The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1899-07-10
ANACONDA NEWS.
IS DUE TO CHRISTIANITY
Whatever Good There Is in
Secret Societies.
so SAYS REV. w. T. custer
A Consistent Inf1del Cannot Enter One of
These Oreanizations-Their Princi-
ciples Are Gathered From the
Christian Religion.
so SAYS REV. w. T. custer

large congregation last evening at the
Methodist Episcopal church. His text
was from / Cor. Al: For who maketh
thee to differ from another, and what
hast thou that thou didst not receive?
Now if thou didst receive it why dost
thou glory as if thou hadst not received
it?" He said in part:
Il once read of a man who always
took off his hat, out of respect to him
self, whenever his name was mentioned
either by himself or another. He GER
tainly had very good opinion of him
self. Another man was telling in COM
pany, which knew his egotism, that he
was certainly self-made man, and as
he recounted the various points of his
egotism one in the company who knew
him well, said: i am glad that you are
self-made man, for it not only takes
very much of the responsibility from
your parents, but it must be a relief to
the Almighty also This man was blind
TO the facts of interdependence as they
exist in all walks of life, and that no
man llVeth unto himself and no man
dieth unto himself This man could
give but very poor answer to the
question of the text: What hast thou
thou thou didst not receive? l pity the
egotist; he is of all men most blind.
he cannot have gratitude either to
600 or man, and without this what is
man above the beasts of the field? 1t
Is said that the dog and the hog will
snow appreciation and thankfulness for
good food and slop, but that man is the
only creature that will sit at his we'll
filled table without thanking God for
all the good things he has. All can
easily see that all we have we owe
either to God or to Others Our being
temperament, mind, social nature, the
place we occupy, the air we breathe the
water we drink, the good things we en-
JOY all came from other sources than
ourselves. These things that belong 10
the material world were here before we
came; they Will be here when we are
gone. Look over the! intellectual field.
the educational the social the srelig
ious, the general" field" Of civilization
and tell me What hast thou that thou
didst not receiver
What We owe to the past we can
never fully know. 1t was Balfour, the
great statesman of England, that said:
The intidel in a Christian land is a
Fungus, parasite, growing on Chris
tianity.'
In relation to secret societies it is
easy to see that all they are and-.lll
tan religion. You cannot enter them
and be consistent infidel An atheist
is not allowed there, They took their
truths from Christianity. Many of the
terms used by them in their emblems
were not born until Christ came to the
earth The bible upon the center table
indicates from whence they have drawn
their truths. 1t would never do for any
society to go to heather and ancient
lands for the ideas of pride. seltishness
exclusiveness and survival alone of the
strong. 1t is the Christian religion after
all that makes those few teachings
found In heather religions seem good
and elevsting. Without the setting of
Christianity a different coloring is given
them. 1t is one thing to hold to alb
stract truths without the spirit, the I'M
DERIVING principles and the grace nee
essary to obey them. I suppose that
every member of secret societies would
be glad If every other member were a
consistent Christian. ] heard the mar
rowest, most preiudiced and least man
~ thing in all my life once. public
man was speaking for a secret organi-
cation. He said that the three cardinal
truths of the society in question had
done more good than all the preaching
in 80 years! l wondered if you could
find any preacher during all that time
that had not been preaching those very
three truths, and if the bible had not
given them? Where would they be to-
day without preaching? In lands where
the Christian preacher is not that So
ciety is unknown. / never had an idea
that over 100000 preachers, preaching
every sabbath day to over one hundred
millions of people from Mckinley and
Queen Victoria to the every day laborer
had so little influence as that, and I
confess If another had not told me that
he was tempted to hiss, l might have
tainted.
During the French revolution
Thomas Carlyle tells us: They shout
ed liberty, fraternity and equality but
being without the influence of the
Christian religion they were cutting
each others threats at the same
breath.
THE marvellous thing about those
remarks is that they were applauded
but that applause only indicated the
amount of hatred to Christianity and
not the real state. for only a few mar
now and extremely foolish men did
that, and l am sure no woman was so
extremely ridiculous as that. I have
wondered how many of those infidels
ever go to inf1delity to get anything
good. Christian preachers preach for
them once a year. ] cannot see how
men can be so dishonest unless it to be
curry favor with the rabble politically
Secret societies are all doing good.
but there is this danger to egotism
and then the idea that you are good
enough without a Redeemer when God
says: There is no other name given
among men whereby we are to be
saved and this is taken from the same
bible as the rest. Neglect of family,
Running into worldly spirit, becoming
un-Christlike, loving ungodliness and
these things are dangers in the way,
while ii is positively known to the
world that the best members of these
societies are the Christian element
without which their salt of preservation
would be gone.
"They are not here either for saliva
ton or for spiritual growth. He who is
satisfied with that does nothing for
God. He who runs into an exclusive
spirit of caste instead of being lover
of man as Christ was. loving all men,
is in danger of loving only himself at
last. He who pays more attention TO
the lodge than to the church is worthy
of neither one. He who does not choose
God and His service first of all cannot
expect God to say anything excepting
H. m