Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1876-03-30
ur,r,xrsl $500 PER YEAI
si.5oIN ADVANCE
WHOLE NO. l719.
A Startling Criticism

AsburY NJ. f.. Church of Milwaukee
commenting upon recent local oc
currence, (the censure of certain
church members for being present a
a dancing party, we think uttered
this exceedingly bold protest agains
injustice of the Church Discipline
It is a question if Mr.. Hoskins has
not exposed himself to its fury by
this very criticism of its palpable
absurdities. 1t was daring act tc
criticise the sacred Discipline, and
more daring to declare that it is com
monty ignored by many church folk
81 never saw a church of 100 mem.
bers that had not drunkard in it 2
is startling assertion. Equally as.
tonishing is Mr.. Hoskins' defiant re-
marks, Il wish il understood that il
the strict letter Of this Discipline is to
be enforced you may turn me out p
And yet it must be admitted that Mr..
Hoskins has done no violence to his
high Christian character by this
severe criticism 70 the Discipline by
which he is governed, though the
wisdom of his exposure Of the recre-
ance to it Of many protesting Chris
tians is to be doubted. He said /:
The 34oth section of our church
discipline contains black list-a list
of prohibited acts. It forbids i'm
prudent conduct Now | enter my
solemn protest against entering this
list in our church discipline. ALI evil
should be fought against by all
churches, but why forbid these. Of.
fences, and allow others far worse ?
We cannot play quiet game of
cards without being turned out of
church, while they are free to gam
BILE in gold and grain, thereby crush
ing thousands. The discipline forbids
one to go to the theatre, but says
nothing about the opera. [ never at
tended either, but | understand the
latter goes lower than the former
What would the discipline do with
Winslow the forger? Not charge
could be brought against him under
it, yet if he had been to a dancing
party and sat still he could be turned
out in moment.
Some say that rules are wise, be-
cause they enable us to lay our hands
on specific offences and put stop to
them. This amounts to saying that
the great Methodist Church regards
it as greater offence to hear Law
renee Barrett than to gamble IN gold
or grain.
If man is Christion it is safe to
leave him alone with God. IF he
grows wild and becomes reckless,
cannot committee of good Chris
tian men reason with him, and if nee
essary expunge his name from the
roll | believe that these matters
should in all cases be left to a good
local committee. What is great harm
in one may be quite innocent in
another. One may take a. drink and
be not the worse, while another may
90 mad because of it. One more is
brought mp from youth to dance, and
sees no harm in it, and there is none
in it. / don't believe there Is an in
telligent person on earth who will say
that dancing in itself is sinful act.
But they say the sin is in the SUR
roundings Then why not attach
the penalty to the offence, and not to
something not sinful ? | want some
theologian to answer this question.
The pastor is the administrators of
the church discipline in each congre-
cation. For my part l try to admin
lister the rules as | believe they
should be. We all know that in
every Methodist church in the land
are many good people who habitually
violate the rules. 1 neUer SdD a
church Of 100 members that had not a
drunkdrd In 1t. Shall we turn them
them out Shall werefuse them the
communion No. Would Christ
have done so
There are members of Methodist
churches in this city who during the
past week have denounced dancing
most severely. They have waxcd
eloquent over it, Yet l venture to
assert that these Uery men break the
rules kno1c some Of them aoho at
tend horse races and drink OCCASION
ally Yes, and they thro,o up their
hats and cheer acheH the horses come
around. | know men who have de-
nounced dancing during the past
week who went to Gov. Ludington's
Inauguration which ii il wasn't a
dancing party wasn't anything. For
one, ! p.sh 1t understood that If the
strict letter Of the discipline is to be en-
forced, you may turn me ont, and then
turn out every 9TH man, and you'll
have the church 10 rent. We must
act in the large Christian spirit of the
Bible. Let us pray for large Chris
tiau stirit, and let US strive to live in
that fine brotherly love in which we
hope to enjoy heaven together.