New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-05-26
"A QUERY FOR. CHRISTIANS"
II l. Answered by a Comparison oil
Character and Conduct.

To the Editor OF The Tribune.
Sir: The letter of George G. Wilson in
Yesterdays paper is calculated TO appeal
to a reasonable Christian-the more so
that he does not perceive the weakness Of
the arguments of his more or less ire
ligious" friends. Apropos of the arrest
and subsequent imprisonment OF Bouck
White for disturbing the congregation of
the Fifth Avenue Baptist Church, Mr..
Wilson's friends have said to hinI you
see what hypocritical thing your Chris
tan dope is. II they treated White in this
manner for just wanting TO say word
upon an ethical subject. what would they
have done to Christ II Ho had gone there
With a lash and scourged the thieves out
Of His tenpleT
Judging from his utterances- quoted by
tho newspapers. Bouck White appears to
be- q fanatical person, with an unduly
fiattering opinion OF his own wisdom and
an eager desire to reconstruct human So
ciety according to his own ideas, and an
ardent wish to see his name in large
print. Urged on by his egotism he enters
a church where a congregation is assem-
disturbance by insisting upon entering
into an argument with the minister who
is conducting tho services. Very properly
he Is arrested and punished. The senti-
mentalists sympathize with him and de-
mand to know what he has done. He has
committed an outrage-an abominaole
outrage-which would have been quite as
bad in any other church as In the one he
selected. The very foundation Of Ameri-
can liberty is tho citizens right to wor-
ship God in his own way, and any man
who enters any place of worship where a
congregation Is assembled for this pur-
pose and disturbs the people there with
loud-mouthed rawlings commits an unbear-
able outrage. II Bouck White wished 10
express his views to the public he couid
have spoken at street corners or written
to newspapers In nc possible view that
could be tai en- of his case was there any
excuse for the thing that he did.
In comparing the conduct OF this man
with that Of Christ, Mr. Wilson's friends
prove conclusvely that they are ire
llgious What the Saviour did is thus de-
scribed by st. Matthew: Jesus entered
into the Temple OF God and cast out all
them that sold and bought in the temple,
and overthrow the tables OF the money
changers, and the seats of them that sold
doves; and He said unto them. 1t Is writ
ten My house shall be called house OF
prayer: but We have made II a den Of
thieves" That Is, Christ drove from the
temple those who desecrated II by max
ing 1t den of thieves" Bouck White
attempts to drive from a church con-
gregation engaged in Christian worship.
because, forsooth. he considers himself a
better judge OF the teachings Of Jesus
than the minister they have selected. No
Christian churches in our country are
Used as places OF barter and trade. and
those mistaken people who compare the
action Of Bouck White with that OF Jesus
do something that looks very like bias
phemy to the eyes OF an old-fashioned
Christian.
The question as to what the churches
would have done to Christ In a similar
case is easily answered. A reading OF the
Gospels ia SUFFICIENT to prove that such a
situation could never occur. There is no