| Show BLAINE OX ON THE MORMON mir mik 1 QUESTION 11 RELIGIOUS liberty is the right of every citizen in the republic congress is forbidden by the constitution to make any law respecting the establishment of religion or permitting the free i exercise thereof F for or a century under i this guarantee protestant and catholic jew and gentile have worshipped wor shipped god according to the dictates of conscience but religious liberty must not be permitted to the justification of of fences against the tile law 4 A religious sect strongly in trenched in one of the territories ri ot the union and spreading rapidly into four other territories claims the right to destrola de destros destroy the great safe safeguard dard and monument kofl ot social or der and to practice as a religious privilege ile lle that which is a crime punishable with I 1 severe penalty in the other states of f he the union nion the sacredness and unity of the family must be preserved as the foundation of all civil government overn ment and as the source of or S erly derly administration and as a guarantee pf af moral purity the claim of the mormons cormons that they lifey ire are lre divinely authorized th thorl prized zed to practice polygamy sho should uld no more be admitted than the claim of certain heathen tribes if they should come among us to continue the rite of human sacrifices flees the law lav does not interfere with what a man believes it takes cognizance of what he does as a citizen the mormons cormons are entitled to the same civil rights as others and to this they must be con confined polygamy can never receive national sanction oar or toleration by admitting the community that upholds atas a state in the unton union like others the mormons cormons must learn that the the individual ceases where the tile rights of society r begin in his letter of acceptance of the republican nomination for president of the united states mr bir james G blaine inserts the pa paragraph ra which we have given ab above ove at it contains nothing new on the A mormon formon question but dimply in P I 1 expresses the views of the party anick emch has chosen him as its representative the fallacies it contains have been ex posed many times but since the gentleman has seen lit fit to repeat them as though the they were indisputable axioms and ad to publish publish them to the country it will be in order for us to throw a little light on them once more nobody disputes the statement that religious liberty is the right of every citizen of this republic the only y poin point ot of dispute that can be interposed is as to how ho w far fur this liberty may be properly extended mr blame blaine adopts the tile narrow view and coples copies the contracted definition that religious liberty only extends to what a man believes that is to say he is protected in his belief by the constitution but not in his actions based upon that belief if his religion teaches him that marriage is a divine ailine institution and that men are justified under certain conditions and restrictions in in marrying more wives than one he is guaranteed the liberty to believe that part or any other part of his religion but if he carries this belief into exercise exercise he will not be protected in it t but may be punished for it by secular la law this would open the way for the introduction tro of the worst bigotry and intolerance it would permit in ter ferance wiehl any religious practice that the majority or that influential persons might see fit to denounce as agai agal against us t the interests of society it would ouid inake the guaranty of religious freedom which is the boast of the american people one of the most ridiculous of shams for it is libert ilbert of action which need needs to be protected protect protected ey frei Frer freedom edom of belief needs no aid from law it is independent of itself you cannot chain a mans thoughts you cannot bend bead or break or limit his belief that which appears correct to him he will vill believe in spite of all restrictions strict ions sometimes in spite of himself A constitutional guaranty of freedom of belief would be a work of supererogation rogation thank you for nothing 17 would be the sentiment af lvery every citizen on reading it the first amendment to the constitution makes no such mockery of freedom or pre tense of r lection tec tion it Is the free c exercise xe reiss etl eth of religion which s theme there upheld and congress is forbidden to pass any law which would interfere with it religion and its free exercise are arc treated of in the supreme law of the land and mere belief is not touched upon or alluded to in that sacred instrument lie ile who would limit religious liberty to the simple right to believe as people choose is a foe to the freedom specified in the constitution and which alone is worth anything ile he exalts an imaginary shadow and alili tramples upon the real re substance nir dir blaines Blain cs theory theo of constitutional religious free domal doffs less than a shade it is worth nothing bothin because it lt is nothing in lit pursuance cf ris lis his its insubstantial notion lie he aisuss that Mot mormon mon polygamy no more be tolerated than luman human sacrifice ile he might just as logically have arz arg argued tied that baptism by immersion should no more be tolerated cothan than widow burning because both are arc cici elCi claimed med to be rel rei religious lilous ordinances and both are against the opinions and hild customs of the majority in this land liis ilis reasoning to be worth anything t to prove rove anything requires the establishment lis its lish ment of of a parallel between between the two institutions which he be tries to dispose of together I 1 in one sentence if there was any likeness between human sacrifice and plural mar marriage riago mr nir blaine have some sonie ground for fon linking them together but there Is none there would be more semblance lu blance biance of comparison between the celibacy and the suttee thau than between the customs that lie he brings bring together but catholic celibacy is not under the popular ban as is galor mormon polygamy and the gentleman being after votes would not like to vex the lc catholic citizen nor alletia alleviate alie alle hate nate te irish ballots ballo tg to link to together ether as si s 1 milars the destruction of agman human life and the marrying of plural wives because lothare both are done under the plea of religion is one of the greatest extremes of aD ever attempted mr nir blaine is not the author of that piece of incongruous nonsense he has merely copied it but it has been in print a hundred times limes and the supreme court of tile the united states were idiotic enough to adopt it in one of their elaborate op opinions inions mr nir blaine may consider eon sider himself in good company and think that if the notion was good enough for them it was good enough h for him but all the same it is ilow unworthy r t by of a man of his antelle intellectual crual metal we do not dispute the truth that the liberty of action guaranteed in the constitution mut must have some limit but where shall the line be drawn must it not be at the point where it would impinge upon the liberty of others should not religious freedom extend to the utmost point of personal liberty that does docs not prevent or interfere with human rights the rights of life liberty property y and the pursuit ot 01 happiness must by be general NO 0 one under the plea of his religious belief or otherwise must be perOt permitted ted to interfere with those rights or either of them human sacrifice is destructive of human life and consequently of a natural right plural marri marriage agre is the very opposite of this for it is of human life if mormon i i 9 po 0 justified force or the stealing s t ealing of one mans wife by another it would woul properly come under the ban ihan of secular law to that extent but adlle it in no mans aldno and no wo womans homans rights and is re regulated by and consequent upon a religious belief and establishment it is beyond the constitutional sphere of congressional enactment mr nir blaine biarne says that a religious sect alluding tp to the mormon church cia cla claims illis tile the right to destroy the great safeguard and monument of social order this is untrue that church makes no such claim it makes no such attempt its object in its marriage regulations is to strengthen and build ai higher her the safe safeguard earT and monument of social order I 1 it a alms aims ims to marry all the woman ana ank and leave no surplus as a prey to lust and as an element of social disorder the system has been an establishment lish ment of religion long iong enough to test its effects in these directions those who know its workings have proven beyond a doubt that it bath strengthens social order and helps to social disorder and the sacredness and unity of the family which mr nir blame biame te save says must be preserved are much adore more the object of solicitude and are under much better conservation than in anti lc ic communities there is a far greater guaranty of moral purity under the regulations of A mormon formon plural marriage than in the christian society that bhat surrounds the home of mr air blaine or Is made familiar to his senses in the capital of this great country religious liberty must not be permitted to the justification of of fences against the law says mr blaine biame very wry true but there is another side sid to this the law fal hot not be made to justify encroachments encroach ments upon religious iou lou 1 s liberty mr blaine does not coss cors consider lder ider the matter from that standpoint but nut before one can rationally censure any religious action as asan an offense against a abnit thelah the law he must examine the law to see it if it is prohibitory of the free exercise of religion if it be fou found nd that a law is of that character then an infraction of that law is not a crime and the enforcement of the law ought not to be required much less made the he t plea piea for tile the oppression of an unorthodox jody dody or the pretext of politicians to pander to the prejudice dide at an tin unreflecting ting multitude I 1 i V the mormons cormons Mor mons have ion lons since learned the lesson which mr blaine assumes they have not studied that the liberty of the individual ceases ceased where the rights of society begin 11 there are no people who exhibit bior 1 respect to the rights of society mhd thab the mormons cormons Mor mons ls what society need Is to learn to respect th rights of mormons cormons Mor mons l as indar a little more we hay hav have T the right to our faith and the free ext ex fr of our religion so long arwe as we d do not interfere with the rights of others people under mr nir Bla bia blaines ineys inels own re rea marks we are arc entitled to our civilly rights the same as others butth but they thew party which he represents has beetz been trying particularly of late to de deprive us of of our civil as well as religious rights and tills this mark it apart froni our practice ol of plural mairl mairi marriage age against which it professes so much hypocritical repugnance athas sought to punish men and women because they are members of the mormon Alor morill church to take away the civil rights of mormons cormons Mor mons who do not practice plurality of wives ti to put the mormons cormons Mor mons the mo donolla noela nolla 11 majority as well as the P inous minority all and equally under 4 the heels beels of an oligarchy and give AI them over bound hand and foot to an h V anti republican power of local government worse than any monarchial monarch lal lai form fi known to modern civilization if mr nir j blaine should reach the tha goal of his bis y ficat great ambition it is to be expected that n he will see to it mat that the mormons cormons Mor mons f t in common with all other citizens will h be protected in their civil rights if his notions of religious liberty are not as broad as they appear to be in hi sletter t 1 accepting the republican nomination 3 |
