Brookings register. (Brookings, S.D.) 1890-1894, 1891-05-08

hardly anticipate that in less than
three quarters OF q century their suc-
| cessors would be numbered by nearly
three-quarters of q million, and that
the triple link banner would float in d,
nearly every city, town or hamlet in
North America as well as in tar dist
ant lands, and everywhere the bene.
factions and endeavors to alleviate
existing misery would excite the
admiration OF all intelligent people.
might continue to quote extracts
that would be interesting, but desire
rather to set side by side, in sort of
a comparison, the lodge and the
the church. do this for two reasons.
First, because there is sometimes, on
the part OF some members of the
church, q sort of misconception OF
the purpose and aim OF the order,
and OF other orders of similar scope
and purpose. There are also
branches OF the Christian church that
openly denounce all so-called secret
organizations. This is largely due to-
prejudice, arising from lack ofunder-
standing of the principles upon which
the order is based. Again, | have
often been panied at the allusions that
have been made by the members of
the order derogatory to the church..
For these reasons desire to attempt
to show that there is no occasion for
either Of these. believe that | am
true in my loyalty to both the church
and the |. D. Q. f. and could not be.
II there were any cause for the antago-
nism which often appears. Let me add
just here, that neither side has any
right to complain OF the attitude
assumed by the other until they have
corrected their own error in Judgment
and expression. Another reason why
| shall attempt this comparison is
because the true principles are
brought face to face necessarily in this
days observance. This anniversary
has occurred on the Christian Sab.
bath, and the order has arranged for
q service OF such q character as to
emphasize its reverence, not only for
the God of the Sabbath but also for
the belief and practice of the church.
AS minister OF the gospel and men,
ber OF the order, | represent both
to day, and | think that | have
judged rightly that neither OF these
we're ignored when / was chosen to
prepare and deliver this address. The
church and the order being thus
united in this service to-day, renders
the task, which thus attempt an
eminently fitting one, and trust the
results will prove mutual helpful to
both the order and the church.
First then, in the comparison. let
us note that the underlying principle
Of the order is the relation between
man and man while that OF the church
is primarily the relation between man
and GOD, which, of necessity includes
the other. We have heard theexpres-
sion, "the religion OF humanity" The
thought implied may be a fitting and
helpful one, but in reality there is no
such thing. Religion Is 81 system OF
faith and worship" primarily that
which relates to the true God, the
God of the Bible. Oddfellowship is
not in any sense system OF faith and
worship. 1t does ackno wledge and
reverence God, but this is not its aim
or purpose. Religion Is that
which sets forth, in a clearly defined
system, the duty man owes to God
and the benefits he may receive to
himself by entering into certain Gov
enant relations with God. Oddellow-
ship declares the duty a man owes to
his fellow man and the benefits to be
derived by certain covenant relations
which. in the extract / have read, is
called the Brotherhood. True religion
includes, in q general rather than
specific sence, all that Oddfellowship
teaches and practices, bnt true Odd
fellowship does not include the basal
principle OF religion. Religion puts
man under @ moral Obligation to do
what he may to relieve distress; Odd
fellowship puts him under a covenant
obligation to do certain specific things
for the brotherhood and those con-
nected with it, and trusts to the
largeness OF his heart to lead him to
do more than this. There have been
those-members of the order-wno
have said regarding oddfello wship:,
at is good enough, as a religion, Tor
me-" Brothers, do not make such a
mistake! 1t is not q religion. and it
was never intended for one. You can
never meet all your obligations 10
God by being q true Oddfellow. The
principles of Oddiellowship, so far as
have learned them, are in harmony
with the principles or religion out do,
not comprise them. Oddfeilowship Is
OF human origin; religion is OF divine
origin. II all men would embrace
religion and carry out all that it
teaches, Oddfellowship would be
largely superseded; yet, even then,
there would be room for sucn bene-
ficlary system as may be entered into
by such q covenanted brotherhood as
Oddtellowship. A company of tarm-