Religious Liberty Notes

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 16, 1909

Religious Liberty Notes

Strangely enough, a new Catholic weekly, named America, made its appearance in the world of journalism at about the same time as the Protestant Magazine. Its aim is to interpret current history from the Catholic view-point.

The Missouri Conference sent a thousand copies of the July Signs Monthly to as many editors in the State, each containing a slip calling attention to the article containing Mrs. J. S. Wightman's address before the Missouri Legislature.

A Sunday-closing campaign was recently on in Burlington, Vt. Several small dealers, principally Jews, were arrested, and each was fined two dollars and costs for keeping open shop. They all paid but one, who took an appeal. The mayor appeared to be the prime mover in the campaign, but other interests evidently were back of him.

The “blue-laws” of Maryland have been revived in Montgomery County, the proprietor of Glen Echo Park, near Washington, having received notice from the county sheriff that the gates of the park must be closed on Sunday. The proprietor is inclined to yield to the demand, it is said, inasmuch as he “paid five hundred dollars into the coffers of Glen Echo last year for keeping his place open on Sunday.”

Learning that the aldermen of Marion, N. C., had passed a law forbidding the sale of soda-water, ice-cream, and candy on Sunday, the young women residents of the place, on August 21, rushed to the office of the mayor, and there “made a demonstration to prevent him from approving the ordinance,” protesting that the drug stores were the “social clubs on Sunday.” “Being too cautious to admit that he had signed the law,” it is said that the mayor “leaped into his buggy and went fishing, intending not to return until after Sunday.”

Rev. Dr. Pierce, of this city, President Taft’s pastor, said some strong things on a recent Sunday against trying to make people Christians by law. “The plan of forcing people to go to church by closing other places won’t work,” he said. “Man must have the sense of goodness in his soul and heart. He must recognize the authority of God’s Word on earth. . . . Compulsory church going would only tend to make hypocrites of men, who would delude themselves with the idea that they were doing their duty to God and their fellow men, when in fact they would only be pretenders.” The President was in the congregation.

“Religion by law” did not get much encouragement from a recent sermon by Rev. Dr. Jefferson, pastor Broadway Tabernacle, New York, the largest Congregational church in America, if not in the world. At the great Moody Summer School at Northfield, Mass., a few days ago, referring to the modern effort to secure all moral and spiritual advance by the law process rather than by the slower but surer and more Biblical methods of the gospel, he said: “We, too, have tried this, but have failed. We have more murders and more murderers than old Europe; we lead the world in divorces and lawbreaking. What use are all our laws? They are impotent. Law can not settle one of our problems to-day.” His text was, “They saw no man, save Jesus only” (Matt. 17:8), and his conclusion was, “We must see Jesus only.”