Show washington LETTER there is considerable sensation in the district of columbia over an effort on the part of some of the religious people to introduce a law for the special observance of the sabbath day congress gress has been asked to paw pass this law which incorporates a provision that no labor whatever shall be performed on the sabbath day but it il contains a clause which ex acts of religion 1 f this phraseology is causing a preat great deal of discussion and people are inquiring what will be deemed an act of religion and it even goes farther than this for they ask what kind of religious worship do the sunday law workers intend shall be protected by the national sunday law if the answer is all kinds of religious worship then the question arises will it protect such as the chinese in their noisy demonstrations and it is thought ly by some that the courts in case the law should pass would have to determine what was religion and what were the acts not consistent therewith and that they would be very apt to limit it down to acts which are in in unison with the christian religion only this it to is claimed would be an establishment of religion within the meaning of the constitution ution and consequently void the following petition which I 1 annex in print has been presented to congress to prevent the passage of such a law in the district of columbia and this is followed by certain reasons published in the Send sentinel nAst of new york city and which will be suggestive to your readers with whom the question of religious freedom is of such vital importance at the present time to the honorable the house houke of beare representatives senta tives of the united states duplicate to the senate we the undersigned undersigner under signed adult residents of the district of columbia 21 years ears of age or more hereby respectfully foully but bat earnestly petition your honorable body not to pass any bill in regard to the observance of the sabbath lords day or the first day da of 0 f boreli the week as a day of rest or worship P nor to favor any legislation that will directly or indirectly give preference to lo the principles institutions or observances servantes ser vances of any one religion above another that the rights of all the popie people may forever remain without infringement fringer gement neilt according to both the letter and the spirit of the first amendment to our national constitution as our fathers established it 11 reasons why every american citi ze nevery christian and every person should sign this petition every american citizen should sign it 1 because congress is asked and is endeavoring to paw pass a bill requiring and regulating the observance of sunday sanday sunda sanda da as a day of rest and worship Y 2 because congress is in forbidden bd by the constitution to make any sk such law 8 3 because every american citizen ought ou ht to respect the constitution and to 50 do all he can to get others to respect it every christian should sign it 1 because the sabbath the lay day of rest is the lords day and jesus christ has forbidden christians christians to render civil government which is ia the lords matt 2 because the word of god has forbidden civil government having anything to do with anything that pertains to mans relations to god rom xiii 1 1910 8 because every christian ought to respect the word of jesus christ and to do all he consistently can to see am that civil government respects it by k keeping within the limits which the fhe W word od of god has set to the j jurisdiction of the civil power every person whether he be an american citizen or a christian or both or neither ought to sign this petition 1 bemuse because religious interference in civil things and civil interference in religious things are both a most dangerous invasion of the dea rests rights of man 2 because so eminent an authority as dr philip says what it is easy to abundantly prove that sunday laws are a link in the union of church and state and no loyal american citizen no true christian chriatian no man that is loyal to mankind wants any union of church and state in the united states it is thought by some in the discussion taht extremists will even try to com compel I 1 people ale to read no books but the laib re and go nowhere but to church on sabbath day and if persons were found to have ridden in a streetcar street car which is sup supposed rosed to do nothing only religious service on the sabbath day and should fail to attend church that they might be prosecuted it appears that senator blair presented this bill in congress upon the petition of over two gilliom mil liona of people and that it is favored of course by the most radical religionists of the day but it is opposed not so much because it may become a law of the district of columbia where no one is compelled to reside unless they want to except presidents of the united states states and the highest officials who do as they please anyway but because it may be made a national law all over the country A great many clapped their with joy when the confiscation of the id mormon church property became a law who ute are now tearing their hair for fear that congress may listen to the same influential power to deprive them from walking in a park ark on sunday or of readings reading a sunday newspaper instead of the four gospels it to is when our own toes are pinched that we feel the weight of oppression religious liberty is a good thing to talk about but we are not always willing td accord it to others aud and artemus Ar ward hit it when he said that some people thanked god for the privilege of worshiping him according to the dictates of their own consciences and of keeping everybody else from doing the same thing P it if the Mort mormon now leaders had bad flung the passages w of scripture at congress wrife which h are being thrown around loose here on the question of sabbath breaking and sabbath keeping they would have been considered in rebellion and another company of artillery would have been sent posthaste post haste to protect the union C W washington DC BC jan 17 aw |