The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1893-10-25

In our statement Saturday that ''one
protestant minister had been found to
speak out boldly and plainly what nine
tenths of the protestant ministers of this
country really think about the A. p. A.
organization" we did an unintentional
injustice to the protestant ministers of
Columbus. O., who have united in con-
demnation Of tins society. We print
elsewhere the published statement of
these gentlemen, which is a credit to
their intelligence and their patriotism.
Not only have they made this statement.
but others besides Mr. GLADDEN. have con-
demned the organization from the pulpit.
The Rev Alexander Milne, one of the
signers. recently preached a very strong
sermon against it, 1t was principally
directed to the oath of the A p A. order.
and we extract from it the following pas
sages:
Each member Of the order takes
solemn oath, placing his right hand
upon his heart, and among other things
swears, that l will use my influence
to promote the interests of all protest.
ants everywhere in the world; that l
will not employ a Roman catholic in
any capacity if / can procure the serv-
ices of a protestant" at the close of
which he says, ''To all of which / do
most solemnly promise and swear, so
help me God. Amen" The first clause
about promoting the interests Of prot
estants everywhere is harmless. No
protestant ought to require an oath to
lead him to do that. The gist of the
&c In /
THAT 1 will not employ a Roman cath
Ollie in any capacity if 1 can procure the
services of a protestant" That / main
tain is un-Christian, and 1 ask you to
follow me candldiy while L show my
reasons for the faith that is in me.
1t is no escape from this to say that
| they do not mean to do any hurt to
Roman catholics. They do not intend to
shoot, or poison, or hang them, not even
to throw stones at them. No, they take
a far more effective means than any
Of these They will deprive them Of the
means of earning their bread and thus
they will put them to death by the slow
| process of starvation. 1t is but stating
| the naked fact in the case when we say
that the meaning is: II will do all in ny
power to hurt Roman catholics except
when it will involve hurting my
self" That is, selfshness is add
ed to sectarian prejudice and
| the injection Of this selfish consideration
makes ii harmless and unobjectiOnable
| Understood then in the logical outcome
| of its principles are we not justified in
| denouncing 1t as un-Christian? Some
| times human language is Inadequate to
| express our thoughts. And I find diff
| ficulty in properly characterizing this
| oath. IT Is not only un-Christian, 1t Is
| absolutely selfish, inhuman and despica-
BILE 1t seems harmless at first but IL
&c, M
| fair and innocent looking flowers. 1t Is
/ an engagement prepared by the spirit
| of evil to ensnare and to lead astray hu-
| man souls 1t smells Of the birthstone
of the pit.
Believe me, this movement, although
started in the name Of our protestant
| Christianity is a reproach to it Our
| American professionalism has been dis
| graced by 1t. The literature it has sent
forth is a reproach to our public school
system, insult to our intelligence, and
| a damage to our churches. Who are the
men who are members of 1t? No one
win deny that great numbers of them
| are not only not members of our
/ churches, but they are very rarely seen
| mans enthusiasm for the bible when
/ be never reads it? And how much is a
mans religion worth who never wor-
ships? That man whose sole religious
L characteristic is a naIred or Roman
| catholics has not very clear title to a
place in glory and a crown of righteous
ness. Shall we seek for the champions
/ of professionalism among the men who
/ are outside of our churches and not
| among those who are the leaders Of our
| churches2 Professionalism does not want
and utterly repudiates help of that kind.
| If these men want to build up the cause
of protestant Christianity let them be
found as faithful members of our
churches: loving one another as Christ
gave commandment, doing unto others
as they would that others should do unto
them
We feel that these COMBINATIONS
should be given the widest publicity be-
cause 1t is apparent that the poisonous
falsehoods circulated by this order have
had an effect much greater than is COM
/ monty supposed. In Columbus they have
already created an excitement that has
forced their evil effects on the attention
of the public generally, and 1t ought to
be matter of pride to all Americans
that the protestant ministers and pro-