Congress and Religious Legislation by K. C. R.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Mar 18, 1909

Congress and Religious Legislation

By K. C. R.

THURSDAY, March 4, at 12 M., the Sixtieth Congress expired, and with it all the bills that had failed to pass during the session died.

Among the many bills that failed to become law was Senate bill 3940, known as the Johnston Sunday bill for the District of Columbia. The defeat of this bill will be a source of satisfaction to the friends of religious freedom in this country; for had the bill become law, it would have been the first Sunday law enacted by Congress, and would therefore have been a long step toward the union of church and state in the United States. The friends of Sunday legislation in the city of Washington and throughout the country have exerted persistent efforts for the passage of this and many other Sunday bills, but through the united efforts of the friends of religious freedom in the United States, and through the good sense of our lawmakers, this pernicious legislation has been defeated. Those who have in any way exerted an influence in bringing about this victory should take renewed courage in opposing any similar measure that may be urged upon Congress in the future.

The victories gained by the friends of religious freedom in defeating Sunday legislation in many of the States throughout the Union should also be a source of encouragement to them, because it demonstrates that there are still statesmen in legislative assemblies who prize too highly the principles of religious liberty to yield to the pressure that is being brought upon them by various religious organizations to secure the enactment of Sunday laws.

The recent movement to secure a Sunday law for the District of Columbia was instigated by the Ministerial Association of Washington in November, 1907. They sought and secured the co-operation of the Roman Catholics after obtaining the consent of Cardinal Gibbons. This movement was also championed by the National Federation of Sunday Rest Associations of America, and the American Federation of Labor, besides other national and local organizations. It might be queried, What more could be desired along the line of influence and numbers than the forces already indicated?

During the past four years the efforts of those who have sought to secure legislation in Congress have been met with signal defeat. The only measure of a religious character that the friends of Sunday legislation have succeeded in getting through Congress during this period was the Sunday-closing condition in the appropriation bill of the Jamestown Exposition. This was not surprising, however, owing to the prestige that had been established by Congress in making appropriations for other great expositions upon a like condition. It is a matter worthy of comment that the Sunday-law advocates have not been successful in securing a Sunday-closing condition to the appropriation for the Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition to be held at Seattle, Wash., this year.

Let none forget that in all efforts in defense of the principles of liberty the one objective point should be to warn the people of the final outcome, that they may escape the wrath of God, which is to be poured out without mixture upon those who reject the message of warning against the beast, and his image, and the reception of his mark. K. C. R.