The Newtown bee. (Newtown, Conn.) 1877-current, 1903-10-30

| Christ! Every Christian has the spir-
it of Christ, If he is true Christian:
and still the Christian conscience may
be a narrow, bigoted, ugly thing to
live with if you are not of the same
opinion and conviction, even in things
not essential to the life eternal.
| I do not say that a heather and
Christian may not be happy as man
and wife; but I could not advise any
to try the experiment. .<..,. :
One of the saddest stories 1 ever
read was that of the degradation of
| Christian woman who married Chi
nese and for the love of her child went
back step by step conforming to the
religion of her husbands people, till
lost in heather darkness. .
do not contend that Catholics and
Professionals may not intermarry and
live in peace and love; but in my mind
it is a grave question of prudence. No
one can very we'll ride two horses which
are going different ways, at the same
time, especially if they are headed in
| opposite directions, even though both
| are supposed to be on the road to the
same place. If they are content to
take each other just as they are ''for
better for worse,'' religion and all,
then they should. be willing to grant
each other perfect liberty OF faith and
worship, or agree to conform, the one
| to the other, and not renounce relig
| ion altogether. Any true Christian
ought to be intelligent enough, and
liberal enough to serve God in any
Christian church, Catholic or Protes-
tant, and he ought to be welcomed in
the fellowship and communion of the
Spirit wherever he goes, without be-
ing made a proselyte to the petty
opinions, prejudices, tastes, and convic-
tiohs of any sect, party or school of
| thought. What 1 am urging is the
Importance of right understanding and
harmony to begin with. 1t is a strange
fact that candidates for matrimony
will drop their religion out of sight,
and even conceal it from each other
before marriage, and then quarrel
about it forever afterwards.
Certain theories of life are antago-
nistic to, and naturally destruc-
tive of each other; and for
that reason the mixing of religions
has always been considered perilous to
the moral and spiritualinterests of So
ciety. Even when the parties agree
not to quarrel, nor even talk about the
matter, there are serious questions of
the moral and social life involved. Re-
ligion is largely a test of social stand
ing. To wed out of ones church may
mean the changing of all the rela lions
in the scale of human intercourse. The
standards of conduct and character are
very different still, among the various
protestant denominations. Even the
diverse schools of thought in the same
Christian body may tend to separate
social circles, and conflicting assocja
tions. One being Baptist and the
other Methodist, man and his wife
cannot receive the Holy Communion
together except they both have been
perchance, under the water in baptism
] and good Methodist brother if faith
T full to the discipline could not consist
: entity dance nor play cards with al
Episcopal partner for life.
c It may be thought that the mixing
d of these different phases OF the faitl
t will tend to Christian union an,
j. church unity. And so it may in som
# directions. But it is well known tina
y in many cases, in which neither is will
o ing to 60 with the other, both forsak
J. the church; religion drops out of thei
e lives, and their children, if they hav
5 any, grow up unbaptized and unir
q structed, heather in Christian lane
e In some cases the MARI led couple e.
il change the courtesies between thei
f. respective church homes, and this n
S. leves the difficulty in some respects
e, They patrOnize each others religion
he And their children sometimes 60 I
a. one church, and then to the other:
IN part prefer one and part the other, an
so the family is divided in faith an
practice, which at best is not always
80 happy arrangement.
~ In some instances the mixture
varied by compromise. Husbar
and wife of different churches abandt
both and unite on third, which seen
J. to afford more points of agreement
G. common.
as But under the most favoring circul
N stances what deep and abiding diffe
= ence there must be in the spirit al
fellowship of the home, as betwe
at confidence, understanding, sympat