p. 7 | Religion by Edict

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Jan 7, 1909

Religion by Edict

ACCORDING to a recent press report, King Edward, of England, has issued an edict forbidding public entertainments in the theaters or music halls on Sundays, Christmas day, or Good Friday. This effort to establish religion by royal authority is consistent with the relation which government sustains to religion in Great Britain, and with the basis upon which Sunday observance rests. The state exercises a considerable degree of authority over the established church in Great Britain, although in issuing this arbitrary decree it is said that “the king has now turned to good account the survival of mediæval despotism,” which has been invoked on another occasion recently, and excited much criticism. In classing Christmas day and Good Friday with Sunday, King Edward indicates his knowledge of the fact that they all rest upon the same authority,—the command of the church. What King Edward of England has attempted to control by royal edict, Sunday-law advocates are seeking to induce legislators to attempt by legal enactment. In neither case is the cause of true religion advanced.