The San Francisco call., 1896-03-02

lows: "This Is a Christian country, and, be-
lieving that without Christianity we perish,
we must maintain by all right means our
Christian character and inscribe this character
on the constitution of our country and enforce
upon all who come among us the laws OF
Christian morality"
Another Protestant conspirator against re-
hSlous liberty is the American Sabbath Union,
powerful organization for the enforcement OF
Sunday laws and religious legislation, and to
rob the people of their natural right to hold
the Sunday Gs they might elect, for rest, pleas
ure or recreation. Romanism has never offered
to deprive the people of little harmless sport
on sunday, and it was this association of pinch
beck Protestant Christians that by unjust
methods induced Congress to violate the con-
stitution in the passage of a law closing the
Worlds Fair at Chicago on Sunday. the only
day the poor man and his family could attend.
and are now trying to aggregate political
power at Washington to pass a National sun
day law of the most puritsnical character-
and stamps this Protestant Christian associa-
tion as fit com mpanion for the Spanish inquisi-
ton, and we are quite sure that American
Catholics have done no worse than this against
the liberty of the people.
To my mind there is nothing more clear than
that all OF the Christian sects are being drawn
into religious conspiracy against free
thought, free speech and secular government,
and are drawing nearer to Rome every year.
Ana in this City, where political anti-Roman-
ism has made such stir with the a. ?. A dur
ing the past two years, only 4 feW OF the Prot
estant clergy are in any large degree in SYM
pathy with the A. P. A. movement. Why is it
that Protestant preachers protest SO feebly
against Rome? Simply because blood is thicker
than water. She is their mother and her blood
runs through every Christian sect which, 1T
the best, is only diluted Romanism. And the
time is near at hand when the Protestant sects
will cease TO f ght old mother and when every
sect that bears the name OF Christian Will join
in an alliance to defend their common creed
against the skepticism of this age of science,
reason and com nonsense, which is burning
up the paRanism OF Christian theology, retir-
ing the priest and bringing the sehoolmaster
to the front more and more as the years go on.
We are glad that the fundamental law of our
land does not recognize the Brahmin, Bud
dhisJ, Egyptian, Hebrew. Mohammedan, Chris
tign any other gods or religions. We are
glad to know that, in religious sense, this IS
not Christian Nation, nor in any sense is our
Government based upon the Christian religion.
And in proof OF this we cite the reader 10 the
statement of George Washington in his first
treaty with Tripoli, that the Government OF
these United States is not built npon the Chris
tian religion, was it considered by JET
ferson, Franklin and Paine, but it is secular
and free, and Snows no religion. save the eter-
nal principles OF justice, equality and liberty.
A Protestant authority says "that whenever
the Roman Catholics are willing 10 co-operat te
with the Christian seets to resist political athe
ism and irreigion we will gladly join hands
with them in making this Christian country
And as liberals we are utterly opposed to, and
protest against the God in the constitutions
Sunday law and Bible in the school movement
on the part of Protestant Christians, So also
we are not IN sympathy with the ferVent hatred
of that sort of A. P. A.-ism known as the J. O.
A. Henry stamp, who in a discourse in this
City last year on the perils of our Republic
stated that the greatest peril to the life of this
Republic was secular free thought, liberalism
and disbelief in the Christian religion This
shows the affinity of superstition, and that
blood is thicker than water. And in one
breath this Jealous gospel hater of Rome
would exhaust his vocabulary OF vituperati ii on
against Catholics and in the next breath de-
nounce free thought and liberalism, the only
thing that has made possible his freedom of
speech.
And at the same time. while rantiug against
the reunion of church and state, declared him
self in favor of the Bible in our free schools,
and signed petition in favor OF Sunday laws
TO keep liberals from desecrating the Sabbath.
We are not in sympathy with such inconsist-
ent, bigoted, shystering, narrow-gauge Chris
tian A. P. Aism as this, but for twenty-five
years have stood, as we stand to-day, in favor
OF broadgauge, consistent American protec-