A LOOK BENEATH THE SURFACE.
By G.
FEW of those who advocate, and still fewer of the legislators who enact, Sunday laws have any desire to persecute any class of people; therefore it is difficult for them to realize that they are furnishing a mighty weapon to those who may at any time be wrought up to the pitch of vicious espionage of their neighbors, or a fanatical zeal for the "majesty of the law." Many advocate the enactment of Sunday laws merely from a sentimental idea that this "form of godliness" adds to the dignity and respectability of the state or municipality. They look upon such a measure as an advertisement of the moral status of the people, commending the locality to favorable consideration by the "better classes" seeking a change of residence. It is thought by many that the mere fact of the existence of a legal recognition of Sunday will give a good name abroad, and as this is one of the common ambitions of "public-spirited" men in these days of sectional or municipal rivalry, the Sunday law or Sunday-closing ordinance, as the case may be, is seized as one means of commendation. Men advocate and pass such measures who have not the least idea of their having any effect beyond the voluntary recognition of the people. Many advocates of such laws are actuated by political or business or social advantage, who have no thought of adhering to them themselves in a practical way. Others seem to think them justifiable if only a few saloons may be closed on Sunday, or part of the day; and they can not see, or will not acknowledge, the deep-seated possibilities of persecution that are hidden beneath the surface. As has been the case in many states, the Sunday law may lie dormant for years, an apparently innocent ornament to the reputation of a community or state; and so long as public sentiment does not demand its active execution, it may be practically harmless. But it lies there like the charge of giant powder or dynamite, waiting the match or concussion, and sooner or later the explosion must come.7 Sometime, zealous (or jealous) religionists, wanting in other available resource or pretext, will appeal to this law. They will want to find occasion against some other class whose ways are offensive to them, and they will find the Sunday law their most convenient resort. A vicious neighbor may desire to gratify a vindictive disposition, and to annoy some one on account of a grudge or fancied injury, and the Sunday law is found a ready implement of revenge. The courts may see and acknowledge the injustice of the action, but the plea will be, We are here to execute the law, and we have no alternative. Satan is now marshaling his hosts. It is now pre-eminently a day of deception. The very spiritual blindness that leads the multitude to seek the mystic "healer," and to seek communion with the dead, and to seek moral reform by means of civil law, will also lead to the folly of enforced Sunday observance as evidence of marked social, political, and religious advancement. And such deception naturally leads to that last resort of religious despotism, "The end justifies the means;" so, when other means fail, persecution must follow.