p. 296 | The American Sentinel, Vol. 4, No. 37. (10/9/1889)

No Paper Next Week

By Editor

As the present volume of the AMERICAN SENTINEL is to consist of only 48 numbers, we will print no paper next week.

Office Is Opportunity

“OFFICE is opportunity,” is the motto displayed on the letter-heads used by the field secretary of the American Sabbath Union. This is but another version of the standard political maxim, “To the victors belong the spoils.” The constant display of this avowal may be taken as a declaration that the union seeks political power, and if successful will not be slow to use it for the furtherance of its schemes. A country that is fully awake to the value of liberty, will be slow to place official “opportunity” in the hands of a party of religionists whose aims are expressed by such mercenary sentiments.

The Equity of Sunday Laws

In the Lutheran Observer of August 9, Rev. Mr. Crafts has an article on the equity of Sunday laws, in which, speaking of exemption, he says:—

“The only law that can either be justified or maintained in practice is a law which impartially forbids, in rich and poor, all forms of Sunday work that are not works of mercy or necessity.”

And yet Mr. Crafts, as field secretary of the American Sabbath Union, is asking people to sign a petition to Congress praying for the passage of a law which shall exempt, so far as ordinary private work is concerned, all who religiously keep another day of the week as the Sabbath. Therefore, according to his own words, Mr. Crafts is asking Congress to pass a law which can be neither justified nor maintained. Is it such a law as this that the American Sabbath Union really desires? or is it the object of the Union to secure general assent to the principle of Sunday legislation, and then secure the repeal of the exemption clause.

Sunday Laws and the Poor

THE Nation, not the Christian Nation, says:— “There is more happiness, better order and less crime among the poorer people of New York since cheap Sunday excursions enabled them to take a trip up the river or down the harbor, than when necessity kept them cooped up through the day in tenement houses.”

There is not the least doubt but that this is true. And yet the Sunday-law workers propose to stop every kind of excursion or journeying on Sunday, especially with the poorer people, because the rich can afford to own their own carriages and can take a ride or drive as they please. But under the proposed Sunday-law system all the poorer people will be “cooped up” through the whole day in their crowded tenement houses and narrow streets and alleys; which shows clearly enough that the Sunday-law movement instead of being a movement in favor of the poorer people is a direct discrimination against them.

The Spirit of National Reform

THE spirit of “National Reform” sometimes comes to the surface in a garb that is simply appalling. It would be some relief, when an occasional individual of the more rabid type assures the public that he only speaks for himself in his ultra utterances, were it not for the fact that these expressions of sentiment are never disclaimed by any of the party. The clamor of the more outspoken in this “reform” movement for laws that will disfranchise, socially ostracise, banish, and even put to death opponents, has never yet been disowned by any organ or representative of the National Reform Association. The appeal for a theocratic government, a counterfeit of the government of ancient Israel, reveals an inward vindictiveness on the part of some otherwise meek-appearing men that seem almost incredible. But, as “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh,” we are compelled to believe the evidence. So that, when one openly advocates human laws that will put to death his Sabbath-breaking neighbor, and will put to death the blasphemer, we naturally infer that he longs to see that extreme penalty executed. And this in the name of Christianity!

The Principle Behind Sunday Laws

WE object to Sunday laws not because they require the observance of that particular day but because of the principle involved. Disguise their motive as they may, the fact remains that the great majority of those who desire such laws make the demand because they regard Sunday as a sacred day. Therefore the passage of a Sunday law is State interference in religious matters and involves the judicial decision of religious questions. There are in every State, and indeed in almost every neighborhood, three classes, namely, (1) Christians who regard Sunday religiously, (2) Christians who do not regard Sunday but who do regard the seventh day, and (3) non-religious persons who regard all days alike. Sunday laws necessarily discriminate between these classes. If, as is sometimes the case, the seventh-day Christians are exempted from the provisions of the law, then it is a fact that they are favored above others simply because they are Christians. They are granted certain privileges on account of their religion, and that is contrary to the spirit of American institutions. If they are not exempted and are required to obey the law and refrain from Sunday work they are deprived of one-sixth of their God-given time for conscience' sake. But in any event the non-religious are forced to observe to some extent a religious institution in which they have no faith. Sunday laws are wrong, they work hardship and injustice, they tend to destroy free voluntary service to God, thus making hypocrites; for these and similar reasons we oppose and would oppose all such measures.

A Minister Against National Sunday Laws

THE Rev. Mr. Carroll of the Central Methodist Church, Stockton, in his sermon last Sunday took a very radical stand for a minister of his denomination. In speaking of a national Sunday law he maintained that the mixture of religion and government had resulted in evil from the time of Constantine down to the Puritans; that freedom of conscience and its exercise was guaranteed by the Constitution. The Rev. Mr. Carroll is an American and believes in American institutions.—From the Los Angeles Tribune.