The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-09-01
STRANGE BELIEFS.
Not in Africa, But America-Right
 at Home

The queer belief cf men and women, even in the United States, are not con- fined to odds and ends of old-time Superstitions, signs and charms, but of- ten a delusion of mania taken violent hold of the whole communities. from ghost dances among Indians to camp meeting mysteries and paroxysmS among whites and blacks. The in- stances where men in this country who have claimed to be Christ are number ed by the dozen, with many followers and believers in each case. So the de- sire to worship strange gods is not con. fined to Oriental countries. but is man. ifiested in every land. and as strong and apparently unreasonable forms of superstition exist in theAUnited. States as in India. In Nebraska there is, or was, a sect whose creed Is to destroy the eyesight of it's members. It has ScripturaI warrant for this perverted from St. Matthew. If it is we'll to en- ter heaven with one eye only, would It not be more meritorious to sacrifice both? Tn Kentucky the Equality com mission allows every thing to go to waste rather than that anyone should have more property than another: This is also Scriptural, as. according to Acts the disciples had everything In com mon. In New Mexico the Penitents cruelty their members: certainly an alluring initiation, only outvied by the Angel Worshipers. of Missouri. who be- lieve in the efficacy of the holy kiss. each communicant kissing all the others. To prevent discrimination in physical charms the members of a community" in KanS0s wear red masks at all times. and thus intensity the thirst for intellectual attributes The 'fOrder of Holiness" denounces marriage as ungoldy. provocative of dWorces. The Knee Benders," whose creator is omnipresent. never walk up- right. In Iowa and Kentucky are the Brothers of Silence, Trappist monks whose whole lives are passed in silent meditation. They work, but never speak. In St. Louis and other cities nunnish order exists with home sur roundings and dress which impress the certainly of death, human skulls and bones being displayed in living and sleeping rooms, and everything black, except the disjointed skeletons and the pale faces and hands of the deluded devotees. In Indiana the meetings of the Heavenly Recruits" under the leadership of Mrs Woodwork. were suppressed by the authorities, owing to the physical and mental demoraliza- tion of the participants. Tn Tennessee readers may recall the Brown and Pat terson mission few years ago in which Brown representa- himself to be Christ. and created such excitement that the authorities arrested the two and sent them away from the country to prevent trouble.
 In Illinois. the delusion of Mrs. Dora Baekman. the female Christ. andGe0rge Schweinfurth. young Methodist preaeher. who became her bishop and then yucccssor after her death. he de- cla-!ng that the Chris.ly eesance had passed from har Into -ircs sel'. both were hel evc1 ir .by hu" 4rpGs et followers tit7 thruSanSs he ievc nat raH'ie, Of CNicsyo l. the "Sace"l FliiFN.
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