"SIR: One of your correspondents says the illegitimate child will always be an outcast under moral law; which sounds pretty bad for moral law. It is worth remembering that good men have repeatedly told us that there are no illegitimate children, but only illegitimate parents. And it requires no superhuman vision and no superlative righteousness for anyone to see that an ideal which determines always to punish forever an innocent human being for that of which he is in no respect guilty is a detestable sham and a reproach to any “society” or “civilization.”What “we call” virtue or what “we call” vice is of very little consequence in comparison with the rights of a human soul and a human body—and complacent artificial codes to the contrary notwithstanding. Every child of illegitimate parents should receive from society more than a just measure of consideration, help and respect. There is nothing in the Christian religion to forbid this, whatever there may be in so-called moral and legal statutes. We are surely to be pitied, if with every variety of evil all about us, we are persuaded that the “immorality” of existence of any human life is something for us to persecute and oppress."