Just Judgment by Editor

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Nov 16, 1882

Just Judgment.

By Editor

A CORRESPONDENT of the Pacific Methodist offers some good thoughts in an article entitled "The Sunday Law Reviewed." From it we take the following extract:—

"The only redeeming principle in the law that I can see, is the closing of saloons and bars on Sunday, that is desirable; but it has failed to effect the desired end, and I think the principal reason is, the Sunday Law is too discriminating, and also proscriptive in character. All men engaged in any lawful business, consider themselves entitled to equal rights and privileges before the law, and I cannot see any valid reason why they should not. And there are many thousands of Jews and Christian Gentiles in this State, whose judgments and consciences tell them that the seventh day, the day the Lord finished his works, rested, blessed and hallowed as the Sabbath day, is now the right Sabbath day for man to keep holy to the Lord and rest in, and they have, 'God spake all these words saying,' for it; and that is more than we have for our first-day-of-the-week-resurrection-Sabbath day. This undeniable truth ought to be sufficient to entitle them to at least a charitable consideration, by all Christian people.

"After they have kept the Sabbath day, in compliance with the old commandment, then our Sunday Law steps in and requires them to keep the first-day-of-the-week-Sabbath day, or pay a fine of from five to fifty dollars.

"Self-preservation being the first law of nature, they naturally go against the law, and are driven away from assisting in the cause of temperance.

"I never have, nor never will, knowingly give my vote or voice to sustain a law of that character. Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them; for this is the law and the prophets."

We cannot be driven "from assisting the cause of temperance." We may be cut off from associating with those who affect to be the sole guardians of the principles of temperance, from parties who run their hobbies with temperance as necessary parts of their organizations. But Seventh-day Adventists will always be found pursuing the even tenor of their way, advocating temperance on the very highest plane. We believe in Christian temperance as taught in the Bible, which leads us to oppose both whisky and tobacco as "twin evils."

Again the writer says of the Sunday Law:—

"The reader will observe that the law exempts all persons engaged in ten classes of business from obedience to the commandment, thereby legalizing a large minority of the people of this State to violate it. All persons in three of the exempt classes are legalized to violate the commandment the first half of the day and enjoined to keep the last half. From whence is our Sunday law theology derived? Undoubtedly not from the Divine records, but is of the earth earthy, and very earthy at that."

The editor says he does not agree with his correspondent. If he refers to that part of the article here quoted we think the disagreement would be more to the credit of the article than to himself.