Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1901-09-24

side is just as sacred before high hea-
ven as the life of the rich man, who
filings him coin. And to destroy the
life of the helpless babe unborn is as
foul murder and as black a crime as
any in the calendar.
Amid the thunders of Mt. Sinai, the
Creator of life said, Thou shalt not
KILL" Or is that ancient history now?
Have the ten commandments lost |
their force because, forsooth, we are
far advanced in science and clvlllZa-
ton? What is the cause of 1t all!
Are we tending towards paganism,
and, casting aside the true God OF the
universe, are setting up idols OF our
own making?
1t is fact deplorable, but never
theless fact, that men are drifting
away from religion, both in spirit and
in practice. They are rejecting the
law of God, and what is that but anar-
chy? We are so accustomed to think
of anarchy in the light of the law OF
man that we never stop to think of
its higher phase in the light of the
law of God, and we forget that the one
is the sure forerunner of the other
Too many men scott at religion and by
their scoffing destroy their own faith
end the faith of their weaker brethren
and make anarchists of them. The
temporal anarchist can but destroy
the body while the spiritual anarchist
whose pernicious example causes
Gods law to be rejected, destroys
souls
And what do they follow instead of
the true God?
They set up the idle of Self and
they worship it with all the fervor
and devotion of which they are cap
able. Like the Pharisee of old they
sound their own praises in high places
and the devotees of fashion are blind
to the ruin which their self-worship
works among their fellow men. The
priestesses of the idol of Self are the
real queens of anarchy. They set up
the idol of divorce and sacrifice to its
worship the sacredness of the family
tie which is the foundation Of true
prosperity in the state. Destroy the
Integrity of the home and you strike
at the very roots of the tree of life on
whose fruits the growth and prosper
ity of the nation must depend. We
condemn the simultaneous polygamy
of the Norman, but permit by our
laws a successive polygamy which is
more destructive of faith and morals
than the other because it has the
sanction of the law.
They set up the idol of false sci
ence, which is science without God
forgetting that all knowledge comes
from God, since God and truth are
one. To this idol they sacrifice theil
children, letting them grow to man
hoods estate with little or no idea Of
~ III ind 10 WI
must one day render an account o.
their every thought and deed.
They set up the idol of mammor
and in its worship are ready to sacri
fee every principle of right and jus
tice. The love of money is like a It'd
al wave sweeping over our land, ant
its thirst is Unsuitable; the richer ;
man is the more he wants. And is i
not fact that the wealth of the ma
ton is fast concentrating in the con
troll of few; and may not this fac
be potent factor in the disconten
of the times? The poor man finds lif
q struggle and if he has a family the
must struggle with him. 1t is only tn
fulfllment of that Judgment whic
condemns man to eat his bread in tn
sweat of his brow, but it is a terribl
inducement to lend his ear to tn
teachers of false ana mischievou
doctrines. He sees the rich rolling j
opulence and cannot understand tina
it is the mere accident of fortune
The rich must realize, sooner or la
er, that they are their brothers keel
er, and that they are but stewards {
what they have over and above the
needs, and for every talent they hav
raceived they render an account on tn
day of judgment.
Here, then. my friends are tt
causes of anarchy; the lack of true r
ligion and the false idols of tt
world. We would do ourselvt
wrong to close our eyes to these fac
and only return to, right principle
will ever save our fair nation from IL
fate of the worldly empires of Cree
and Rome. Without the love of Gt
in our hearts We cannot truly love OF
fellow man and unless we love CT
above all things for His own sake al
our neighbor as ourselves for the lo'
of God, then the future is dark j
deed
One thing more Heretofore, al
rightly so, we have associated ana
chy with foreigners But the horrib
crime which brought death to o
President has also brought to light t
fact that the assassin was natl
born. How, in the name of God, q
archy can take root in free COVER
ment of the people and by the Peep
surpasses comprehension, but alas,
seems only too true. And while
today offer our coincidence to the Il
ed one so bitterly bereaved, let us al
pray the God of nations not to perm
this cankerous worm of anarchism
gnaw at the vitals of our nation. /
our constant aspiration be Near
My God to Thee" and our consta
prayer, Goods will, not ours,
done"
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