The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1909-01-29

of the Roman Church. A Romans
not well versed in theology and canol
law might answer that while the state
4 ment mentioned is really the Roman
thesis, on the other hand, the Churcl
hypothesis tolerates religious thoughts
This answer, which is the maximum
they can reply, would never pacify re
ligious congregations outside Of Catho
lies. II with the Roman thesis the SOY
ereignty of the nation and religion,
freedom are denied, with their hypothe
sis the only thing that they can Obtain
is to delay said negation, and conse
quently it stands always detrimental to
a free country. In the first place Ro-
man Catholic President could not &C.
cept the Presidential chair without the
previous consent Of the Pope, in which
case this great nation would admit
through its Presidents creed another
power superior to the one elected by its
own citizens. We could therefore say
with the severity of logic, that we have
our President not only because the citi-
zens elected MIN as such, but because
the Pope desired it.
In the second place neither the Presi-
dent nor the nation through its repre-
sentatives, nor all the prelates together,
if there should be applied to the nation
the Roman thesis or their hypothesis,
could adopt any resolutions Of finality,
but the Pope, and only the Pope, could
adopt any resolution by which the SOW
ereignty Of the country would be ham
pered and all other congregations not
Catholic degraded During all that
time the Catholic could tell us: II
you have freedom it is not because it is
proclaimed by your Constitution, but
because the Pope 50 permits. " Finally,
and this is the worst, the Romanists,
when through their hypothesis they toll
crate religious freedom, they do it as a
transitory period, never as a permanent
human right They ask and tolerate
religious freedom only when they are in
a minority and less powerful, but as
soon as they become the majority, they
are forced by their doctrine to become
exclusivists and oppressors. All of
them, from the simple believer to the
chief magistrate OF the nation, must
work with all his energy to reach such
a tyrannic predominence Now then
would it not produce just alarm to all
the congregations of non-Catholics to
think that they are governed by Pres
dent, who by reason of his faith must |
use all his power to take away from
hem religious liberty? And that 4
President can have some strong influ-
ence and determining ways, our Presi-
lent who has been in the chair for seven
years knows this fact better than any
one else. Only the probability of hay-
ng a Catholic President is more than
sufficient to alarm any and all good cit
zens, not only by the faith which they
night profess, but for the political con-
that it might bring with it.
soMANIsrs ARE ExcLUsIvIsTs AND oP-
PREssoRs.
Another reason of Mr.. Roosevelt's
lot well defined appreciation is shown
shen he states that we have here Pro-
estant functionaries elected by Catho-
les and vice versa, and when he assiln
lates the Jew with the Protestant and
Roman Catholic; first, it is not the
anne thing to exercise subordinate of
ice as to be the chief executive officer
i the nation; and secondly, because
he religious congregations not Roman
SITS make distinction between pri-
ate and a public man and admit re-
gious freedom, while the Roman Cath
lie is not in the same position. All re-
gious sects grant as an inherent right
I man the privilege of choosing his
wn creed while the Roman Catholic
annot. Any Protestant congregation
free to think that any constitution
J which the right Of religious liberty is
as perpetual, is a good con-
tuition, the Roman Catholic, however,
lnnot think that way. In other !;
ords, any congregation other than
atholic with mutual rights can live to-
ether and admit their own creed !
bile the Romanists cannot; according !
their own thesis they must be ex- {
usivists and oppressors. = =
They claim that only the true religion !.
IN possess rights, not the one who is :
error and false, and as they claim :
T themselves the true and only the :
ne religion, and declare all others in Z
ror and false, they conclude that they
mot grant any rights to anybody but
emselves.
THE DAN6ER OF RoMANIsM SERIOUS.
This grave question is insisted upon is
cause the danger Of political pertur- o
Ition here on account of Romanism le
pears more serious after being well =
ldied, to all who are social observers Ia
d well acquainted with statistics. II
lie Romanists have gained in short q