Show THE REAL ATTITUDE I I The True Inwardness of the Old Has Desires IT IS ROTTEN TO TIE CORE Apply the Reason of the Monkey From Nevada Ne-vada and Where Would the End Be To the Editor of THE HEKUJ in published In an antiMormon organ Jub1she3 Salt Lake I recently found an editorial from which I clip the following And tho Liberals of Utah believe that where Uth helec inen have given up their consciences the keepIng keep-Ing of others so fr that they will vote as they are directed to vote they are ot casting a ballot not nt to have the privilege 11rvlee ft t the orlioldinR an onico under the gtnernmentonhe onco In They arc United States entrusted to them ar eritimatc sense alien albeit they were every aloa born on this boil and have grown up under Utahs sky Thoy are aliens In heart t theo 1tahl Jnrnt ot the United State as they hold another thC Unit power to be higher than any power exercised by the United Slates or any lower transmitted iroueh any law of the United States I thought at first reading that it was and that tho I intended as a bit of buffoonery writer knew that no ono would take it ts eenously intended But when 1 had ROQO I carefully through the whole article of near I made my mind I Ij a columns length up that even though the author of the article I did not believe it himself he actually intended i in-tended to have his readers accept it as Bound argument The article was evidently ment written bj a person accustomed to chop agreeable writer he is who ping logic an logc of thought out leaves the most important lees articee and yet does it so skillfully as to bide the omission from the reader e from said article is The above passage frm artce drectei wholly against the Mormon people peo-ple It is a plea for their disfranchisement disfran-chisement As such I wish to criticise it eilsement A If we grant for the sake of argumeust 1wo ita grant sound aud its conclusion 1 I logical i that is i a people who give conscience others and vote science to the keeping of I bClnC as they are directed t vote are not lit t of cartiin a ballot me the privilege cartin baUotu ihtit fellows Not the disfranchisement or Mormons alone assuming that they do vote as directed and give conscience to tho keep directd conscence ins of religious teachers but the disf ran chiscmont of every true sincere and conscientious con-scientious if such a thing is possible where conscience is given up Christian in tho land belonging to the Catholic or any protcstant evangelical church If I do not cnclude the Episcopal and Unitarian Chris tians it is because tney are not troubled with either politics or religion To a person per-son who believes that the Christian church BOi was established by God for the salvation of mankind from eternal woe it is impossible to avoid the belief that the priests and preachers the accepted servants of God are the keepers of the human conscience A person who assumes a conscience of his own cannot be a true Christian according to the popular conception of Christian duty Just so far as the churchmember assumes to guido himself independently of his gido church or its head he becomes a skeptic to the infinite danger of his soul I am Aware that Luther made a stand for right of conscience But Luther made accep nce of the Bible just as imperious as the Catholic church had made acccptanceof the Pope Luther acted according to his conscience I con-science but he made his followers act according acence I cording to his conscience also It was crdinc hi merely a change of Popes Hence it is true i that the church assumes to be conscience I keeper for its votaries The rule of faith End practice in evangelical churches is the Bible as interpreted by the priests and teachers ana keepers of the people The rule of faith and practice in the Catholic church is the word and will of the Pope The rule of faith and practice in the Mormon Mor-mon church is the word and will of God laid down in the Bible Boek of Mormon and in present revelation All three stand upon the same basis the will of God To the CatholicsGod speaks through the Pope To the Protestants God speaks through the Bible To the Mormons God speaks through two books and also through living men The only difference is that the Mormons Mor-mons believe that God is alive and the Protestants virtually believe that he is dead The Catholics also believe that God Is alive I Were easy to show that this V is the more rational belief but that is unnecessary un-necessary Let us see how these sects i stand toward national government Pope Leo says I is an impious deed to I br ak the laws of Jesus Christ for the purpose pur-pose of obeying the magistrates or to transgress the laws of the church under I pretext of obeying the civil law Vicar General Byrne of Boston diocese tays The good citizen will refuse to obey immoral command of the state The Rood citizen is to him the good Catholic and the immoral command is a law that conflicts with the commands of the Pope The Pope says I the laws of the state are in open contradiction with the divine law i they command anything prejudicial to tae church or violate in the person per-son of the supreme pontiff the authority of Jesus Christ then indeed i becomes a tutu te < rfiU tem and a crime to obey the t Apjin the Pope has said The Judicial functionaries must refuse obedience to the state and the laws of the country which are in contradiction with Roman Catholic I precepts I Ho requires Perfect submission and obedience of will t the church and the sovereign pontiff as to God himself1 It is not necessary to quote further Hero is i sufficient t show that in the United States there is not one true Catholic who is not pledged t obey ths Pope rather than go crnmtnt where there is any difference of r < Cu rmnt Hero isenouch to show tnst we have 10000000 Catholics whoso conscience is entirely in the keeping of their religious leaders and by the logic of the editor from whom 1 have quoted above they are uotfit tohave the privilege of casting a ballot bal-lot cr holding an oftice under the govern meet of tho United States Let us turn to the Protestant sects They nre united in the National Reform association asoca tion Their purpose is to change the con stitution of the United Stats to such an extent that we shall no longer have a government gov-ernment of the people for the people by the people but a Christian nation with a government of God by God for God with Jesus Christ us king Said one of the ic of that association lithe presidents asociation I opponents oppo-nents of the Bible do not like our government govern-ment with its Christian features let them go t some wild desolate land and in the name of the devil subdue it and set up a government of their own Another said We want state religion and we are going to have it Tolerate atheism There is nothing out of bell that I would not tolerate as soon I Atheists and Christians cannot dwell together to-gether on tho same continent The Womans Christian Temperance Union is working with the Reform associa ton for the same end It has said UA true theocracy is yet to como and the enthronement enthrone-ment of Christ in the law Again it said The W C T U has one vital purpose and that is Chritt shall be IM icortds aRe a-Re Sam Small I want to Smal says t seethe see-the day come when the church shall be the arbiter of all legislation state national and municipal when the churches of the country can come together harmoniously and trc tlcfrrdlet and the legislature will taped tl and enact ft into lair The organ of the association says The preachers are the successors of the prophets pro-phets U ir are the representativcf of God GodMore More is unnecessary t show that the Protestant churches are bent upon destroy ing our free government Nothing more is necessary t show that the priests of thee sects assume to be representatives of the will of God to their followers Everywhere Every-where they instruct their members to vote only for Christians for men who will aid them in their design t capture the government Tueyare the keepers of conscIence con-scIence and what not unto their people They claim a following of 15000000 Measured by tho logic of the article I from rrbich I have Quoted not one of these pconle is fit to have the privilege oC casting = Ballot or holding an office under the Government or thp United States o How about the Mormons When there was no law against polygamy in Utah they practiced plural marriage The United I States made it a crime but did not enforce the aw agaist it The Mormons continued I t prctc it on the ground that the constitution I con-stitution gave them that ri ht It was ge finally settled that the constitution gave no such guaranty The practice has gradually subsided until pow it is dead that is the I church has declined to solemnize obedience oto plural marriages in et the law Polygamy was the only crime charged against the Mormons That dead there is nothing more t do But the attack upon them now that polygamy polyg-amy is played out has changed ground and I assert that the Mormon church is dangerous danger-ous t the government Well the Mormon church is the only Christian sect that accepts ac-cepts tho constitution as itis the only sect that i satisfied with it the only sect that claims for it a divine origin The Mormons have condemned the administration of the laws but not the government The Mormon Mor-mon church claims that in tie future in the resurrection God will become tho ruler of resurrecton Protestants and Catholics want it now There is consequently no disposition on the part of the Mormon church to interfere with the government whirs there is a strife between Catholics and Protestants to see which will control it first They want the Mormon church destroyed because they know that when a strife arises t save the government it the Mormon church will be found in the breach fighting vith the freethinkers and i the tghting life liberty and the union I Therefore by his own logic the writer of I I the editorial from which I quote above I proves that the Mormons are the only Christians in the world who arc fit to have the privilege of casting a ballot or holding an once under the government of the United States Such being the case 1 submit that it i high time to quit this snarling against tho Mormons They are here to stay They deserve all the rights that are accorded to I other scats They have just announced officially of-ficially that polygamy is no longer countenanced counten-anced or permitted and that they will obey the laws I the nation has no protest against Catholics and Protestants in their designs upon tae government it certainly should have none against the Mormons If now tie scheme is not to drive the Mormons Mor-mons out there cannot be even manufactured manufac-tured any more objections to leaving them to grow as they have been doing into per feet accord with the American idea of life liberty and the pursuit of happiness One point more and I am at the end of the letter 1 voting a you are directed t vote proves that you have given up conscience into the keeping of others and for that reason you are not lit t have tho privilege of casting a ballot or holding of lice under the government of the United States then the logic of the editor whose statement stands at the opening of this letter let-ter would disfranchise the members of the Liberal party for never did Tammany hal in its zenith of power so utterly compel com-pel men to vote at its dictation as a few rabid intiMormons havo whipped the Gen tie population of Salt Lake into voting as they directed We may leave conscience out of the question here but the rule has been as adamant vote the Liberal ticket or be damned The storm of abuse blown upon the Independent workingmen who bolted that party last summer is in evidence evi-dence of this fact Now will the editor in question stand by his own logic I yes then we may expect t see his organ demanding ttint the Catholics i Catho-lics the Protestants and the Utah Liberals be disfranchised as unfit to cast a ballot or hold office under the government and also t read his concession that the Mormons are among the best citizens of the whole country But though be should thunder this demand until the mountains fell around the valley the nation would not grant it yet until it should be so he would have no solid ground upon which to base the same demand against the Mormons The criticism is made with due respect I and for fair play CIIAHLES ELLIS I |