enough to get him into a courthouse and set another historical precedent for the First Amendment. Moore, not wanting to burden his family financially, decided to defend himself in court. He would come to regret his decision when the district attorney managed to direct the jury's attention from Moore's mailing of lewd content to his atheism and the many articles of blasphemy in his newspaper. Moore's hopelessness was evident when he tried to convince a jury of twelve Christians that he, an atheist, was innocent. Though he was indicted for mailing obscene literature, it was his blasphemy that led the jury to deliberate for five minutes before returning with a guilty verdict. The next morning, the judge heeded Moore's plea to not impose a monetary penalty and instead sentenced him to two years in the Ohio State Penitentiary. Before Moore's friends at the Ohio Liberal Society could file his appeal, he was whisked away to the penitentiary. The Ohio Liberal Society and an African-American newspaper, The Lexington Standard, edited by R.C.O. Benjamin, fought for Moore's release. There is no indication which group managed to be successful in their efforts, but Ohio's former governor, President William McKinley, ended up commuting Moore's sentence to six months, with one month off for good behavior. Moore was released from prison in July 1899. His autobiography, mostly written in prison, is called Behind the Bars; 31498.