EDITORIAL AFTERTHOUGHTS
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Henry Ford has stirred up quite an excitement by his attack s on th e Jews, and no doubt th e re is some tru th in the assertions of “The Dearborn Indepen d en t,” bu t if Henry is really concerned abou t th e dangers to our country, let him show his courage by p rin ting the facts about Romanism , which is a thou sand times more dangerous to our gov ernm en t th a n the Jews. The very fact th a t he keeps shy of th is subject makes it appear th a t it is Rom anist influence th a t is back of the attack on th e Jews. H o ratiu s Bonar said in substance: “ I look for th e .church and I find it sitting in th e lap of th e world; I look for th e world and I find it m asquerading in the church.” Rev. R. J. Campbell of London, who has been famous for his tirades against orthodoxy and th e Bible, is now quoted as having recently sorrow fully said: “My view of th e n a tu re of sin tended to make men th ink lightly of It. By speaking of it as^ th e remains of the ape and tig er qualities in our ascending hum anity we belittle its tragedy, its terribleness, its ever-present menace.” The Bible pictures sin as fearfu l guilt. Any preacher who has ligh t thoughts of sin, proves he has no knowledge of God and His* holy Son. “ FERGUSON—-Memorial high mass for repose of the soul of Miss Mary Honora F erguson (Honey) a t Our Lady of Victories Church, on Monday morning, Ja n u ary 3, 1921, a t 8 a. m. “My sweet Mazzie Darling.” “A H eartbroken M other.” The above from a New Jersey paper emphasizes the darkness of Roman Catholicism. It is sad enough th a t a broken-hearted m other has lost her “Mazzie D arling” , bu t w hat of the anxiety over th e condition of th e soul of th a t affectionate daugh ter as it is pictured struggling in purgatory? If th a t m other would even read h er Catho lic Testament, she would not even find a word of this devilish doctrine. P eter and P aul never heard of a purgatory. Shall we do nothing a t all for these poor deluded people? Is it rig h t for
us to refrain from telling them of the love, sympathy, compassion of th e Lord Jesus for every individual and of the completeness of His salvation and the perfect peace i t gives th e possessors of th is heavenly life? Magazines and newspapers have had a lot of fun over th e action of the Methodist Board of Public Morals in demanding a h alt on th e contemptuous trea tm e n t on th e stage, in motion pic tu res and in newspaper cartoons, of the P ro testan t m inisters. So far as we have seen, no paper has explained ju st why it is th a t Rom anist priests are always pictured as heroes while P ro te sta n t min isters are represented as “ effeminate fcols” With high h ats and long noses. But never m ind—we all understand w h at power it is th a t puts shackles on eoitors, officials and public workers. On th e other hand we doubt th e wisdom of Christian m inisters in.m aking a drive of this kind to protect themselves from persecution. Even “L ife” , th e comic magazine, suggests: “B u t w hat about th e Beatitudes? ‘Blessed are ye when men shall revile you and . . say all manner Of evil against you falsely for my sake.’ Do th e Methodist b reth ren intend to deprive th e ir clergy of th a t blessing? And, besides th a t, do they appreciate the value of advertising, and do they realize th a t comm inatory adver tisem ent is about as good as th e other sort, and oftentim es is b e tte r? ” Dr. John Roach S traton of New York says, “ I ask for no wire-fence entanglem ent to surround me.” The W ashington Post (perhaps w ithout realizing it) comes near to presenting th e m a tte r from a S criptural standpoint, when it says: “When a m inister of th e gospel enters the arena of politics and arrogates to him self the powers and privileges of a boss he must expect to be th e ta rg e t for_ attack. There are certain clergy men who make themselves ridiculous, and they are th u s fair m arks for fun- makers, b u t it is not th e fau lt of the funm akers.” Wouldn’t it be well to consider th e Lord Jesus who said, “For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall tak e it patien t ly? b u t if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, th is is ac-
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