Show CARDINAL GIBBONS MISTAKEN WE HAVE at hand a late work from the pen of cardinal gibbons entitled 11 our christian heritage 0 O the scholarly author devotes a chapter to the dangers that threaten our american civilization 11 he reiterates the oft repeated truism that the official life of a nation is ordinarily the reflex of the moral sense sensa of the people 11 II I the distinguished catholic then says we ate are confronted b by five great evils mormonism and strike at the root of family and society et an imper imperfect act an and vic vicious us system 0 of education du cation which und undermines ines the religion re I 1 ion of our youth the desecration of t the e christian sabbath which tends to obliterate in our adult population tiou the salutary fear of god and the homage that we owe him the gross and systematic election frauds and lastly the unreasonable delay in carrying into effect the sentences of our criminal courts and the numerous subterfuges by which criminals evade the execution of the law our insatiable greed for gain the existence coexistence co of colossal wealth with abject poverty the extravagance of the rich the discontent of the poor our eager and impetuous rushing through life and every other moral and social delinquency may be traced to one of the five radical vices enumerated above if cardinal gibbons were familiar with the genius and alms aims of what he be calls mormonism he would not only omit to place it fl first rot on the list of dangerous elements but would not have placed it in that category at all on the other hand providing he is inspired with a genuine desire for the weal of the commonwealth he would have defined it as the most potent and promising process of regeneration in exist g J f ence present appearances and the opposition of such able men as the cardinal to the contrary notwithstanding but the gentleman issott is pot properly informed upon the nature of the system he be so unqualifiedly arraigns and on that ground onty only is he to some extent excusable for making a grave charge not susceptible of being sustained any degree of culpability cul clity that a attaches attach es to him if any there be must be assumed upon the ground of his not having investigated the subject at which he has delivered a blow without qualification the author assumed by a sudden process devoid of logic so far as his book exhibits that mormonism 1 is a plague spot on our civilization and then easm from the subject with an alt air of complacency almost as quickly as he strikes strike 8 it his H is method letb od is to reach a conclusion without taking the trouble to state his premises prelim or supporting facts his position posit tion could be logically denied even upon this basis alone but it can be completely overturned by the logic of truth in the catalogue of five dangerous elements mormonism 9 is not only placed first but is associated with divorce had the writer been properly informed he be would have known that thesy the system stein of religion which he be assails is in its essence the antithesis of divorce it holds that the marriage covenant properly and authoritatively solemnized entered upon and lived up to is eternal in its character and regards the dissolution of the bond between the contracting parties with abhorrence 5 when there is absence of unity between them it to Is esteemed to be a religious long duty for them to bend their efforts toward the production of a harmonious condition until they become one the only felicitous state of the marriage relation rarely attainable in mortality but a necessity in the glorified life beyond prom from the standpoint of imor mormonism monism caf marriage involves compliance with the laws of mans spiritual tuat and ghys phys physical ical nature which are among the laws of god including the divine statute of eternal edone economy V requiring a legitimate and progressive gres sive result from every natural k operation so far as attainable by the proper use of the functions of man it will be observed from this explanation that the joining of mormonism with divorce as twin elements of national danger is an absurdity the former being a foe to the latter 4 in relation to what cardinal manning regards as the second element of national danger an imperfect and vicious education we have no controversy with him it lies at the root of many of the as evils that are flooding and afflicting aMic ting the country to that ina properly balanced education of which he complains mormonism Is fe the antidote in addition to the popular curricula it would insist among its devotees that there should be a recognition of and reverence for the almighty it demands that the young be instructed to conform to light and truth esteeming morality in its broadest sense M a the chief cornerstone corner stone of education the system assailed by the eminent ineat religionist holds it to be a duty that the young should be so educated as to regard every infraction of justice as a on bringing in the economy of a just god its lefiti amate mate penalty all things being gov arned justified or condemned by law jaw thus the religion designated as ab dangerous is a cure for those elements elemente that are of that nature and tendency the desecration of the sabbath which stands third on cardinal gibbons bons list of dangers to the civilization of the nation is a conspicuous ina evil I 1 in opposition to the principles md demands of mormonism as that religion demands that the sacred day Y be observed by its devotees it Is ie now struggling in this territory against this common breach of re lawous duty it has to meet and grapple in this controversy with inducements held out to the follow on of mormonism V to disregard vt Us requirement in relation to the keeping g of the sabbath and devoty U ing it to rest and worship of the divine father of all it is also a notable fact that the N T mormons cormons Mor mons as a people are antagonistic it in their tendency spirit and pretice to political corruption and ki flaud i araud w of every kind they have I 1 i ever in their history including oate aate ph phases ases of it been flagrantly g bade the victims of this fourth pone the cardinals Cardi naPs elements of national met oat ional danger they are among ahe lie most earnest advocates advocate of the RW R W aty arity of the ballot there is no element more potent aw od fraught with future disaster F exan an the fifth on the cardinals cardinal abot the unreasonable delay in into effect the sentences of oar criminal courts and the hubter by which criminals evade the 11 aution tion of the law Lyn chere chers robbers all over the country put this judicial situation up as an excuse for the perpetration of the most horrible barbarities upon people accused of crime in this way not only are guilty per persons lawlessly pu punished dished but butna many any innocent ones are cruelly and inhumanly murdered instances of this kind of late occurrence have been proved beyond question while numbers of others have never come to light every phase of this dangerous condition is in the direction of anarchy toward which the country seems to be hastening indeed it is questionable if there is a civilized nation under heaven where there are so many acts of lawless and murderous ae there are in america this is a foreboding indication As mormonism inculcates the principles of sound law even justice and good order it has no affinity for element number five in the cardinal cardinala cardi naPa gs catalogue we regret cardinal gibbons Gibbon sP unreasonable arraignment of mormonism in this regard he has run out of line with the majority of the more prominent claw class of his co religionists their rule has been that of noninterference interference non with the much abused and maligned latter day saints and in the light of the position of the bathol lic church in this country his assault is in bad taste the church of which he is a prominent authority is put by many citizens in the precise category in which he has listed mormonism as a danger to american civilization of course he might reply as he doubtless has done th that at the allegation is foundationless so do stigmatize stigmatize his charge against again s t mormonism 2 he my may hold and that consistently against those who attack his religion eliat he is more familiar with its quality and genius than they logically and in fact that is our point against him in relation to the inimical attitude he has unwarrantably and ignorantly assumed with regard to the religion of the saints |