Staunton spectator and vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1896-1916, 1908-09-25
MR.. TAFT'S RELIGION.

That a candidate for the Presidency
must have religion seems to be gener-
ally conceded. Heretofore that has not
been the case. Possibly it is not so
much that he must have religion, but
protesting religious belief, that belief
must not be obnoxious to the millions
of Americans protesting the Christian
Religion. We know nothing of Mr..
Taft's religious beliefs. Being a man
in high station, and fit for President,
all he does, says and acts, must be free
from hypocraey and can't. Mr.. Taft
is reported, and we have not seen it de-
MED, to be member of the Unitarian
church; church with many followers
and many members. 1t is to persons
protesting to believe in the Divinity of
Christ matter of surprise that there
are so many persons who do not believe
in his Divinity. The Unitarians are of
those who deny the Trinity, "Father,
Son and Holy Ghost, and believe only
in one God.
Webster defines a Unitarian to be
"One who denies the doctrine of the
Trinity, believing that God exists only
in one person"
To the Christion, viz: those believ
ing in the Divinity of Christ, the doc
trine of the Unitarian is particularly
revolving. The Christian accepts the
Bible not only as teaching the exis-
tence of God, but also as prophesying
the coming of Christ. To strip their
belief of the latter may make doubtful
the former, and thus destroy the sac
redness of the book upon which their
faith is founded. If, they say, the
Bible does not teach the coming of
Christ, then the New Testament has
no place, because it is founded wholly
on the fact that according to the Scrip
lures Christ came, and was crucified
for their sins, and that atonement is
only through him. To deny the Trim
ity, and to disbelieve in the divinity of
Christ leaves Christians therefore with
out hope and without faith, indeed
the belief of the Unitarian cuts the
ground from under Christianity.
The question of supporting Mr.. Taft,
therefore, with those Republicans pro-
Tossing Christianity, to whom we have
talked, is very serious one. The
question as to whether they are war
ranted in attempting to place at the
head of this nation man whose relig-
ious belief is destructive of their own
is growing more serious as they look
further into it. One man who is life
long Presbyterian, and for years has
voted the Republican ticket said, ''How
can 1 send my children to Sunday
School and not risk their saying to me
what is the use of our trying to be-
lieve in Christ when our President
does not believe in him p - And the
same person further said, "Would not
these children say to me and you help
ed elect him p
For our part the question of Mr..
Taft's religious beliefs or church affili-
ations has not been disturbing. If we
are forced to accept him as President
we can, we hope, abide his religious as
well as his political views. We wash
ouf hands of it all, because we oppose
him, not personally, not as man, but
because of his party affiliations, which
are enough. We do not believe he rep
resents the best interests of the people,
we do not believe it would be wise to
elect him. We do not believe he would
carry out any but the worst of Mr..
Roosevelt's policies. The party to
which we belong has presented the
country with man for President
whose religious views are in accord
with the masses, and whom we can
gladly support, who has ideas of his
own, who will carry them out, who is
no dead planet as the moon to reflect
only the light given it by other planets.
Who champions the rights of the peo-
pie, and who has been chosen by the
people because they delight to follow
in his lead. AS we say, we know moth
ing of Mr.. Taft's religion. If we were
for him in other respects we would pos
sibly shut our eyes and gulp down re-
ligion and all. But it is not easy for
many who worship Saviour crucified
to swallow so formidable an object.
Students of the New Testament will
find in / John, End chap. 1928 verses
these words:
"Who is liar, but he that denieth
that Jesus is the Christ?
"Whosoever denieth the Son, the
same hath not the Father"
Taft and Sherman who compose the
ticket of the Republicans are being adj
vertised in magazines just as any nos
trum, patent right, fountain pen, or
cure for corns If we take up some of
the leading magazines and look through
their advertising pages we find a glow
ing advertisement in which their pic
lures figure as part. Eulogiums from
great men upon the candidates are
printed just as in the case of pain kill
ers where Jonathan Green of Hoboken
used thirty bottles every time with
wonderful effect. This is about the
worst political dodge we have seen and
belittles the cause and the candidates.
1t is funny to read soap adj, then a
Taft and Sherman ad. on the next
page. No encomium from the Hon. J.
B. Foraker appears among the certifi-