The Palatka news and advertiser., 1916-01-28

Theories so fallacious as those
charged to Catholics as their worst
offence are sufficient to answer and
defeat themselves.
Every man is supposed to be some
thing of IA fool about his religion. lit is
ono Of our Protestant privileges which
we must concede to the Catholics. A
man is usually honest in his religious
,foibles. Oppose him and he thinks
he is serving God by fighting. At
tempt to coerce him, he believes him
self martyr and possibly convinces
the world that it is true. Let him
alone and he will finally realize what
he is, just plain fool
am perfectly certain that there
are great numbers of Catholics who,
if put to choice between their Cath
olicism and their American patriotism,
would hold the latter, and who ac-
knowledge no supremacy of the Pope
or anyone else over the laws of the
State and the Federal Government 1t
is sometimes said that such patri-
otic principles on the part of Cath
olic are inconsistent with his religion.
Possibly so, but if we must fall for
inconsistency few of US would remain
standing. For example, the Catholic
Church is often condemned because it
declares unlawful" many marriages
which Protestants recognize and the
law recognizes as valid. We Protes-
tants object strenuously to the Cath
olic view of the matter, and yet all
the leading Protestant CHURCHES en-
force exactly the same principle, only
making narrower application of it,
when they refuse to recognize certain
divorces and forbid their ministers to
remarry the persons SO divorced.
NEARLY all Protestant churches rec
ognize divorces granted upon what
they term scriptural grounds and no
others.)
The Protestant chucrh may lawful
ly enforce this principle as church
law, as we all concede Shall Cath
olics enjoy the same privilege?
But there are some who appear to
think that we have no time to be con-
tent with an appeal to intelligence.
They urge that the conflict is on and
we must be on the defensive.
| recall story of two soldiers in
battle. One said to the other, "Sam,
you are scared. Your knees are shak-
ing" eyes," said Sam, "and if you
were scared half as bad as I am you
would rum"
am bound to admit that if
were half as badly scared as some of
my friends seem to be l would run or
do something desperate. Possibly
l might do some things that they are
doing. know that many of our good
! citizens are among them, men actu-
ated by the highest motives. Hence l
do not condemn them. l cannot say
so much for all who parade under
their flag.
But for my part, am not unduly
alarmed.
Why?
I recall that England was once a
Roman Catholic country. For more
than a century after the country be-
came Protestant a fierce conflict rag
ed between the two religions. Even
after Professionalism was firmly estab-
lished, the contest continued until tOl-
Grafton became the fixed policy of
the British Government. Protestant
ism has been supreme in England
since. And liberation in that day
implied the ignoring of theories and
practices far more formidable than
any that confront us.
l have learned something from the
numerous uprisings against Roman
Catholicism in the past. / shall men
tion only those best known in COM
paratively modern times.
First comes the Titus Oates cru
sade about 1878. Oates was men,
ber of the Church of England. He
professed conversion to Catholicism
in order that he might play the spy,
Later he joined Dissenting body and
was finally expelled from that. So
much for his religion AS an agita-
tor he succeeded in turning England
upside down, caused many persons to
be tried and executed for alleged COM
plicity in a "Popish plot" was finally
proven to be an impostor, was con-
victed of perjury and is anathemata-
tized by Protestant historians.
One hundred years later in 17S0,
Lord George Gordon, in opposition to
the Catholic Emancipation Act, led a
mob of $4,000 people to the Houses of
Parliament in London to present their
petition of protest The expedition
ended in riots lasting five days and