Arizona republican., 1914-10-10
tCH0OF RECENT
 CONTROVERSY
Pass Strong Resolutions Against Sun day Closing Ordinance Declare It Will Unite Church and State.

That Sunday laws and all religious legislation are fundamentally wrong in principle, and will bring union i of church and state, is the statement Of the Arizona Seventh Day Adyen- tlsts in a strong resolution, passed yesterday at the annual camp meet 1 ing, which is in session at North Tenth and Pierce streets Every Sev- lenth Day Adventist in Arizona is pledged by this resolution to stand strongly against any encroachments of l this nature. The Sunday ordinance recently passed in Phoenix closing the barber shops on Sunday was mentioned, and vigorous opposition to the measure by the Adventsts when it comes to q vote upon the initiative, is expected.
 Ministers and delegates declared they would oppose Saturday legisa- tion just as quickly as laws to estab- fish Sunday as a legal day of rest. Every person ought to have the right tof free choice in this matter, they said, for the state has no right to force men to do any religious act
 The resolution, passed unanimously, was as follows:
 Whereas. the right to worship God according 10 the dictates of individual conscience is God-given, and accord ed to every person by the Constitution of the United States, and
 Whereas, the union of church and hac i,, gious persecution, and crimsoned the pages of history with the blood of conscientols Christians, and
 1 Whereas, notwithstanding the his tory of the past there is constant tendency on the part of misnformed citizens to coerce conscience, and re- strain the liberties of their fellow citizens in matters religious by the enactment of Sunday laws, be it therefore
 Resolved, that we, representatives of the Seventh-day Adventist denomi- nation, in conference assembled, while l reaffirming our contention of the right of every man to worship God according to the dictates of his own i conscience, deny the right of any man or organization to force the conclu- sions of conscience upon any man, woman or child. Be it further 1 Resolved that the officers of the Arizona conference of Seventh Day Adventists be hereby authorized to adopt such measures as will educate the people of our state in all con- sistent ways relative to the results of religious legislation, and the pro [. per sphere of civil government in af- fairs of religion"
 strong temperance resolution was , also passed, declaring the liquor traf fife to be a curse and the most ap- palling crime legalzed by civilized nations,' The resolution pledged all members of the denomination in Ari- zona to "continue to cooperate to the fullest extent possible with all ap- proved organizations. such approval including the idea of a temperance measure divorced from religious legis- lation and use all legitimate methods to make Arizona dry at the next election" Abstinence from the use of liquor and tobacco is test of fel lowship in the Adventist church. Members also discard tea, coffee spices and to a large extent flesh foods
 The conference also placed itself in harmony with the recommendation of the general or world conference to raise for foreign mission work in this field 20 cents a member per week 1 for the year, in fact, up to the pres ent the contributions from the Ari- zona field for this purpose have more than totaIed this sum during 1914. l This is in addition to the tithe, or tenth of the income, which is paid | by the church members in harmony, as they believe. with scriptural teach ing, for the support of the ministry.
 Elder J. F. Bond, president of the conference, said yesterday morning that the great war in Euope, the ire quent strikes, robberies, calamities by | floods, tornadoes, earthquakes, vol l canoes, and great storms at sea, and | at the same time the worldwide pre- dictions of universal peace and safe ty, are ominous signs of the near l coming of Christ in the clouds with l his angels That evil agencies are | confcderating in what might be | termed a sin trust, and thus strengthening for tremendous crisis ahead was another statement.
 He read the scripture which says; But of the times and seasons, l brethren, ye have no need that l write unto you. For yourselves 1 know perfectly that the day of the | Lord so cometh as a thief in the | night For when they shall say, peace and safety; then sudden destruction | cometh upon them and they | shall not escape. But ye, brethren, l are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief.
 God has not revealed the day, nor hour nor year of Christs coming, added the speaker, as he says in Matthew A, but the same chapter teaches us we may know when the event is near"