The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1908-11-09
PURELY HIS OWN ccNceNr.


others on the ground that he was sus-
pected to be In sympathy with Cath
ollcs. | did not answer any OF these
letters during the Campaign because
| regarded 1t as an outrage even TO
agitatef such question as q mans
religions convictions, with the pur-
pose OF influencing a political cleo
tion. But now that the campaign Is
over. when there is opportunity for
men calmly to consider whittier such
propositions as those you make in
your letter would lead wish to In.
vite them TO consider them, and !
have selected your letter TO answer
because you advance both the obiec-
tions commonly urged against Mr..
Taft, namely. that he is a Unitarian
and also that he is suspected of sym
| pathy with the Catholics.
You ask that MIR. Taft shall "let
the world know what his religious be-
lief is." This is purely his own pri-
vate concern; and II Is a matter be-
tween him and his Maker, a matter
for his own conscience; and to re-
4, 4, ;i;:.::ire II to be made public under pen
atty OF political discrimination is TO
negative the first principles Of our
/ government, which guarantee COM
plete religious liberty, and the right
| TO each man to act in religious af-
fairs as his own conscience dictates.
! Mr. Taft never asked my advice in
l the matter. but If he had asked Il,
! should have emphatically advised him
| against thus stating publicly his re-
/ ligious belief. The 4emand for a
statement of a candidates religious
belief can have no meaning except
that there may be discrimination for
| or against him be use of that be-
| lief Discrimination against the hold
| er of one faith means retaliatory dis
| elimination against men of other
| faiths. The inevitable result of en-,
tering upon srch practice would be
an abandonment of our READ freedom
| OF conscience and a reversion to the
| dreadful conditions 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.
To discriminate against a thorough
| ly upright citizen because he belongs
10 some particular church. or because
like Abraham Lincoln. he has not
avOwed his allegiance to any church
is an outrage against that liberty OF
/ conscience which is one of the foun.
| dations Of American life. You are
| entitled to know whether a man seek.
| ing your suffrages 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 entitled ia
know matters (which lie purely be
| tween himself and his Maker II Il Is
| proper or legitimate to oppose man
| for being a Unitarian, as was John
! Quincy Adams, for instance, as is tho
Rev. Edward Everett Hale, at the
present moment chaplain of the sen
ate. and an American of whose life
all good Americans are proud--then
T, 1t would be equally proper to support
or oppose o. man because Of his views
1 on justification by faith. or the meth
cd of administering the sacrament, OF
the gospel OF salvation by works. II
you once enter on such career there
is absolutely no limit at which you
can legitimately stop.
So much for your objections to Mr.
/, Taft because he is a Unitarian. Now
for your objections to him because
you think his wife and brother to be
! Roman Catholics. AS It happens, they
are not; but II they were, or il he
1 were a Roman Catholic himself. il
ought to not to affect In the slightest
degree any mans supporting him for
| the position of president. You say
! that "the mass of the voters that are
not Catholics will not support a man
! for any office, especially for presi
dent OF the United States, who Is a
Roman Catholic" / believe that when
you say this you foully slander your
fellow copntrymen, do not for one
moment believe that the mass OF our
fellow citizens, or that any consld
| cradle number OF our fellow citizens
can te influenced by such narrow
higotry as to refuse to vote for any
thoroughly upright and fit man be,
cause he happens TO have a partica.
lar religious creed. Such a consdera.
tion should never be treated as a rea.
son for either supporting or oppos.
ing candidate for a political office.
Are you aware that there are several
states in this Union where the major.
ity of the people are now Catholics ?
/ should reprobate in the severest
/ tNi Aht AdiuOfiNS WHO III lnOSe
states Tor in any other state) who
! refused to vote for the most fit man
because he happened to be a Protest
ant; and my condemnation woula be
exactly as severe for Protestants who,
under reversed circumstances re-
| fused to vote for a Catholic In pub
&c life | am happy to say that | have
known many men who were elected
and constantly reelected. to office In
districts where the great majority OF
their constituents were of different
religious belief. know Catholics
who have for many years represent
ed constituencies mainly Protestant,
and Protestant who have for many
| years represented constituencies main
ly Catholic; and among the congress.
men whom | know particularly well
was one man of Jewish faith who rep
resented a district in which there
were hardly any Jews at all All of
these men by their very existence in
political life refute the slander you
have uttered against your fellow
Americans.