The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1892-05-18
LET Us BE CONSISTENT.

On Sunday last Colonel Elliott F. Shep-
ard addressed a mass-raeeting at Omaha
on the subject of ''The American Sab
bath" Bishop Warren said: "God said
one day in seven should be set aside for
rest, and the human law should CORE
spond with the laws of God"
We cannot square modern civilization
according to the scheme of the Hebrew
civilization and theocracy without being
involved in q mass of inconsistent con-
duct The Hebrew theocracy under the
law of Moses permitted polygamy, and yet
when the Mormon theocracy undertake to
defend it from the Scriptures. The Scrip
tural law of divorce, as defined by Christ,
permitted divorce for adultery alone, while
Paul permitted it for desertion. Modern
law authorizes divorce in England and the
United States for other causes than adul-
terry or desertion.
1t is historically true that some of the
most enormous accretions of what we
term our highest Christian civilization
have been achieved by methods that were
in direct violation of the doctrine of nom
resistance which is Enthusiastically taught
in the New Testament. Count Tolstoi de-
nounces all governments that require
their subjects to slaughter their fellow
men in war; that train armies, navies and
militia; inaict death on criminals or un-
der any pretext do unto any class of man.
kind what they would not have done unto
themselves, or violate in any way the
plain precepts and example Of Jesus
Christ. Tolstoi holds that a true Chris
tan cannot defend his property, SO he
cannot have any, and he denounces gov
eminent as for true Christian only regu-
lated violence, and rests his philosophy
upon texts like the following:
"An things whatsoever ys would that men
should do TO you, do ye even 50 to them." 'Re-
sist not evil thus with evil" Glove your
enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to
them that hate you, and pray for them that de-
spitefully use You and prosecute YOU" All
they that take the sword shall perish with the
sword"
The legitimate answer to these enthus-
lasts is not that they misquote or misin-
| terpret the New Testament or the Old Tes-
lament, but that the precepts they quote
cannot be literally accepted as the practi-
cal philosophy of life. The purest clergy
| man confess this by not attempting to
| practice the extreme ideal Of life which
they preach If they did they would be
| obliged to treat this life as Christ treated
| it, with unbroken, consistent contempt tor
its aesthetic tastes, its virtuous pleasures.
ambitions and accomplishments. Our
system of civilization would never have
been developed if the principle of nom
resistance had been implicitly followed.
Christian common sense has declined to
push the religion of humanity to the
Utopian extreme of non-resistance .and
communistic paternalisIn and frater-
nalism.
Colonel Shepard is himself an object of
| inconsistency in his extreme Sabbatarian
view. Once he applied to a judge of the
New York court of common pleas for an
| injunction against the running of Fifth
avenue stages on Sunday, denouncing
this Sunday stage service as "illegal, i'm
moral and irreligous action" on the part
| Of the corporation, Its servants and its
agents. The judge denied the injunction
and told Colonel Shepard that if his feel
ings were hurt he had only to sell out his
stock. Now this same rich Colonel Shep-
ard drives to church in his sumptuous
| carriage because he can afford it, and vet
he grudges plain people who cannot afford
carriage the privilege of paying cents
for stage or car ride To church. Colonel
Shepard is only type of a very large
class of persons, who, if they had the
power, would be constantly stamping out
the liberties Of the people whenever the
indulgence of the liberties of the people
did not meet their approval.
Colonel Shepard, running into court to
stop Sunday stages because, being able TO
afford q Sunday carriage. he does not need
a Sunday stage. is cousin german to those
| persons who would enjoin every vineyard
| in California from making wine because
| they do not drink wine and think the
| world has no business to use wine, because
| they have decided that wine is not good
| for the world. II Colonel Shepard smokes
he is in danger of persecution by some
| anti-tobacco evangelist, who, if he were
car of Russia, would send to Siberia every
man who smoked. Such men form the
crowd of cranks that, like a swarm of
wasps. are cease!essly buzzing in your ears
that the times are out of joint because the
laws do not please the few but are devised
to satisfy the many.
Suppose We had Colonel Shepard in
Seattle who would attempt to stop every
street car line that carried people to the
various lakes on Sunday and TO nut ont
the fires of every steamboat that, loaded
| with happy men, women and children.
| traversed their waters, would Seattle be any
better city; would her people be any more
| cody and orderly than they are today If
| Colonel Shepard succeeded? Suppose he
succeeded in stamping ont every SUNDAY
| newspaper, would We he in life and con-
| duct any better people than We are today ?
| There is very wide difference of opin-
ion among the ministers of various de-
nominations in regard 10 the question of
the use and latitude of Sunday. We no
tice that Rev. Mr.. Knowiton, the rector of
ST. Paui's Episcopal church, Chicago. IA
vers the Sunday opening of the Columbian