The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-07-30
MISUNDERSTANDING CAMP MEETINGS.
A Righteous Denunciation of Them in the
Organ of the Methodist Church.

Organ of the Methodist Church.
Law and Order" in w. Q. Advocate.
The Sabbath-brealking campmeeting is
peculiarly dangerous. because from its position
as a religious institution it has large influence,
and when it does evil that good may come, it
demoralizes all who follow its example and obey
its teachings Why are the gates open on Sab
BATH against the protest of conferences and the
churches of other denominations / know of
only two reasons-one is, that it is pleasant to go
on Sundays 1t saves time and money. The
other is, money is made in large amounts on
that day. The gate fees are larger on Sabbath
than on any other day. The crowds that attend
on Sabbath make larger profits to the boarding
house. 1t is9a very thin excuse to say, 1--WE
close our gates at, 10 o'clock and open them at
o'clock" What good will it do to shut the
gates after the crowd is in and the travellers
have arrived And of course, they can't be
sham, so far as Sabbath observance IS concerned.
1t is like license as against prohibition. No
amount of apparent good done by and through
violation of law is acceptable to God. "Obe-
dlence is better than sacrifice" What is the
duty of a conscientious Christian regarding the
matterl Some say: ''Withdraw yourself
Others are not so easily convinced. They say:
Preach to the people wherever you can find
them 1t is one thing to go to the great crowd
protesting against its Sabbath breaking and
warning sinners. 1t is another thing to go by in
vitation, as draw to bring crowds, while money
is made at the gate and by boarding houses. 1t
Is one Jnlng TO go ana stand up 0fdVeIy against
the wrong, and vote and fight against it; another
thing to aid and abet in that which does so much
wrong and call evil good, and make it no harm
to do what God forbids-what conferences vote
against, what those who are disinterested oppose,
and what is advocated by those who have pleas
ure and profit therein / protest against open
gates and gate-fees on Sabbath at camp meeting,
because ithas the appearance of evil, and because
it encourages travel on Sunday by rail or other
wise protest against it because it affords a bad
example to our citizens who go to beer gardens
and base ball on the Sabbath and are not ex-
pected to do better than church-trained Ameri
can citizens. protest against it because it desc
crates Gods day and lowers the sentiment of
morality. The opportunity for good or evil
is great when thousands Of people are present
and their attention is excited. The response
bility is very great upon the minister who
breaches on such occasion when he is silent
on one of the questions which engage the atten
ton Of this great and growing country, and
which is involved by his very presence there.
ton Of vital interest to the welfare of the coun
try, and it is no time for good men to occupy
uncertain and debatable ground. Let all the
camp meetings of the country raise standard
of Sabbath keeping which will strike the people
as consistent and noble, and the more it costs to
observe the Sabbath the more the people viii be-
lieve that there is something in it. just in pro
portion as pure morals are practiced and OBJ
served will the camp meeting do good; but if it
continues to do evil that good may come it will
be opposed by those who act from principle
rather than from policy.