COMPULSORY SUNDAY REST.
By C. M. S.
The agitation for compulsory Sunday rest is not by any means confined to America. Specious as are the claims that the object of the movement is to secure rest for the laboring man, it is still the lever with which that movement is pried into public favor. The promoters of compulsory Sunday rest are pushing out in every direction along this line, as it has proved to be the “line of least resistance” for accomplishing their object. In pretense a philanthropic move to obtain the privilege of weekly rest and church attendance for those denied them, in reality it aims at compulsion of all men everywhere in the matter of Sunday observance. The cry of “the rights of the workingman” appeals to the masses; but the bait conceals a dangerous hook. A plant may throw out a beautiful flower, and the fruit which follows be disastrous to the one who eats. Just so it is with this movement, which is gaining ground in the world to-day. The claims to be made are to be made in the interest of “oppressed humanity,” and when the object is attained, it will be turned into an instrument of oppression for those who do not mingle worship with their rest, or who choose to labor for themselves upon that day. We can judge of the ultimate aims and the real results of this agitation only by the fruits which it has already borne in States or countries so unfortunate as to be burdened now with the “boom” it seeks to confer. Weekly rest is a boon to humanity; Sabbath-keeping is a religious duty; and the honest, conscientious, Christian man will rest and keep Sabbath wherever he is. You can not prevent his doing so. A great corporation can not make men break the Sabbath; dungeons and thumbscrews can not prevent their keeping it. Great corporations work on Sunday, and their employees do the same—not because the corporation has the power to compel such service, but because the employees prefer to work under such conditions rather than to till the soil or go into business for themselves. It is simply and solely a matter of personal choice with them. They choose their master, and follow his directions, regarding lucrative employment of greater importance than obedience in religious things. The truly converted man will not hesitate one moment in refusing to labor upon the day he regards as the Sabbath of Jehovah. The Christian will obey God, whatever the consequences may be. Therefore the plea is a specious one that Christians are deprived of the opportunities of worship by being compelled to work on Sunday. It is also true that the object of the movement is not to enable men to rest on Sunday, but to compel men to do so, whether they wish to do so or not; and in communities where the law permits such compulsion it has been indulged in again and again, and as good Christians as are to be found in any country have been herded with common criminals for daring to work upon that day, even when they had religiously observed the Sabbath which God commanded. This is the benevolent boon which is being forced upon the attention of the world just now. The agitation in Europe in reference to compulsory Sunday rest is taking definite form, and is being carried on with considerable enthusiasm. In October last an international Sunday Rest Congress was held in Paris, attended by delegates from France, Austria, Hungary, Mexico, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, the United States, Scotland, England, Germany, Roumania, and Denmark. Catholics and Protestants united in the convention, and both have members on the working committees, who are laboring to the one end, the enforcement of Sunday rest. Much work has already been done by these committees in influencing Sunday legislation, and in bringing the nations into harmony to that end. In this way is the whole world being brought into line in the matter of compulsory Sunday observance. To the student of God’s Word and the one who chooses to honor God’s own Sabbath, this means much. How rapidly is the way being prepared for that decree of antichrist which will condemn to death (Rev. 13:15, 16) all those who persist in loyalty to the Creator of the heavens and the earth! C. M. S.