The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1910-01-15
nivorce Court Greatest Evil.

niVOTCe COuEI STCdICSk EVIL
protastant America is awakening to
-, fact that the greatest foe it has TO
l is the divorce court. Two minis
ns 5. i'm widely-separated cities have re-
,,tI,, given voice to their detestation
- mis- crying evil. Rev. DR.. Henry A.
G,iesemer Of Franklin Square Baptist
ehnrrh. Baltimore, said:
The bane Of our day and nation and
t,o ecourge of society is the ease with
t-birh an absolute divorce can be OBJ
,oinad Our divorce courts ought not
- he made a sort of clearing house
through which reprehensible sinners
IN mass and be given a clear title to
5rnli1ate the old and violate the law Of
heaven.
..Tbe ease with which divorce can be
.stqiued in every state in the Union is
disgrace to the nation and vital
I5ov struck at the foundations of the
to,oa The index finger of all history
POINTS this way
.sTbe divorce mills of Dakota and Ne
,.o5a are as foul spots on the body of
onr republic, and if allowed to spread
nm weaken and destroy the fabric of So
,istv and insure the tottering and fall
inc of the nation.
congress at Washington should
frame and pass a stringent law at the
a,r1fast possible moment that would be
uniform in its application to all of the
states. looking toward the safeguard
ing of the sanctity of the home and
marriage This is the kind of protec-
tiop that 1 believe in, and it has the in
6orsement of the highest and hottest of
reasons.
1T is sad commentary on the Chris
ti9n ministry today that some minister
can always be found to remarry those
who have violated every law of God and
man for the paltry fee that is given.
There are some ministers who are
either wilfully ignorant or criminally
defiant of the teachings of Christ on
tbis subject Such ministers bring dis
grace upon the profession and make
their nobler and worthier brothers hang
their heads in shame. and regret that
they have not the power to unfrock
them.
Rev. II. Lester Smith, rector of Della
ware Avenue Methodist church, Buffalo,
made the divorce evil the subject of his
sermon last Sunday evening. Using
NurflIo's Holy Family" for an illus
ration. DR. Smith said:
The time was when America was a
nation of homes and home loving peo-
pe. The home was a sacred place and
marriage a sacred ceremony. Then the
adulterer and the home-breaker were
despised and ostracised and divorce was
almost unknown.
What CHASTITY mockery we find to-
day! According to government statis-
ties we have an average of one divorce
out of every twelve marriages. Mar |
rage is rapidly coming to be regarded |
as a civil contract that can be termi- |
mated at the will Of either of the par
ties without losing the cOuntenance of |
society. Last month one girl, 10 years |
old. applied for her third divorce.
This is lust gone mad. 1t is destTuc- |
tinn of the manhood and the woman |
hood of our land. 1t is denying to the |
children of one family out of twelve the |
rights Of parental care in a Christian |
home. 1t is certain and progressive de-
Element and debauchery of society. It's
effect cannot be otherwise than disas-
uOus.
TIE home is the very foundation of
society. The foundation of the home is
that one man and one woman are bound
together in holy love until death shall
part them, and that being so bound
they do jointly undertake to protect the
childhood Of the home, and to install
and develop in the children those prin-
eiples of life and conduct which are
necessary to the happiness of the indi-
vdual and to the continued existence of
society"
Good Catholic doctrine. every word of
IT, Too bad that the evangelical pull
pits of the land are not filled with men
like Rev. Drs. Smith and Griesemer.-
Union and Times,