Barre evening telegram. (Barre, Vt.) 1898-19??, 1898-07-23
Wasted Ammunition.

| Again, bigotry and sectarianism do
great damage in the fact that they him
der the triumph of the gospel Oh, how
much wasted ammunition! How many
men of splendid intellect have given
their whole life to controversial disputes
when, if they had given their life to
something practical, they might have
been vastly useful! Suppose, while I
speak, there were common enemy
coming up the bay, and all the forts
around the harbor began to fire into
each other. You would cry out: "Na-
tional suicide! Why don't those forts
blaze away in one direction, and that
against the common enemy?" And yet
l sometimes see in the church of the
Lord Jesus Christ a strange thing going
on-church against church, minister
against minister, denomination against
denomination, firing away into their
own fort, or the fort which ought to be
ON the same side, instead of concentrat-
ing their energy and giving one mighty
and everlasting volley against the navies
of darkness riding up through the bay |
l go out sometimes in the summer and
| find two beehives, and these two hives
are in Il quarrel. l come near enough
not to be stung but come just near
enough to hear the controversy, and one
beehive says "That field of clover is
the sweetest" and anHher beehive
says, "That field Of clover is the sweet
est" come in between them and say:
"Stop this quarrel. If you like that
field of clover best, 90 there; if you like
this field of clover best, 20 there, but
let me tell you that that hive which
gets the most honey is the best hive"
So l come out between the churches Of
the Lord Jesus Christ. One denomina-
ton of Christians says, "That field Of
Christian doctrine is BEST" and another
says "This field of Christian doctrine
is the best" Well, say, Ego where
you get the most honey" That is the
best church which gets the most honey
of Christian grace for the heart and the
most honey of Christian usefulness for
the life.
Besides tk1t, If you want to build up
any denomination, you will never build
it up by trying to pull some other down.
Intolerance never put anything down.
How much has intolerance accom-
plished, for instance, against the Meth
odist church? For long years her minis
try were forbidden the pulpits of Great
Britain. Why was it that ED many Of
them preached in the feldsS Simply be-
cause they could not get in the churches.
| 4 %ho ~ %ho nh
in derision and as sarcasm. The critics
of the church said, "They have no op-
der; they have no method in the wor-
ship" and the critics, therefore, in
irony, called them "Methodists.
Futi.ity Of Intolerance.
am told that in Astor library, New
York, kept as curiosities there are 707
books and pamphlets against Metho-
dism. Did intolerance stop that church?
No, it is either first or second amid the
denominations Of Christendom, her mis-
sionary stations in all parts of the
world, her men not only important in
religious trusts, but important also in
secular trusts Church marching on and
the more intolerance against II the fastor
1t marched.
What did intolerance accomplish
against the Baptist church? If laughing
ssorn and TRADE could have destroyed
the church, it would not have today a
disciple left, The Baptists were hurled
out of Boston in oldcn times. Those
who sympathized with them were i'm
prisoned, and when petition was offer
ed asking leniency in their behalf all
the men who signed it were indicted.
Has intolerance stopped the Baptist
church? The last statistics in regard to
it showed "A, 600 churches and 4,000,
900 communicates Intolerance never
put down anything.
In England a law was made against
the jew England thrust back the Jew
md thrust down the jew and declared
That no jew should hold official posi-
ton What came of it? Were the Jews
destroyed? Was their religion over
thrown? No. Who became prime min
lister of England? Who was next to the
throne? Who was higher than the
throne because he was counselor and
adviser? Disraeli, Jew. What were
we celebrating in all our churches as
we'll as synagogues only few years
ago? The one hundredth birthday of
Montefiore, the great Jewish philan-
thropist. Intolerance never yet put
down anything.
But now, my friends, having shown
you the origin of bigotry or sectaran-
ism and having shown you the damage
it does, l want briefly to show you how
we are to war against this terrible evil,
and think we ought to begin our war
by realizing our own weakness and our
imperfections. If we mako so many
mistakes in the common affairs OF life.
is it not possible that we may make
mistakes in regard to our religious
affairs? Shall we take man by the
throat or by the collar because he can
not see religious truths just as we do?
In the light of eternity it will be found
out, l think, there was something
wrong in all our creeds, and something
right in all our creeds, but since we
may make mistakes in regard to things
of the world do not let us be so egotis.
tic and so pulled up as to have an idea
that we cannot mako any mistake in re-
gard to rcligi Gus theories. And then
think we will do a great deal to ever
throw the scctarianism from our heart,
and the scctarianism from the world,
by chiefly charging in those things in
which we agree rather than those Oh
which we differ.
Move Into Line.