A Right Decision by Editor

Pacific Press Publishing Association · Mountain View, California · Nov 1, 1910

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 37, No. 43.

A Right Decision

By Editor

THE supreme court of Illinois handed down a just, righteous, and truly American decision the other day; namely, that the Bible should not be read in public schools. The court said:

“If these exercises of reading the Bible, joining in prayer, and the singing of hymns were performed in a church, there would be no doubt of their religious character; and that character is not changed by the place of their performance. If the petitioners' children are required to join in the acts of worship, as alleged in the petition, they are deprived of the freedom of religious worship guaranteed to them by the Constitution. The wrong arises not out of the particular version of the Bible or form of prayer used, but out of the compulsion to join in any form of worship. The free enjoyment of religious worship includes freedom not to worship.”

The same principle is just as true regarding Sabbath observance. The true principle of religious freedom includes freedom not to observe a day as sacred as truly as it does to observe a day.