p. 21 | Religious Liberty Notes

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 28, 1907

Religious Liberty Notes

The following notice appeared in the Washington Times, bearing date of Nov. 11, 1907: “In order that the people of the District may be given an opportunity to express their sentiments on prohibition, the Good Templars have begun a movement for an open vote on the question. The Star of Hope Lodge, Independent Order of Good Templars, at its meeting, was for pushing this matter and bringing it to the attention of Congress, so that, with the majority of the country discussing the liquor question, the capital may not be backward.”

The Pleasant Hill (Mo.) Times of Nov. 1, 1907, contains a first-page article covering over a column and a half of space on the theme, “The Logic of Sunday Laws,” by Brother H. K. Willis, who is a resident of the place, from which we quote the following: “Let the state enforce the civil law, adjusting all differences between man and man within her jurisdiction, and let the church enforce the divine law upon all who choose to remain within her borders. Let the preacher and the politician both study these principles in the light of past history, and speak out as God may give utterance. The best way for you to get hold of these principles is for you to imagine yourself sadly in the minority, and that the civil power, urged on by the church, is about to force you to accept and practise a religious rite that in your heart you do not believe, and which, if practised, would be sin to you, thus bringing you into condemnation before God, and causing you to lose your own soul.”

The Washington Post of Oct. 23, 1907, contains the following: “Rev. John L. Scudder, pastor of the First Congregational Church, Jersey City, presided at a Republican mass-meeting in that city last night. He made a warm speech in advocacy of the re-election of Mayor Fagan. The minister prefaced his remarks as follows: ‘The minister of the twentieth century is something more than the pious bric-à-brac or a dear, old dominie, with no mind of his own, and just about fitted to say sweet nothings to the ladies at an afternoon tea. He is a prophet of God to denounce sin in high places and to stand up for the right, no matter what the consequences may be. I am a person, and in the pulpit it is my business to preach the gospel, but I am also a citizen in free America, and on the platform I reserve the right to speak my mind and fight openly for righteousness and decent government.’” This statement is in accord with an utterance from the same minister on a former occasion, as follows: “The church is going into politics, and it is going there to stay. Furthermore, the church is to become a powerful political factor, and will act as a unit on all great moral questions. I do not take it that the churches are to form a separate political party; on the contrary, they will stand outside all parties, but they will co-operate, and as one prodigious organization, make their demands upon existing parties, and have their wishes fulfilled.” These things would not seem so serious if they were confined to an individual, but there is reason for alarm when the same ideas are prevailing to such an extent throughout the professed church of Christ.