The Alaska daily empire., 1922-11-01
SECRET BODIES
 OF MASKED MEN
 ARE CONDEMNED
Conc d e mnatory Resolutions Adopted Against Masked
 Bodies by Church Council


 demnatory resolutions aimed at masked and secret bodies have been passed by the administrative com mittee of the Federal Council of Churches. While they mentioned no organization by name, the Rev. Sam uel McCrea Cavert, one of the two general secretaries, declared that members of the Administrative Con- mittee had the Ku Klux Klan in mind in particular
 In making the resolution public | MT. Cavert said: This action was taken as a result of statements made from time to time that the Ku KluX Klan and other masked and secret bodies are acting in be. half of the Protestant churches of the United States. While the Ku KluX Klan is not mentioned by name in the statement, members of the Administrative Committee had it in mind in particular.
 Motives of Klan.
 The motives of the ku Klux Klan and similar organizations may be of the highest, but members of , the Administrative Committee be- lieve their methods are not only wrong but also dangerous from ev- 1 cry standpoint. Action by the com mittee is significant when it is real ized that 30 great communions with ! more than 2O,000,0O0 members are affiliated with the Federal Coun- cil. The resolution is as follows: s"The Administrative Committee of the Federal Council of the Fed eral Council of the Churches of Christ in America records it's strong conviction that the recent rise of organizations whose members are masked, oathbound and unknown, and whose activities have the effect of arousing religious prejudice and racial antiquities, is fraught with grave consequences to the Church and to society at large. Any or ganization whose activities tend to set class against class or race against race is consistent neither with the ideals of the churches nor with true patriotism, however viz orous or sincere may be it's profes- sions of religion and Americanism
 Law Must Be Upheld.
 Evils of lawlessness and immor- ality, however serious, can never be remedied by secret, private, and un- authorized action. They must be handled by the State and by the recognized forces of education. For groups of individuals wearing masks and concealing their identity to pass judgment on men and women and to carry out humiliating measures of their own devising, is subversive of every principle of civilized gov ernment, and undermines respect for the established agencies of law and order.
 Any body of men, unidentified and banded together to achieve in partisan spirit the purposes of a sectional. political. racial or sectar- ian group, is almost certain to fall into the very evils of mob rule against which the spirit of Chris tian democracy and Americanism makes vigorous and constant pro- test Even if they resort to no un- wnrihy deeds themselves. tbeir prAe- tice nj carving on their plans in disguise or under cover of darkna,s encourages others 10 do likeW SC and so affords the opportunity foi all manner Of lawlessness to be car- ried on with immunity from arrest or punishment. However true it is that in some communities religious organizations seek control over municipal administration which is undemocratic and highly undesir- able. yet for another body of men, secret and oathbound. to undertake to get control is equally intolerable, even if they seek with ali sincerity