A SCANDALOUS PICNIC by Editor

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Dec 16, 1889

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 15, No. 48.

A SCANDALOUS PICNIC.

By Editor

THE following article, under the above title, by Rev. John Mordy, of Niagara Falls, a Presbyterian, appeared some time since in a Western New York paper. It is a good illustration of much of the inner life of Rome, and the logical result of her doctrines. It will do to compare with the high claims of Catholics sometime in the future:—

"In looking over the program of the picnic held by the Holy(?) Catholic(?) Apostolic(?) Church at Niagara, last Tuesday, I venture to think that it would be considered rather a strange bill of fare were it presided over by St. Peter or any of the apostles, instead of one of their modern representatives.

"In the first place, you will notice that the prizes given for no less than four of the games are boxes of cigars. If these prizes are selected with a view to stimulate and direct the ambition of the youth, the great object of the Church of Rome must be to teach young men the filthy habit of smoking. This idea is confirmed by the fact that No. 15 on the program is a smoking race. Pretty business this for a holy church? Two of the prizes are bottles of wine and one a bottle of brandy. From this we naturally infer that another object of the holy church is to encourage the use of strong drink; for what should young men value more than prizes given under the direction of an infallible church?

"Looking over the list of donors, I notice in the second place that nine-tenths of the prizes have been contributed by Protestants, whom the holy church has condemned to hell; for, according to her catechism, no heretic shall enter the kingdom of heaven. The holy Bible teaches that no drunkard shall enter the kingdom of heaven, and warns young men not to 'look upon the wine when it is red.' But the holy church, which teaches that no Protestant shall get to heaven, encourages the use of cigars and strong drink, by offering them as prizes to those who succeed in games, one of which is a smoking race.

"I notice in the third place that the Protestants who contributed for those games condemn and despise the holy church in their hearts, and in their conversation with other Protestants, almost as much as the holy church condemns and despises them; but being business men, they allow the church to make milch cows of them, to secure the custom of Roman Catholics, who in turn pity and despise them for their lack of sincerity and manliness.

"In conclusion, the writer would like to say to the priest who superintends this business: Are you not ashamed to pass yourself off for the representative of Christ and his apostles, and at the same time to invite poor Protestants, whom your church condemns to hell, to join in games like a smoking race, and to give boxes of cigars and bottles of strong drink to boys as prizes? He would like to say to Protestants: Are you not ashamed to countenance and encourage, under the guise of religion, such disgraceful inducements to contract habits of drunkenness, which are destroying thousands of your fellow-men?"