A Pitiful, Unchristian Thing
By Editor
A Pitiful, Unchristian Thing.—An Oklahoma paper, the Boynton Index, of November 24, tells of a disgraceful occurrence in that little town. It appears that a Baptist "evangelist" began a series of revival meetings. As he is a "special enforcement officer" of the prohibition law, he undertook to clean out saloons. With a number of citizens, he demanded that a certain saloon-keeper should close up. The saloon-keeper cursed the "evangelist," and the evangelist knocked the saloon man down, who seems from another paper to have been a cripple. He cursed again, and the minister of the law struck him again, whereupon the saloon man declared he was going for his gun. The minister borrowed a gun from a man, and shot the saloon man, who fell dead almost instantly. The minister gave himself up, and was released on $5,000 bail! Think of it! Think of an "evangelist" doing work of that sort! Think of a professed ambassador of the Prince of Peace taking life with carnal weapons! Think of a "Baptist" "evangelist" as an officer of the State executing law and taking life instead of seeking to save it. Hear Jesus: "For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them." Luke 9:56. Hear Paul: "For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds." 2 Cor. 10:4. "Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord [not, we destroy men, but], we persuade men." 2 Cor. 5:11. We do not know the saloon man; but whether black or white, Hindu or Hottentot, Eurasian or Esthonian, Irish or Italian, German or Greek, Norman or Negro, he was a human, with all the potentialities, through Christ, of noble, immortal manhood. No minister of the Gospel has any business to become a minister of law. We are grieved for the cause of Christ. We pity the poor deluded "evangelist" who mistook his calling. We are sorry to see any paper or man defending such a course.