When Will They See It?
By Editor
LAST week we made note of the fact that in Arkansas several conscientious Sabbath-keepers have been arrested for laboring on Sunday, the clause in the law making an exception in the case of such individuals having been repealed. It was also stated that there was intense feeling in the State, and that there was a prospect that many more arrests would be made. Two days later we received a copy of the Bible Banner, published in Philadelphia, in which the editor, speaking of the position taken by Seventh-day Adventists on the “National Reform” movement, said that it would “utterly fail in an important particular,” even if Sunday should be legalized, because, said he,— “Nobody who keeps Saturday conscientiously will be persecuted, as S. D. Adventists expect, just as people are not persecuted for not swearing or bearing arms. In this age and land, every Sunday law will respect and provide for the conscience of Jews and Sabbatarians, and concede them the right of agitation—the liberty of the press and of speech.”
This paragraph, and similar asseverations, would have a great deal more weight if facts had not many times contradicted them. The above statement was made in a rather inopportune time, because the recent developments make quite a contrast with it. It is remarkable that when such instances of religious intolerance are multiplying, people will still blindly assert that the success of the “National Reform” movement would not entail any persecution for conscience’ sake. If under existing laws persecution for religious faith and practice is possible, what would not be done with laws entirely favorable to such procedure? As for us, these outbursts of bigotry do not make the final result any more clearly to be seen than it was before. The “sure word of prophecy” is explicit; these instances only turn faith into sight. Our earnest hope is that while some of our brethren may suffer loss by these preliminary persecutions, many may be led by them to see the force of the prophecy, and thereby be led to heed the warning message.