T H E K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
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The Climax of Blasphemy But I bring you th e climax when I quote from Parmelee on “Criminology.” To him “ sp irits” are “ hypothetical beings” only (p. 16 ), “ alleged beings” (p. 17). He says of Jesus Christ cursing the fru itless fig tree, “This is like th e child or savage who trip s over a stone and th en strikes it in anger because it h u rt him .” He says of th e Christian religion, “It Was derived from Judaism , th e magical notion” of the uncleanliness of sex has been combined w ith and has re-enforced “ th e ascetic ideal of p ropitiating th e Deity by expiation and purification th rough chastity” (p. 23). He believes th a t certain serious m istakes have been made in “ th e introduction and execution of penal laws,” due to the “ m istaken conception of Christians th a t sin is transgression of the Divine law” (p. 33). He doubts “if irreligion is a potent force for crim e” (p. 107).- He speaks of th e Hebrew Yahveh, our God, as a “stern and vengeful God.” He writes,: “th e Christian doctrine of th e forgiveness of sins possesses this evil influence because it dissem inates the grossly erroneous notion th a t repentance absolves a per son’s responsibility for th e imm orality of his p ast conduct. I t would be difficult to find a more anti-social and immoral religious doctrine” - (p. 109). He declares “th e dogma of the forgiveness of sin still gives currency to th e belief th a t th e effect of an act can be wiped out by repentance and remorse alone, or by th e absolution which follows peniten tia l acts, despite th e fact th a t the biological and psycho logical sciences have ta u g h t us th a t the effects of any act, w hether sinful or otherw ise, upon th e organism and per sonality are indelible” (p. 115). He affirms “Religion and Science are irreconcilable” (p. 113). He declares th a t “ nothing in hum an cu ltu re is more archaic th a n religion, because it professes to teach absolute tru th , and to inculcate immutable rules of conduct-—conse quently religion has always been a powerful force for repressive legislation, and therefo re a prolific cause of evolutive crim inality.” He raves against th e circumstance th a t th e Christian religion has been officially recognized in America as the n ational religion (p. 471 f ). He declares th a t it is a piece of effrontery and a violation of th e Constitu tion when th e courts declare th is to be a “Christian nation ,” w ith constitutional rig h ts or religious freedom which it is th e ir special duty to uphold. To quote his exact language he says, “D isrespectful mention of God, Jesus, and other alleged sup ern atu ral beings is prohibited in various parts of th is country, in spite of th e fact th a t these beings are reputed to be strong enough to defend and avenge them selves. In th is fashion is violated th e fundam ental and inalienable hum an rig h t of free speech, and th e courts are furnished th e power to in terfere, if they so desire, w ith the spread of liberal ideas and th e refu tation of archaic beliefs” (p. 476). Feb. 15th, 1923, edition of th e M anufacturers Record says sanely enough: “We cannot m ain tain government and discipline in hum an affairs by sta tu te s or by th e police power. W hat keeps m ankind in o rd er is th e conviction of a h ereafter and a belief in th e principles of rig h t and wrong ta u g h t a t th e m other’s knee. Once a g re a t body of th e citizenship acts on th e assumption th a t th e re is neith er divine purpose in th e universe no r divine laws th a t m ust be followed, life resolves itself in to a m ere b ru ta l struggle for existence. Evolution has well nigh wrecked every land th a t has adopted it. “ Civilization can stand, in a measure, economic b reak downs and financial debacles, b u t when you b reak down and destroy m an’s temples of reverence, his reg a rd fo r holy things, his belief in religion and h is hope of etern ity , you
simply rend asunder th e very foundation on which society rests.” If our children are to be taugh t, from fou r to eigh t consecutive years, such God-denying, Christ-repudiating, Bible-scorning theories as are in these te x t books, let us not forget th a t thereby th e la st plank will be laid fo r th e platform on which th e Soviet propaganda will eventually parade its atheistic, anarchistic, and inhum an philosophy before th e world p, and let us note well th e circum stances th a t— Its trium ph in America is th e overthrow of th e C hristian State. If we are ready for th a t, le t us approve these tex t books and ,in sist th a t they be retained in the teaching c u r riculum of university, normal, high schools, and even grades. If we are ready for th a t let us applaud th e ath eistic teacher who tells our children th a t “ it is foolish to believe in God,” ;“ a m ental dereliction to believe in th e Deity of Christ.” Let us cite them to Van Loon w ith his villainous infidelity and parade H. G. Wells as a g reat au tho rity , and quote from him these words: “The Socialist no more regards th e in stitu tion of m arriage as a perm anent th ing th a n he regard s a sta te of indu strial competition as permanent. Socialism repudiates private ownership of th e head of th e fam ily as completely as it repud iates any so rt of private ownership. Socialism, in fact, is th e state fam ily; th e old fam ily of th e private individual must banish before it, ju st as th e old w aterworks of private enterprise, or th e old gas company.’V--’ When the fam ily is gone, and God is dethroned and th e moral codes of th e Bible are held to be no more binding th an a deliverance of E ast Indian dervishes, our own loved country will come into the present Russian experience; infidelity, m ental and moral; rapine, plunder, robbery, these will be universal and as we look back to th e days when our fath ers lived and loved, w rought and rejoiced, because they believed God, we will have a comparison th a t will involve a con trast as deep and strange as th e con trast between Hell and Heaven. The L iterary Digest of March 22, 1919, carried an article entitled “Bolshevism’s Heaven on E a rth .” I t rem inded its read ers of the fact th a t th e Soviet government commis sioned fu tu rist artists to paint sky blue th e en tire T heatre Square in Moscow, and to suspend snow-white lan tern s from th e trees in im itation of clouds, a symbol of “ the heaven on ea rth ,” employed to celebrate its advent to power. But once th a t advent was working, Russian fugi tives laid before th e Overton investigating comm ittee facts th a t made “ life look like a nightm are in a lunatic asylum .” Poverty, sickness, distress, starvation ; churches converted into th eatres, where h arlo ts and profligates held nightly revel, homes into houses of d eath where a b attalion of Chinese executed th e will of the Soviet government in th e destruction of lives out of num ber; th e invention of cruel ties such as have no t existed since the days of Nero, and yet th is is w hat some men are preaching, and some profes sors are teaching. God forbid th a t we should be silen t while America is th u s being menaced and th e imm ortal souls of all men are being th u s imperiled. ' , : ,^ 14 . ^ ^ M A WARM EMBRACE FOR THE K. B. The Superintendent of a Union Rescue Mission in Ohio has th is to say about The K ing’s Business: “Now may God’s richest blessings re st upon th a t m aga zine. How we all welcome its team ing pages, filled w ith God’s Word. I never rea d i t a t arm s’ length, b u t hug it close and from my platform tell my bunch of ‘rough-necks’ w hat Jesus would have me tell them and say ‘T h at’s K ing’s Business.”
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