Mexico weekly ledger., 1889-05-16
SETTLE AND SAMMY.
The Christian Church Brooks no
Suggestions From Outsiders
Mr.. Settles Letter.

| NSSSSsASAAo = JILL SotokuCIS
Mr.. Settles Letter.
To the Editor OF the Ledger,
MEXICO, Mo-, May 1o-I was
surprised and grieved to see Mr..
Cook take the stand he did, in
Tuesdays Intelligencer, against the
churches. l had always considered
him friend to them, but this Is
only another evidence of the "de-
ceitfulness of man." If tits "tyran-
nlcal' on the part of the churches
to admonish its members to live
according to the teaching of the
New Testament, what pity it is
that the book has never been hand
/ ed to Mr.. Cook fer revision. He
says: 'tIt is difficult to estimate
the value of church influence
where it is consistently exercised"
and further on, he tells US that
moderation in all things should
be exercised by people within as
well as without the church. 4"
Then to be consistent, must we
gamble little, commit a few thefts,
commit few murders and take
short course in all the evil practices
of this age? We think not; we
know we ought not to do these
things, Mr.. Cooks advice to the
contrary Notwithstanding; for the
Bible condemns the practice of
these things and we prefer to fol-
low its teachings. lam heartily in
favor of bettering the condition of
every man, woman and child that
we can, but l object to Mr.. Cook,
or any other man or set of men,
trying to influence my children,
my brothers and my sisters in the
church, to engage in things that
would, to say the least of it, COM
promise their standing as Chris
tians; though of course, when a
man looks at things Through his
own peculiar prejudices, ''it is very
hard to convince him of the error
ofhis way. We most heartily and
cordially congratulate, especially,
the young Christians who have
taken such a noble and decided
stand and have said most emphati-
cally, by their recent act, that
they will follow the teachings of
the Bible instead of that of the In
telligeneer. Stand firm, my young
friends; you have nothing to fear.
Poisoned arrows have been hurled
at the church ever since its earliest
existence, but the source from
which tney sometimes come is a
matter of much surprise. Mr.. Cook
labers at some length, in his paper
of Thursday, to destroy the force of
the reasons given by a Baptist
brother why Christians should not
play cards, without answering them.
He simply denies that it is waste
of time and says sit is no more
gambling than certain other games.
He does not deny that it dissipates
the mind; that its example is inju-
rious to others; that it leads to
gambling, and as generally played
to-day Is gambling; and he con-
cludes that the reason Brother Nc
Kinney and are opposed to card
playing, is on account of cur ig-
norance, anu not the fault of the
game" What a sad condition
Just think of people living in the
enlightened age of the afternoon of
the nineteenth century and living
in total ignorance of the sciences of
the gaming table! Help! Help!
Light! Light! Mr.. Cook takes care
to state twice, before inserting
Brother McKinney's card, that /
requested its publication. He is
not going to have bis readers think
he would publish such thing of
his own accord. Oh, no! Well,
now, l love to be found in company
with Baptist, Methodist, Presbyte-
rian and all other people who are
battling against sin and for the
church. l have been a member of
the church for long time and my
faith in the Saviour, in the Bible,
and in the final triumph of the
church, is entirely too strong for
MIR. Cook, even with his unbounded
knowledge of scientific games and
of political economy, to de-
strey, or even weaken it. l
had no desire or thought of
provoking Mr.. Cook to personal
attack on myself, when requested
the publication of Brother McKin-
!ney's card, but to show to his
readers that these practices are
preached against by all the church
es. His thrusts at me do not hurt:
the point of his sword Is SO CON-
pletely hidden by a soft, downy
ball of egotism and arrogance,
that it strikes and rebounds as
harmlessly as soft rubber ball
would If let fall on the marble top
of card table. He says: "Amuse.
ments are as essential to a proper
development of the world as the
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