Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1925-08-25
MAY BALK MOVE
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of the Episcopal Church. Represen-
tatives of the church said today that
the publication of his opinion would
provoke a lively discussion through
out the church.
The Rt. Rev. Charles l.. Slattery,
bishop coadjutor of Massachusetts,
is chairman of the joint committee
on PRAYER brook revision which
sponsored the elimination of the
word "obey" at the general conven-
ton of the church in Portland, Ore
gon. in September, 1922. The con-
vention, practically with unanimity,
voted for the elimination, but under
the laws of the church an amend
ment must be approved by two sue
ceeding conventions, and accordingly
the matter will come up for final
determination at the triennial gen
eral conference that is to open at
New Orleans on october Z.
Bishop Johnson Is said to be the
first notable leader of the church 70
come out openly against the pro
posed change. He is also the editor
of the Witness, church pubhcatlon'
in a Forthcoming issue of which his
statement will not appear In full. IL
is summarized as follows:
Johnson, D. d. :,
"If women do not love men well
enough to accept their leadership,
which is the significance of to obey,
they will not love them any more be-
cause their vanity is f1attered by the
omission.
"Why is 1t proposed to take the
word obey out of the marriage SER
vice? In my judgment because
modern society has lost the sense OF
proportion which lies at the founda-
ton of the home, and, in order 10
justify itself, wishes to accommodate
the word of God to palliate the situa-
ton.
1.-THE idea that the word obey con-
notes servility Is the heresy of mod
ern parents and the schism of MOD
ern families. The word obey is
limited always by the circumstances
of its use. When asked II you VIII
obey the civil authorities, you do not
infringe in any way upon your nd
critics as an American citizen. When
a soldier is asked to obey his cap
tain he does not surrender his
manhood. When a woman Is asked
to obey her husband, she does not
lessen the glory of her womanhood.
"A family Is a corporation, and
either the man Is the head OF the
family, or else it is presided over by
committee of two, which has no
way of determining majority vote
except by an endurance test. 1t is
now proposed to endorse headless
family in the interests of accommo-
dating truth to prejudice.
God made man to be the head OF
the family because it was his duty
to provide and protect. The church
exists to set forth ideals, not to JUS
tify the perversion of ideals.
Il believe fully in woman's rights,
but / do not believe headship of the
family is one of those rights. 1t may
be true that in d majority of cases
she has the best head and uses 1t
more intelligently, but when she is
moved to assert her leadership, the
man loses a glory that the woman
does not gain. no matter how much
she may proclaim the fact that she
deserves the recognition to which her
talents entitle her.
This is the day in which the
vacuum is coming into It's own. The
popular prophet tells us that God
made man to have an empty head
devoid of all convictions; an empty
heart devoid of obligations; an
empty life devoid of sacrifices.
1.-THE question before us in this
proposed amendment is this: Is the
American family today in which
there is little either of reverence or
obedience, going to be ennobled by
substituting the jejune theories of
academic philosophy for the declara-
ton of God through His prophets and
experience of generations in which
family life was sanctified and the
proportion of responsibility was
definitely set forth?
II know that women are more
potent forces for good than men. His
mothers name was so and so means
more to a child than that his father
made a million and lost his human
touch in doing 1t.
"Of course, society will not collapse
by leaving out the word obey from
the marriage service, but l believe
that the church will have let down
her standards to satisfy a rational
istic world which is more concerned
with syllogisms than it is with facts.
1.-THE Roman Empire in the days Of