The Ocala banner. (Ocala, Marion County, Fla.) 1883-194?, 1908-11-20

a matter for general discussion and
political discrimination" says Presi-
dent Roosevelt in a letter he recently
made public, in which he answers nu-
merous correspondents.
My Dear Sir-I have received your
letter, running in part as follows:
While it is claimed almost uni
versally that religion should not en-
ter into politics, yet there is no deny
ing that il does, and the mass Of the
voters that are not Catholics will not
support a man for any office. espe-
cially for president of the United
States, who is a Roman Catholic.
Since Taft has been nominated for
president by the republican party. it
is being circulated and is constantly
urged as a reason for not voting for
Taft that he is an infidel Unitarian
and his wife and brother Roman Cath
Olics. If his feelings are in
sympathy with the Roman Catholic
church on account Of his wife and
brother being Catholics, that would
be Objectionable to a sufficient mum
Der of voters to defeat him. On the
other hand, if he is an infdel, that
would be sure 10 mean defeat. =
| am writing this letter for the sole
purpose of giving Mr.. Taft an oppOr-
tunity to let the world know what his
religious belief is
4 received many such letters as
yours during the campaign, express
ing dissatisfaction with Mr.. Taft on
religious grounds; some of them on
the ground that he was a Unitarian.
and others on the ground that he was
suspected to be in sympathy with the
Catholics. | did not answer any Of
these letters during the campaign
because | regarded it as an outrage
even to agitate such a question as a
mans religious convictions, with the
purpose of influencing a political
election. But now that the campaign
is over, when there is an opportunity
for men to calmly consider whittier
such propositions as those you make
in your letter would lead, ! wish to
invite you to consider Them and
have selected your letter to answer
because you advance both the objec-
tons commonly urged against Mr.
Taft, that he is a Unitarian, and also
that he is suspected of sympathy with
the Catholics.
You ask thar Nir. Taft shall let
the world know what his religious be-
lief is This is purely his own pri-
vate concern, and it is a matter be-
tween him and his Maker, a matter
for his own conscience and to require
it to be made public under penalty OF
political discrimination is to negative
the first principles of our government, !
which guarantee complete religious
liberty, and the right to each man to
act in religious affairs as his own con-
science dictates.
Mr.. Taft never asked my advice in
the matter, but if he had asked it, l |
should have emphatically advised
him against thus stating publicly his
religious belief. The demand for a !
statement of a candidates religious
belief can have no meaning except
that there may be discrimination for
or against him because of that belief
Discrimination against the holder of
one faith means retaliatOry discrimi-
nation against men of other faiths.
The inevitable result of our real free
dom of conscience and a reversiOn to
the dreadful condition of religious dis
sension, which, in so many lands, have
proved fatal to true liberty, to true re-
ligion and to all advance in civiliza-
ton.
ITO discriminate against q thor
Oughly upright citizen because he be-
longs to some particular church, or
because, like Abraham Lincoln, he
has not avOwed his allegiance to any
church, is an outrage against the lib
erty of conscience which is one Of the
foundations Of American life. You
are entitled TO know whether a man
seeking your suffrage is a man of
clean and upright life. honorable in
all his dealings with his fellows, and
fit by qualification and purpose to do
well in the great office for which he
is a candidate, but you are not emit
tied to know matters which lie pure
~ between himself and his Maker. I'll
ii is proper or legitimate to oppose a |
man for being a Unitarian, as was
John Quincy Adams, for instance. as
is the Rev. Edward Everett Hale. at
the present moment chaplain of the |
senate, and an American of whose life |
all good Americans are proud. then |
it would be equally proper to support |
or oppose a man because of his views !