Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1871-07-04

say, with our LongfelIow, "Let the
dead past bury its dead Act, act in
the living PRESENT. Heart within and
God o'erhead !"
Hence, in order to correct false
impressions, to remove all prejudice,
and to secure for our religion that
universal regard which every enlight-
ened creed deserves, we deem it to
be our duty, on such occasion as this,
to proclaim our religious principles
and openly to declare that they are
none other but light, Lore, and Lib
erty.
Light first "Let there be light"
was the first word of the Creative
Power, and "Let there be light" must
remain the motto of every future
de. elopment. Without light there
is both physical and mental darkness;
without light there is no reason. Man
will be doomed to bigotry and pref
udice, and will be governed by all
the superstitions of blind faith. With
out light he will fall prey TO fauat-
icism, and, losing the manly indepen-
dence with which his Creator has en-
lowed him, he will DO but tool and
toy in the hands Of those who know
how to guide and misuse him.
Hence our motto is the word Of
the Scripture, "Know the Lord tiny
God UNDERSTANDINGS" and therefore
we worship God as the alone, the
infinite, the ineflable, the Eternal
One; we look up to Him as to tine
fCuntain-head of all that is good,
pure, just and holy: we love and
honor Him as the father of all His
children, no matter what their creed
or denomination, and proudly we say,
with the Prophet, to Jew and GENTLE:
"Have we all not one Father; Has
not one God created us all? Why
should we become faithless, one
against another, to destroy the cove
nant of our Father?" In this light
we look to religion; in this light we
consider divine service to be the best
means Of fostering sincere federation,
of advancing mutual respect and Sc
curing that UNCONVENTIONAL peace
which must be the cornerstone and
glory of every modern temple.
And because we adore God as our
common Father, the second principle
and command can be no other than,
love one another like children. There
fore, Moses said: Glove thy fellow
man like myself" and that this SEN
tence may not be misconstrued as
being limited merely to one Jew to-
ward another Jew, he most emphat-
ically adds: "And the stranger that
is within thy gates thou shalt love
him like myself, | am the Lord"
Therefore, Rabbi Akiba, one of the
greatest authorities Of rabbinical lore,
used to teach: 1.-The love Of our fell
low men is the cardinal and supreme
doctrine Of the Bible" Therefore,
Hillet used to teach "What is hate
tel unto thee, thou shalt not do unto
others; this is the whole law every
thing else is its mere commentary.
Hence we know as far as this princi
pie of love is concerned, no difference
between Jew or Gentle; hence we
always have considered charity and
benevolence to be our supreme duty,
and all the Christian brethren will
cheerfully bear with me, and, when |
humbly assert, that we Israeli ca are
second 10 none, when an appeal for
charity is made, or when we are
called upon for the support of benev-
olence institutions.
But we do not restrict love and
charity merely to this life. We 90
further; We extend them to the fu-
ture life, and proudly exclaim, with
our Rabbis of old, "that the good
ones of all denominations shall par
ticipate in the future bliss of heaven
We are taught not to look to any
mans creed when we speak of the
future life but only to his moral
worth, and to his moral actions as
man. And therefore we take the
Catholic and Protestant, the Moham-
edan and pagan, finley be good and
moral men, by the brotherly hand,
and say; Let us go and come as
brothers and children to our Heaven
ly Father; He will be just, for He is
love and grace and mercy them>
selves.
And again, because God is our COM
mon Father, and we all his children,
we believe in the enjoyment Of full
liberty and equality. No prosecution
on account Of theological opinions;
no prejudice and hatred on account
of creeds and doctrines. Let every
one worship God according to his
best knowledge and the dictates of
his conscience; but as citizens and
members of the human society, let us
invariably cling to the Mosaic doe
trine: Zone law and one statue
shall be unto you and the stranger
that lives with you"
These are our principles this is
the spiritual cornerstone upon which
this congregation intends to rear the
new temple. But, brethren, where,
first and above all, were we permit
ted to proclaim these doctrines, but
in this good, glorious and free coun-
ty, these God-blessed United States
Oh, these noble men who, with their
blood aud treasure, signed and sealed |
our inspired Declaration of Indepen-
dence. They, first of all, laid down
the great principle of the entire and
complete separation of State and
Church they, first of all, taught the
truth Of modern revelation: 'Itis self
evident, that every man is entitled
to life, liberty and happiness-every
man, without distinction of race, col
or or denomination"
Oh, how we Isrelites love this
country, as our home and the sweet
hons of our children How we
revere that star-spangled banner as
the Heaven-born emblem of human
happines and liberty Thankfully
and chcerfully we have given up all
ideas Of ever returning to Palestine
we say with the Psalmist; This is
our restinp-place here we shall RI.