758 THE K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S Such doctrine destroys altogether the distinction th e Bible makes between th e saved and the lost and does away w ith the doctrine of grace, for if God is F a th e r of all, He is obligated to His children. It ignores th e fall of man and reduces Christ to a mere hum an being. F u rth erm o re it is not tru e in actual experience. H ere is % fine passage from a deeply sp iritual book, “Christian Fellowship in Thought and P ray er,” by Basil Matthews and H arry B isseker: “Fellowship is impossible a p a rt from personal intercourse on a common footing. We believe th at, when we get down to th e bed-rock realities of life, th ere is no common footing in the fact of being human. The brotherhood of man, as biologically or ethnologically man, simply does not exist either in his history or his make-up or his prospects. Inter-class prejudices and diversities, in tern ation al differences and distastes, inter-racial antipathies and even loathing, make it impossible to secure a common footing here. There is no basis for inter-racial relationship save on. a spiritual plane. There is no real basis for a real fellowship on a world scale b u t in sp iritual fellowship. Men, in a word, are not brothers by b irth in th e human sense; they are b ro th ers by new b irth superhuman. Through th e power of such fellowship separate personalities blend in a society of friends th a t has an identity, a characteristic quality, and a power of concerted action th a t increase the potentialities of each individual. A group in real fellowship has, in fact, many of th e qualities of a personality.”
helpless to expose th e fallacies or warn the people. To decide a question of the Scripturalness or unscripturalness of any teaching would be out of the ques tion before any average jury. If a sect is brought into disfavor, it can bring this law to bear and a publisher can be prosecuted anywhere on as many counts as th e inquisitors can find. W here do such bills get a backing? Ju s t stop and consider. Only those sects which dare not subm it to th e test of widely published facts need to seek th e protection of such censorship. It has been claimed th a t the Jews are back of this movement bu t Jewish organiza tions have declared th a t they do not favor gagging the press. Rome stands out naked.. O ther systems propagating erro r are quick to back it up financially. W ill P ro te sta n ts stand fo r it? It has been passed in Michigan 75 to 15. It is alarm ing and demands a rem edy. No one will be able to stand out openly for th e tru th if these meas u res go through. P ro te sta n t bodies everywhere should reg ister th e ir disap proval and put up a fight.
ITS TIME TO WAKE UP! you know th a t attem p ts are ling made all over the Unit- l States to pass sta te laws aking it libelous to pub lish anything th a t “ exposes any re- igious sect to public hatred , con tempt, prejudice or disfavor?” A penalty of $1,000 fine and five years imprisonm ent for those found guilty is attached- These bills are being systematically pu t through in various states. I t has been introduced in Pennsylvania and in W ashington and has already passed th e House in Michi gan. W hat does it m ean? It is only necessary for a publication to expose th e unscripturalness of the teachings of a sect or point out any in consistency in its management, to be come involved in expensive litigation, if not to have its publication suppressed and its editors fined or pu t in jail. The doors are thrown wide open to propa gate any kind of infidelity or heresy, and unless one can prove a false motive on the p art of the propagators, they are
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