The Washburn times. [volume] (Washburn, Wis.) 1896-1976, 1912-02-22
Contributed by Chr. christensen
Ignorance. or What?

paper in this country contains a
reference to the foreign element in
the population of the United States
that reveals lasnentable ignorance
&c the most elementary truths Of
jstory ard geo2rd ply. Latterlv
this ignorance has cropped out in a
rather expected quarter and In a
statement that calls for most Wig
orous aod emphatic protest in pub
lie. A good Methodist lady. has
seen fl to embody in a piece for
defamation at Sunday School
Rally Day Service" entitled The
Call to Youth" the following inspir-
ing sentiment:
IT'S il the chance to do herioc
things that you are asking? Then
hear the call of the countryl There
is harder work to be done in Ameri-
ca than the world ever faced before.
Great ocean liners are bringing
Swedes and Norwegian, Russians
and Italians, Buhemlans and Poles,
Turks, Japanese, Indians, black men
and yellow, 041 $40 Eevery year.
To our shores they come with their
customs and their religions. VINO
will help make them Christians and
Americans"
Against such disregard oil
language and truth we protest. The
other peoples are fully able to and
undoubtedly will take care OF them
selves. AS for our own people, the
Norwegians, we wish to put this
lady right by telling her some
things she may or may not know
Every child of Norwegian parentage
is baptized by Christian, usually
a Lutheran minis ter, is taught the
principles of the Lutheran faith and
Bible History. and is confirmed
usually at>the age of IA or 10. A
mong our nationality it is the rule
for the people who marry to have
the ceremony performed by a mini
ster of the gospel in a church
There are now in this country (tht
estimate is undoubtedly low be-
tween two and three thousand Nor
wegian ministers, of which number
pearly 400 are Lutheran. The
memberships of our Norwegian
churches cannot be very far from
three hundred thousand in goot
standing. The Norwegians have il
the United States five { separate
Lu theran theological seminarles,
three first class church colleges, ant
a score or more of high schools
academies. teachers training
schools and ladies seminaries, Will
unimportant exceptions, all tn,
Norwegian newspapers published II
the United States stand squarely
with the church and it's Christian
teaching. The Norwegians in Ameri
ca have established hospitals, dea
coness' homes, orphan asylums, ole
peoples homes and other eleemos-
ynary institutions. We are sending
missionaries to China, South Africa
Madagascar, India, to the Negroes
in the South, to the Indians in the
West, ana to the Eskimos in Alaska
This ought to convince any reason
able person that the Norwegians
whose forefathers came to this
country as Christian missionaries
and discoveries are not Pagans.
Bnt suppose the lady says thai
she intends to make real" Chris
tians of them, not nominal Chris
tians alonel Against that we woIlt
not protest, unless she should NEAR
that they also had to become Metho
dists, which, of course, she is too
intelligent to mean. We only wisl
to remind her of the old adage tina
charity begins at home, and that
Furthermore, it lis current scom
plant that American high school
college and university students .art
deplorably ignorant of the mos
elementary facts of Bible History
and Christianity. And as to be-
coming Americans, the ENorwegian'
have hitherto enjoyed the enviablt
reputation of becoming American
ICED in letter and in spirit faster
+, than any other people coming t.
. these shores. We thank Ethis lady
| for her solicitous regard for all the
ignorant foreigners. But we pro
test against the ignorance she dis
plays, and against the entir ely
false ideas she is trying to inculat,
into the young. The Norwegial
Methodist ministers in Americ;
ought to have been the first to re
sent such an insult to their own ma
neutrality-suspicious. Petersen. Ed
tor ScaDdina Wan.