Good Words From a Law and Order Society
By L. A. S.
WE have received from an official of the Inter-State Law and Order Society, a copy of The State Sentinel, the organ of the society, which has headquarters in New York City. The paper calls our attention to the society's attitude on the question of enforced Sunday observance, which we are pleased to note is in harmony with the rights of conscience and the principle of the separation of church and state. A report of the proceedings of the monthly business meeting of the league for May last states that the secretary, in answer to an inquiry from the editor of the New York World, as to the attitude of the society toward Sunday baseball, replied that “he had said in a telegram of two hundred and fifty words, that the State Law and Order Society was committed to ‘the enforcement of all just laws, and the enactment of such measures as would be beneficial to the community at large.’ A Sunday law, he explained, could hardly be called a just law—as it was an abridgment of religious liberty.” The secretary proceeded in his reply to support this statement by references to the American Constitution and the Bible, than which there could be no higher authorities upon the subject. He said:— In order to find if a law was just according to the American standard, it would be necessary to consult the Constitution of the United States. In that document we are informed that a man has a right to worship God according to the dictates of his own conscience. The Constitution also states that no form of religion shall be recognized by law, and as the keeping of Sunday was always a religious act, it was therefore in violation of the Constitution to enact a law to compel its observance. It is generally supposed that the divine authority for Sunday observance is based upon the fourth commandment,7but this is false, as Sunday is the first day of the week, while the Sabbath commandment required the observance of the seventh day, which is Saturday. Friday evening until Saturday evening—sunset to sunset—is the seventh day according to Scripture. The first day runs from Saturday evening sunset until Sunday evening sunset. Sunday, therefore, is a part of two Scriptural days, and the whole of none. We, therefore, see that a law to compel a rest upon a religious day would be illegal; and, also, if it was legal, that the Scriptural first day of the week is not comprehended in the Sunday law, and to Scripture we must go for authority for religious acts, especially if we desire to bind the observance of the act upon our fellow men. We can easily see that if we break the first six or seven hours of the first day of the week (on Saturday evening), we might as well break the whole day, as St. James has well said that he who shall “offend in one point . . . is guilty of all.” James 2:10. Now in this great city of New York we have Jews, Seventh-day Baptists, Seventh-day Adventists, and other people who observe the seventh day (Friday evening until Saturday evening) as holy time according to the fourth commandment, as found in the twentieth chapter of Exodus. It is most unfair to impose upon these Hebrews and Christians the burden of observing Sunday, especially when no command to keep Sunday holy can be found in the New Testament. The report adds that “after the remarks by the secretary, Mr. Rogers said: ‘I heartily agree with the stand the secretary has taken in defense of civil and religious liberty. I have no doubt that my colleagues have been greatly enlightened upon the salient features of this absorbing question, and that they are agreeable to the position taken by the secretary.’” “No words of dissent were noted.” We trust this attitude of the New York State Law and Order Society on the important question of Sunday legislation will have its effect upon public sentiment in that State, and upon similar organizations in other States, which need to be educated concerning the relation this question sustains to individual rights and the national welfare.