The Sunday Question

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · Sep 30, 1875

The Sunday Question.

It is a well-settled principle, sanctioned by the customs of all nations, no matter what their religious belief may be, that some rest is needed from the usual occupations of life. Universally it has been determined that one day in seven should be devoted to rest and recreation, and in this country the majority of the people have decided that Sunday, or the first day of the week, should be thus set apart. If kept within proper bounds, no harm can result from this system; but yet it should always be remembered that the proper object of government is to protect the lives and property of all its citizens, and not to determine whether one day is holier than another.

Among our people there is great diversity of sentiment on this question. A very large portion believe that all the days of the week are alike, and that no one day is holier than another; and thus believing, they are unwilling to treat Sunday with more respect than any other day. The Jews, who are entitled to have their opinions respected as well as any other class of citizens, believe that the fourth commandment of the decalogue obliges them to observe Saturday, or the seventh day of the week, as a holy day. One denomination of Christians, the Adventists, who are most excellent citizens, believe with the Jews in the religious observance of Saturday. On the other hand, most Christians believe that the Jewish Sabbath is abolished, and that Sunday should be substituted for it. The Jewish government enforced religious observance, but I believe it will be an evil day for us when it is made the duty of government to coerce our citizens into religious observances.

It is not the duty of our government to determine whether one religious view is true or another false; its province is to deal with civil questions, not religious ones. Under our government every man has the right to choose his own religion and to observe it in his own way, so long as he does not invade the rights of others. That class of our citizens who so zealously contend for the religious observance of Sunday appear to believe that its non-observance is a violation of the law of God. They also seem to believe that it is the duty of the legislative authority to determine what are the laws of God. If their views are correct, then this country will yet become the theater of as bitter religious controversies as the world has ever witnessed. To prevent such an evil our national Constitution has prohibited any legislative body from defining what is the divine law, and has guaranteed to every citizen freedom of conscience and liberty of religious belief.

If the observance of a holy day is to become a part of our civil institutions, then consistency would demand that the mails should not be carried or delivered on Sunday; that our armies should be prohibited from moving, and that our men-of-war lie-to on that day. Nay, if it is the duty of government to enforce religious observances, it must, if consistent, go further and provide for the erection of Christian churches, the maintenance of ministers of the gospel, and the compulsory attendance of people on the places of public worship.

Such theories have scourged and desolated some of the fairest countries on earth, and if the people of this country do not wish to suffer a repetition of the religious persecutions of former centuries, they must determinedly resist every effort to foist religious observances on our civil institutions.

If it is any citizen's duty to observe Sunday in a religious way, it is because of his relations to God, and a man's duties to God should never come under the dictation or control of a civil government. If a person performs a religious duty, such as the observance of Sunday, in a manner acceptable to God, it must be a willing service; if it is not a voluntary act on his part it can neither be productive of benefit to him nor acceptable to God. But government can never compel a willing obedience; it can only enforce an outward compliance, and hence, if we allow government to enforce a strict observance of Sunday, we surrender our religious freedom without obtaining any of the objects for which the surrender is made.—Evening News.