The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1908-10-30
Mr.. Taft,s RELIGION.

that he is an infdel, in fact, have gain
ed such wide currency that some peo-
pie, who take political tales as fact,
are believing them, or appearing to
do so. The truth of the matter is that
Mr.. Taft is member of the Unitarian
church, and the truth about the Uni
tartan church is told in the following
paragraphs from the pen of Rev. G. w.
Casson, secretary of the publicity de-
partment of the Unitarian church. Mr..
Casson says:
1T has been charged that Mr.. Taft
is not Christian. Without discuss
ing the question as to whether joining
any church proves that man is really
a Christian, it may be stated that the
Unitarians are believers in the Chris
tan faith. In national conference, a
common basis of the belief was found
in the statement that We accept the
religion of Jesus, holding, in accord
ance with His teaching, that practical
religion is summed up in love of God
and love to man.
Unitarian belief has further been
expressed in five principles adopted
by practically all the churches, We be.
lieve in the Fatherhood of God, the
brotherhood of man, the leadership of
Jesus, salvation by character the prog
ress of mankind onward and upward
forever"
1t has also been charged that Mr..
Taft denies the divinity of Jesus
Christ. AS matter of fact, the Uni
tartan church does not stand for any
particular theory of the nature of
Jesus. 1t maintains that the real re-
ligious and Christian duty is to fol-
low Him as a great leader in spiritual
life. The particular conception as to
what Jesus was, is entirely personal
matter, with which the church has
nothing to do
The distinctive characteristic of the
Unitarian church is its frank adoption
of the rational principle in religion. 1t
insists that religion shall be treated
In the scientific spirit of free investi-
cation. 1t asserts the authority of the
individual reason and holds that no
statement should be accepted that
does not approve itself to ones intel
lect as being worthy of belief.
The Unitarian church offers a free
Fellowship. 1t holds that freedom is
absolutely essential to religious de-
velopment. Every member is at lib
erty to form his own conception of
the truth, and is expected 70 be true
to 1t, however much 1t may differ from
the belief of others. There is no hint
OF conformity or compulsion. The COM
mon basis of union is desire to know
the truth and to do the good.
There is the fullest acceptance of
the principle of progress in religion.
1t affirms God of modern life, an en-
larging revelation of His will and
truth, and an ever-progressing faith
Keeping pace with the advancement Of
human thought and evolution. Unitar-
ianism simply insists upon having in
religion the same liberty that all
Americans claim in all other realms
of thought and action.
If Mr. Taft is not a Christian. we
must put in the same class some of
the best and brightest men and women
known to the history of American
development. There have already
been four Presidents who were ayow.
eddy Unitarians, Thomas Jefferson
John Adams, John Quincy Adams ana
Miilard Fillmore.
Abraham Lincoln once defined his
religious belief in exactly the same
words as those adopted by the Unitar-
ian national conference while Wash
lngton's biographer declares that he
was simply deist in his religious be.
lief.
Daniel Webster, Charles Sumner
John G. Calhoun, John A. Andrew and
Senator George F. Hoar were Unitar
ians
Among Unitarian jurists of national
renown We're Joseph Story, Theophilus
Parsons Lemuel Shaw, Samuel F.
Miller and John Marshall The re-.
form of our civi! service was largely
due to Unitarian effort. Representa-
tive Jenckes Of Rhode Island, who
started it, DR.. James Freeman Clarke.
DE- Henry w. Bellows, George Will.
lam Curtis, Dorman B. Eaton. and
Carl Schurz, who were leaders in the
movement, were all Unitarians.
In literature, the poets BRYANT
Longfellow, Lowell and Holmes. the
historians Bancroft, Motley, Prescott.
Parkman, Sparks, Palfrey and Hill
drsth, with many such writer's as
Emerson, Thoreau, Dickens. Haw.
thorne, Rayard Taylor, Bret Harte.
Margaret Fuller and Helen Hunt Jack
son were Unitarians
Among other Unitarians might he
mentioned Agassiz, Ricardo, Wedge
wood, Horace Mann, and Sir Isaac
Newton. Mazzini was a Unitarian
theist. Louis Kossuth of Hungary
declared The Unitarian faith is the
only faith that has future"
. Among Unitarian women are to be
found Susan B. Anthony, Mary A. Liy.
ermore, Frances Willard. Florence
Nightingale and Dorothea Dix. 1t is
significant that of the forty names
that have hpnn chosen for ;,r.-.A.