The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1913-08-23
.ONE OF THE GREATEST
QUESTIONS OF THE AGE
TO BE THRESHED OUT IN MAR
ION COUNTY
(COpyrighted)

/
events and far-reaching changes that
go down deep into human character,
involving greater changes and great
er results than those that hinged
upon the campaigns of Waterloo and
Gettysburg.
For the mighty contest the forces
of mankind, divided into two great
camps, are approaching each other
from every quarter, from every hill
top and valley or our beloved cOun-
try and the mighty contest to be
fought out and settled for all time
is beyond doubt the greatest, most
important and inspiring affecting
any age in human history. 1t is the
greatest Moving Picture Show the
world has ever witnessed, one well
worthy the WatchfuI eye of every
patriotic citizen, every lover of true
temperance, true religion and human
freedom. In magnitude and world
wide Importance to the human race,
the great battle now on between
Force (PrOhibitiOn) and Free Will
takes its place beside ArmageddOn.
The real assence or spirit of hum
an life is Free Will. 1t makes the
man, builds his character good or
eviD and forms his destiny. There
fore Prohibitionists, in their false
of what life is and of what Free
Will consists and of what it means
to man-the greatest of the gifts of
God, are not in the Light of Heaven
and do not know that life is a matter
of chOice-not FOrce-with all men.
That God made it so. Choose you
this day whom you will serve" That
every man ''must work out his own
salaVtiOn," and that Church or State
can not do it for him. That the Al
mighty has placed every mans des-
tiny in his own hands to make or
mar it as he chooses; or, otherwise.
he would have been ii mere animal
and not u man. Therefore man,
created Il Free Moral and Spiritual
Being, possessing the exalted power
fOf choosing between right and wrong,
between sin and holiness, between
true temperance and religious in
temperance (PrOhibition), cannot be
forced to abdicate the throne of his
Reason, the Freedom of his VIII, or
accept and practice Prohibition
against his wish or desire. Force
! 4
therefore, incompatible, antagOnistic
and wholly contrary to the spirit of
the Gospel. Prohibition stands for
Force and therefore for Spiritual
darkness and not true religion: it is
not in the Light of Heaven; it can
never be enforced without breeding
crimes and criminals by the thou
sand; IL state of confusion and an
archy in human society such as the
world has never witnessed. Such a
doctrine forced upon mankind by
PrOhibitiOnists, in league with poll
. ticians, dominating the Legislative
and judicial branches of our COun-
; try, brutalizeS man and hurIs him
his greatness as Il Free Moral and
) Spiritual Being, capable of discern
. ing good from evil and making a
wise choice for eternity, down to a
par with the animals about him that
cannot sin. 1t is the religion of
Force, hatred ard bitterness, there
fore, not the religion of Christ, and
is sure to produce Il reign of terror,
Il total disregard for religion and
Law, eliminating in Spiritual Night.
Prohibition fiourished two hum
dred years before Christ and was
represented by one among three IA
nous Jewish sects-the Pharisees,
Sadducees and Essences. The latter
sect, the Essences, were extreme and
violent prOhibitiOnists, without rea-
son or charity-the religious wolves
who slandered and prosecuted the
sublimest character that ever lived,
the most extraordinary, wonderful,
glorious and benevolent Being that
ever visited this planet. Christ knew
their hearts and deeds and did not
join them. 1t is false and wicked
to teach that the Son of God was a
prOhibitiOnist, for he lived in an age
when total abstinence societies
ffOurished and ignored them. He
emphasized the difference between
His life and that of John the Bap-
fist. John came neither eating nor
drinking: the Son of Man came eat
ing and drinking. The first great
act of His ministry was the making
of wine i'm large quantity and of fine
quality-His personal contribution to
the pleasures of a wedding feast. He
used wine constantly, and before all
the world, and thereby earned from
religious hereticS the title of Wine
bibber." Thus you see, Prohibition
Il