Golden Age, August 29, 1934

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crfie Golden Age

A JOURNAL OF FACT HOPE AND COURAGE

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in this issue

PRAYING FOR PROSPERITY Complete text of lecture by Judge Rutherford broadcast over chain August 12. 1934

LETTER TO THE CARDINAL

SOUL

HOW TO TEST

ALUMINUM COOKING UTENSILS

NOTES ON THE NEWS

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Vol. XV - No. 390

August 29, 1934

CONTENTS

• • o^G)• - । ....... ■— «(T>o• •

LABOR AND ECONOMICS

Industrial Accidents in Ohio . . 755

Public Ownership in Winnipeg . 756

Seven Vultures in a Row . . . 756

Reasons for Lower Telephone Rates 755 The “Kick Baek’’ Racket . . . 759

The Wreck of America .... 759

How NRA Is Expected to End . 7C0

Relieving Cedar County, Nebraska 761

Fifty-one One-eyed Clergymen . 762

SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL

Destruction of School System . . 745 Must Be a Nice Place . . . . 7-18 In City Home for Dependents ’. 750 Last Hours at Welfare Island . . 750 Living in Bedlam......750

Margaret Allison Writes Cardinal 751 Two Badly Frightened Priests . 75-1 World’s Fair of 1934 .... 755 Now or Never in California . . 758 Fosdick on the Unknown Soldier . 762

MANUFACTURING AND MINING

Home Craft Idea Spreading . . 755

The Experience of Logansport . 756

The Petroleum Derivatives . . . 764

FINANCE—COMMERCE—TRANSPORTATION God’s Kingdom Hope of World . 756 More Powerful than the State . 756 New York State Ship Canal . . 757 Increase in the Public Debt . . 759

POLITICAL—DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN

Doctor Wirt Cut off the Air . . 755

The Acquittal of Hesse-Darmstadt 758

Jersey City's Mayor

SCIENCE AND INVENTION

Biggest Calculating Machine . . 755

Train Operation by Radio . . .

World’s Biggest Elevator . . .

Rockets in Use in Austria . . .

New Use for Electric Eye . . .

A New High-Speed Camera . . 7G4

Bone Conduction of Sound . . 764

HOME AND HEALTH

Official Human Vivisection . . . 765

Bananas and Skimmed Milk . . 765

Headache Cure Causes Death . . 765

Ripe Peas for Coffee.....765

Test for Aluminum Utensils . 766 “Cancer: Its Prevention” . . 766 Fatality from Vaccination . . . 766

TRAVEL AND MISCELLANY

Chief Vachon’s Untimely End . 748

Standing by the Belligerents . . 760

In South River, Ontario . . . 761

Salvation Army Men Dissatisfied . 762

RELIGION AND PHILOSOPHY

Praying for Prosperity .... 730

Virgin Mary Created Before Eve (!) 746

Saint Anthony of Padua . . . 747

Protest to Purgatorian Society’ 752

Soul...........753

Published every other Wednesday by GOLDEN AGE PUBLISHING COMPANY, INC. 117 Adams Street, Brooklyn, N. Y„ U. S. A. Clayton J. Woodworth President Nathan H. Knorr Vice President

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ahe Golden Age

Volume XV

Brooklyn, N. Y., Wednesday, August 29, 1934

Number 390

Praying for Prosperity

Broadcast by Judge Rutherford, Sunday, August 12, 1934, over chain from WBBR

DEPRESSION has been upon the world for live years, and now millions are confronted with starvation. In this time of dire extremity religious organizations, led by the Catholic St. Joseph’s Guild of New Jersey, have issued an appeal to all denominations, Jews and Gentiles, to join in prayer on certain days in September next that “this nation may be restored again to a condition of prosperity, peace and happiness”.

If it is the will of Almighty God that the people should offer such prayer, then all should do so. If this “Prayer Movement” is a fraudulent scheme to further deceive and entrap the people, and to bring them into greater difficulties, then all should know the truth concerning the same and deport themselves accordingly. The only certain way for men to ascertain the will of Almighty God is to go to His Word, the Bible, and there learn what is His expressed will. I appeal to the people to now calmly consider the facts and the Scriptures and then determine what course you will take.

At all times we must have in mind these indisputable truths, to wit: That there is but one Almighty God, “whose name alone is Jehovah,” and in whose hand rests the destiny of all nations; that He has one great Executive Officer, Christ Jesus, who is also the Savior of humankind, and in. His name prayers must be made; that there is one arch adversary of Jehovah God, and man’s worst enemy, whose name is Satan, the Devil, and whose purpose is to turn all men array from God and lead them into destruction. Fraud and deception are Satan’s chief means of accomplishing his wicked purpose. Often he induces men to put forward a scheme which on the face of it appears to be right but which in fact is a subtle snare in which to entrap the unsuspecting ones. All of Satan’s representatives on earth, both the willing and the unwilling, are unrighteous, and God will not hear and answer the prayers of the unrighteous. (1 Peter 3:12) The prayers of such are not heeded by Jehovah, for the reason that the petitioners are evil; and for anyone to join with such in prayer would be worse than useless, because the same is an abomination in the sight of God. It is of vital importance to all of us just now to view this matter without passion or prejudice and to ascertain and follow the truth. In order to do this it is important to consider some historical facts, because what has resulted in the past furnishes us a guide to determine what will be the result under similar conditions in the future.

The effect of this address upon the hearers was electrifying. Nobody is taunted, but nobody is warned; the time for that is past. This address is telling everybody who will listen that it Is impossible to ignore and dishonor Jehovah God and Christ Jesus at one time and then expect at another time to receive His favor merely because it is desired, and because there are even “distinguished" ones who desire it.

It would seem that nobody can read this address without a higher appreciation than ever of the value of the wisdom that is from above. This priceless wisdom finds expression in the divine message addressed to the hypocritical mockers:

“Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me: for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of [JEHOVAH]."—Proverbs 1:24-29.

Last Year’s Unanswered Prayers

In March, 1933, St. Joseph’s Guild was launched, and now leads in the aforementioned “Prayer Movement”. Thereafter, on the 2d of April, 1933, the pope’s “Holy Year” began with

the announcement that prayers would be made to the end "that a tide of religion would sweep the nations into peace and prosperity’. The “Holy Year” and its prayers have utterly failed, and depression and suffering continue upon the people. From Press dispatches appearing in Catholic newspapers from Rome, England and America I quote: “The extraordinary year [the ‘Holy Year’] closes with a silence of the pope. . . . A silence which the father told his sons that he knew of nothing he could say to them.” Why? “Holy Year” has been a dismal failure, and that fact all must concede. The pope admits that “Holy Year” prayers God has not heard or answered. The conditions are worse today than they were a year ago. There is no prosperity, and peace has not come.

Admitting the failure of the Catholic “Holy Year” and its prayers, now the St. Joseph Guild by “Resolution” calls upon “all who have confidence in God, the Almighty Father of all mankind, regardless of race, color or creed”, to join in prayer for the return of prosperity. Seeing that the prayers of the united Catholic organizations who profess to believe on Christ have failed, then why now ask non-Catholics and non-Christians, and Jews, and those other organizations that deny Christ Jesus, to join in the “Prayer Movement”? Will the prayers of such add compelling force to wring from God’s hand the desired selfish prosperity ? The failure of the “Holy Year” prayers ought to fully convince the people that there is something wrong about these movements that attempt to bring prosperity, and this should cause the people to examine God’s Word and ascertain therefrom what is wrong.

New Prayers Improper and Futile

The aforementioned Resolution calls for certain days of prayer to be had next September, but the Resolution does not mention Jehovah’s name, nor the name of Jesus Christ. Evidently this is because the appeal is addressed to antiChristians, both Jews and higher-critic Protestant clergy, otherwise called “modernists”, and to others who deny Christ as the Redeemer. The language of the Resolution is: ‘To beseech our common Father in heaven,’ which language could not apply to the Almighty God, because He is not the common Father of all. Since the days of Adam’s sin in Eden Jehovah God is not the “Father of all men”..In His day Jesus said to the clergy of Israel: “Ye are of your father the devil” (John 8: 44), and today Jewish rabbis and modernists, and Protestant clergy, reject Jesus Christ and His kingdom, and hence they could not be sons of God. The Scriptures of God’s Word declare that Jehovah, the Almighty God, is the Father only of those who believe on and honor Jesus Christ even as they honor God. (John 5: 23) All men are born sinners. (Romans 5:12) The only way a man can be cleansed from sin and become the son of God is by faith in the shed blood of Christ Jesus, a full devotion to Him, and the acceptance and begetting of that man by Jehovah God. (Acts 4:12; 1 Peter 1:3,4; James 1:18) From the Bible I quote these words: “The blood of Jesus Christ, [God’s] Son, cleanseth us from all sin.” (1 John 1:7) In John 9: 31 it is written: “Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.” Only those who have been cleansed by full faith in the blood of Christ Jesus does God count as righteous and acknowledge as His sons, and it is only these whose prayers are heard and answered; as it is written (1 Peter 3:12): “For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” (Acts 10:1-4) He who dishonors the Lord Jesus Christ dishonors Jehovah God, and God will not receive him or his prayers.—John 5:23.

God No Respecter of Persons

From the “Prayer Movement” news release I quote these words: “The prayer movement has the endorsement of postmaster general . . . United States senators . . . congressmen . . . governors . . . and other distinguished men from many parts of the United States.” What do these endorsements add, since the men mentioned do not worship Jehovah God and Christ Jesus as man’s Redeemer and the world’s rightful Ruler? The only prosperity the endorsement of such “distinguished men” will bring will be to those who receive the church basket collections. The endorsement of distinguished politicians and financiers of Satan’s organization will tend to swing into line for the “Prayer Movement” the overawed and unsuspecting people, because those “distinguished men” are highly esteemed among them; but in God’s sight such approval and endorsement is an abomination, as it is written (Luke 16:15): ‘That which is highly esteemed by men is an abomination in the sight of God?

The “Prayer Resolution’’ says: ‘Unite in prayer, to beseech our common Father to inspire our leaders so that this nation may be restored again to prosperity? That language is a recognition of the politicians, financiers and clergy as the leaders of this world, and as “the higher powers”, and hence the claim that such men are God’s instruments to lead the people, and which claim is contrary to the Scriptures. Jehovah says concerning Jesus Christ (Isaiah 55: 4): “Behold, I have given him for a witness to the people, a leader and commander to the people.” Prayer for the inspiration of worldly leaders is wholly in vain. God answers the prayers of those only who are guided by His Word and who recognize Jehovah and Christ Jesus as the “higher powers”.—Romans 13:1.

“Ke Ask and Receive Not”

Are not these “distinguished men”, who are designated by the Resolution as “leaders”, a part of this world ? and are not the clergy who have launched the “Prayer Movement” also a part of the world and friends of the world? You will all answer, Yes, of course. Will God hear their prayers for personal and material prosperity? The answer is found in James 4:3,4, the authoritative Word of God, to wit: “Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” Jehovah God will not answer the prayers of His enemies, and this is conclusive proof that the “Prayer Movement” fathered by St. Joseph's Guild will fail.

According to a poll of the clergy of the United States published by The Literary Digest the majority of the clergymen repudiate Christ Jesus and His blood as the means of saving mankind, and deny that Jesus is God’s anointed King to rule and bless mankind.

Concerning Jesus Christ Jehovah says (Matthew 12:18,21, A.R.F., margin): "Behold, my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall [shew] judgment to the nations. . . . And in his name shall the nations hope.” Could it be expected that Jehovah God would hear and answer the prayers of men who repudiate His Word and who deny His anointed King, the Redeemer of mankind? Do the people now wish to be guided by selfish and imperfect men or do they want to trust in Jehovah God and Christ Jesus? By your course of action concerning the “Prayer Movement” you will answer that question. I insist that what I say is not an attack upon men, but I am merely laying the facts plainly before the people that they may receive the truth and then assume the responsibility of whatsoever course they take.

The Scriptures clearly show that with the beginning of the great World War in 1914 Satan’s uninterrupted rule of the world ended and that there Christ Jesus was enthroned by Jehovah as the world’s rightful ruler. (Matthew 24: 3-8; Psalm 2:6) The Scriptures clearly point out exactly what would follow that date marking the end of the world, and concerning this it is written: “There shall be . . . upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea [the people] and the waves [commercial organizations] roaring [because of the depression or hard times] ; men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after* those things which are coming on the earth [R.V., world].” (Luke 21: 25, 26) The “Prayer Resolution” completely ignores these scriptures concerning the end of Satan's world and the woes and troubles upon the people that would immediately follow. Who is the one that brings these woes upon the world? The “Prayer Resolution” ignores this point, but many of the clergy say that God has brought the woes upon the people; whereas the Scriptures definitely state that Satan the Devil is the one who brings these woes now upon humankind because he knows that it is only a short time until the final battle in which his organization will be destroyed.—Revelation 12:12.

God Not Responsible for Inflation

Jehovah God is in no wise responsible for the unhealthy so-called “prosperity” that immediately followed the World War, and during which many men grew rich, arrogant and oppressive. Jehovah is in no wise responsible for the hard times or depression now on the world, nor will He hear the prayers of those who ask such former prosperity to be restored.

A safe guide is to follow the course of faithful Christians, the apostles of Jesus’ day. It was about the year A.D. 44 that the absence of rain brought a great famine upon the people of Palestine. The apostle Paul and other faithful Christians did not ask all creeds and denominations to unite in prayei' for the restoration of prosperity; but, as the Scriptures state, those faithful Christians gathered food and distributed it amongst the poor, and did not try to increase the prosperity of the rich. (Acts 11: 2630; Romans 15:25,26; 1 Corinthians 16:1-3) Mark the great contrast in the course of professed ‘'Christians” of this day. The greater portion of the grain-producing area of the country is burned up, and the public press announces that because of the scarcity of wheat the money value of the wheat crop will be the greatest in many years. More than ten million people are facing starvation; and at the same time the “distinguished men” who rule the nation, and who endorse the “Prayer Movement”, cause the price of bread to be raised and thus increase the burden of the poor. At the same time these “distinguished men” and clergymen ask the people to pray that prosperity may return, which prosperity only the rich enjoyed prior to 1929. Do you believe that the God of mercy and comfort will hear such selfish prayers and bring prosperity to those who have lived wantonly and ruled in arrogance while the poor have starved and their burdens have continued to increase? Those are the men who speak scornfully of the name of the Most High, and concerning them it is written, in Proverbs 1: 32, 33: "For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil.” Thoughtful people know that the so-called “Prayer Movement” is a mockery of God and a snare of the enemy to entrap those who follow blind leaders.

The U. S. a Pari of “Christendom'’

The United States is a part of “Christendom” and claims to be a Christian nation, and is therefore duty-bound to obey and to follow the laws of Jehovah God and Christ Jesus. The United States, with all other nations of “Christendom”, has violated God's everlasting covenant concerning the sanctity of life by the unnecessary and wanton shedding of blood (Genesis 9:1-9); and God will not hear the prayers of such covenant-breakers, but, on the contrary, their fate is plainly stated, in Isaiah 24:3-5: “The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled; for the Lord hath spoken this word. The earth mourneth, and fadeth away; the world languisheth, and fadeth away; the haughty people of the earth do languish. The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof, because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant." This punishment here described God will inflict on the world at Armageddon.

Furthermore, the Resolution calling for united prayer of all creeds, and which has the endorsement of “distinguished men”, had its origin with the clergymen in New Jersey, where the name of Jehovah God has been grossly reproached by clergy and officials, and where officials of that state have brazenly said: “Who is Jehovah T’ “Jehovah may run heaven, but we are running New Jersey.” In that state recently hundreds of Jehovah’s witnesses have been arrested, imprisoned, and woefully illtreated, merely because they were preaching the gospel of Jehovah God and Christ Jesus as commanded by the Lord. There Jehovah’s witnesses have been diligently trying to inform the people of the end of Satan’s reign, of the famine and pestilence and trouble that are coming upon the earth, and of God's kingdom of righteousness under Christ, which is the only hope of mankind. Like the Jewish clergy in the days of Jeremiah, even so the Catholic hierarchy of New Jersey and their allies there have said and now say to the people: Give no heed to these Jehovah witnesses; there will be no great trouble, you will not see famine, but you shall have peace and prosperity.’ Now in these days of distress, woe and perplexity these same clergymen ask all the people to join with them and the “distinguished men” of the nation in prayer for material prosperity; but their prayers are certain to go unanswered, for the reason, as stated by Jehovah through His prophet in these words (Jeremiah 11:14): “Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto me for their trouble.”

Satan’s Trap

I do not say that St. Joseph’s Guild has knowledge that its Resolution is Satan’s scheme, but I do most emphatically charge that Satan is the father of the scheme and Satan has thus set a trap to ensnare the people and to turn them away from God; and the reason I so state is this: A part of the great question for determination now is, Can Satan cause all men to curse God and turn away from Him? Satan has challenged God to put men on earth who would maintain their integrity toward Him, and now Satan would prefer to see all men destroyed rather than to see one serve Jehovah. Satan has induced his earthly agents to believe and teach the people that God is responsible for the woes and sufferings that have come upon them. Now he would induce the people, together with the clergy and other “distinguished men” of the nation, to pray to God to relieve them from their sufferings and bring them prosperity, and, further, to pray that their earthly ‘leaders may be inspired to lead the people into prosperity’. Satan well knows that these prayers God will not hear or answer and that when people see that this so-called “Prayer Movement” is a complete failure, and that their prayers are not answered, and that their suffering increases, then the people will be greatly chagrined and disappointed. What, then, will be the tendency of those who have thus prayed and are disappointed? Satan expects them to say: “If God cannot help us, and will not do so, then we will have nothing to do with God,” and that then they will turn away from Him and curse God. Thus the Devil will bring the people into his snare. Be it known unto you now that every one who follows this “Prayer Movement” scheme will be led into and ensnared by Satan's trap.

Proper Course

What, then, shall the people do? Quit following the instructions given them by selfish men, who make themselves the leaders of the people, and turn entirely to Jehovah God and to Christ Jesus, whom God has made Ruler and Leader of those who will receive His blessings. The Bible contains the full and complete information; and with the helps which the Lord has provided you can get this full and complete information for your guide.* Know this, that Satan’s world has ended and is rapidly going to pieces and at Armageddon, which is near, Satan’s world will be completely destroyed. The hope of the peoples of the world is Christ Jesus’ kingdom, and there is no other hope.

Long ago Jehovah by His prophets said (Jeremiah 23:5; Isaiah 9:6,7): “Behold, the days come . . . that I will raise ... a righteous Branch, and a King [Christ Jesus] shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.” “And the government shall be upon his shoulder; and ... of his government and peace there shall be no end.” Peace * See advertisement on back page. and prosperity can come to the peoples of the earth only by and through God's kingdom under Christ, and this will not come by the efforts of clergymen and politicians or other “distinguished men” of the world. Such men will have nothing whatsoever to do with the Kingdom nor with the blessings it shall bring humankind.— Daniel 2:44.

Proper Prayers

It is written in the Scriptures that Jehovah God hears the prayers of those that call upon Him in spirit and in truth. (Psalm 145:18; John 4:23) The political rulers and other “distinguished men” do not call upon the Lord in spirit and according to His Word of truth. His Word, the Bible, is the truth and the only proper guide for man, and Christ Jesus is the great exponent of the truth. (Psalm 119:105; John 17:17; 18: 37; 14:6) Jehovah will not hear the prayers of those who reject His Word and His Son, Christ Jesus. Because the blessings of peace and prosperity and happiness can and will come only by and through God's kingdom under Christ, Jesus instructed men how to pray. To them He said, at Matthew 6: 9,10: “After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.” Is the call for “nation-wide prayer for prosperity” in line with these words of Christ Jesus? Most assuredly not. That Resolution not only is selfish and asks for the return of the things that were once enjoyed by the rich, who have long oppressed the poor, but completely ignores God’s honor and His name, and the name and honor of Christ Jesus, does not ask that the will of God be done, completely repudiates the kingdom of God, and asks that the will of selfish men be done. There is a complete absence of any suggestion that the people should pray that the will of God be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Faithful and True Witnesses

For more than twenty years the faithful followers of Christ Jesus in this land have told the people that God’s kingdom is near and that it is the hope of the world. They have been going about the land from house to house unselfishly and diligently trying to teach the people of and concerning God and His kingdom, and for doing this they have been hated and persecuted. Jesus said that this would be done to His faithful followers because they honor His name. (John 15:18-23) The clergy and their political allies, instead of hailing the kingdom of Christ with gladness, and urging the people to look to that kingdom for their relief and blessings have conspired together to destroy Jehovah’s witnesses and to keep the people in ignorance of the truth concerning the Kingdom. Exactly as Jehovah’s prophet says in the 83d Psalm: ‘The clergy and their allies have consulted together with one consent against the faithful followers of Christ Jesus.’ This they have done in these “last days”. ‘They have taken counsel against God’s people and consulted against His hidden ones. They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation.’ In the execution of this cruel conspiracy against God and His kingdom under Christ the clergy and their allies, who now endorse the present-day'“prayer movements”, have committed many overt acts against the faithful followers of Christ Jesus. At much effort Jehovah’s witnesses have printed the message of God’s kingdom and have carried it to the people in book form. The clergy not only have opposed this message of God’s kingdom, but have caused the people to gather together the books containing the Kingdom message and to burn them, and now these same men ask the people to join with them in prayer for their own selfish prosperity. Furthermore, they try to impress the people with the weight and importance of their “Prayer Movement” by telling them that many “distinguished” politicians endorse the movement. They are not deceiving God, and let no one who really loves God now be deceived. To aid you in avoiding such deception this speech is now made.

Armageddon Sure to Come

Jehovah God has put His stamp of disapproval upon the “Holy Year” and its prayers; and that is admitted. Next, the pontiff at Rome, according to a dispatch published in the New York Daily Times of February 2, 1934, asked the people to pray that Armageddon may be averted. That appeal of the pontiff is also certain to fail. Jehovah God has entered judgment against the world and its god, Satan. That judgment written is that Christ Jesus at Armageddon shall completely wreck and destroy the wicked and oppressive rule of this world. Concerning Armageddon Jesus says: ‘It will be the greatest tribulation the world has ever known, and there will never be another,’ because that will mark the end of wickedness and the destruction of the wicked.—Matthew 24: 21, 22; Psalm 145:20.

God has decreed that Armageddon shall come, which conflict He designates as “the battle of that great day of God Almighty” (Revelation 16:14), and the combined prayers of creeds and organizations will not stop it. Jehovah says: “I have purposed it, I will also do it.” (Isaiah 46:11) The NR A and all like recovery schemes will certainly fail, and the prayers of the combined clergy in support of that and all other like schemes for prosperity will also fail. Such prayers will not be heard and answered by Almighty God, because He so states. Prayer uttered in accord with the St. Joseph’s Guild appeal will completely fail to bring peace, prosperity and happiness to the people. The people of good will who desire righteousness will no longer permit themselves to be deceived by such abortive schemes. Those who love God will pray not only during three days in September, but they will be praying constantly every day to Jehovah, in the name of Christ Jesus, in this manner: ‘Hallowed and vindicated be Thy name; Thy kingdom come, and Thy will be done on earth as it is done in heaven.’ God knows of the things we have need of, and hence it is unnecessary and improper to ask for more than our daily bread, even as Jesus taught us to pray; and when the will of God is done on earth all oppression and depression will cease and there will then come to stay peace, prosperity and happiness, and these blessings will come only by and through the kingdom of God under Christ.

Take Your Stand Now

If you would have your prayers answered, take your stand wholly on the side of Jehovah God and Christ Jesus, His King, and then be guided by the Word which the Lord has spoken. To such, and to such only, Jesus says (John 15:7): “If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.” The selfish ones of this world who ask for material prosperity and pursue a course contrary to God and His kingdom are not in Christ, nor does the Word of the Lord dwell in them; hence their prayers will not be answered.

The world’s darkest hour is just ahead. Satan will continue to bring upon the people one woe after another until God hears the cries of the poor. These cries will not be for prosperity, but that God will relieve them from oppressors. It is the rulers and “distinguished men” that have lived in ease, while those who produce the bread have gone hungry. Instead of the prayers of such wanton and selfish men being heard by Jehovah, He says to them (James 5:4): “Behold the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of [battle].” The God of battle will destroy such at Armageddon.

If you would find refuge in that time of great tribulation take your stand on the side of His kingdom, be taught by His Word of truth, and follow His way of righteousness, and ere long you are certain to emerge into the brilliant light of endless prosperity, peace and everlasting life, which you will receive at the gracious hand of Jehovah God by and through Christ Jesus. —Romans 6: 23.

Among the Baal Worshipers

Prayers for Nation-wide Prosperity

ST. JOSEPH’S GUILD, a branch of the Catholic hierarchy, on Sunday, July 1, 1934, issued an appeal to the “distinguished” people to bring prosperity, from which the following is quoted:

“Resolved, that Saint Joseph’s Guild shall make every effort to induce the men and women of the United States, individually and in groups or organizations of whatever denomination, to unite in humble prayer, beseeching our common Father in Heaven to guide our hearts and minds and to inspire our leaders, so that this nation may be restored again to a condition of prosperity, peace and happiness; and it is

“Further Resolved, that a copy of this resolution be sent to the President of the United States, to the members of the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Congress of the United States, to the Governors and Legislatures of our States, and that it be disseminated through pulpit and press and every other available means of communication.

“The prayer movement has the endorsement of Postmaster General Farley; the late Secretary of the Treasury Woodin; U. S. Senators Kean and Barbour of New Jersey, and U. S. Senator Copeland of New York; Congressmen Eaton, Sutphin, Powers and Hartley of New Jersey; the late Governor Rolph of California; Governors Moore of New Jersey, Ross of Idaho, Herring of Iowa, and other distinguished men from many parts of the United States.”

In this issue Judge Rutherford shows how utterly vain is the attempt to secure prosperity by the use of the names of influential and prosperous men. Actually the Roman hierarchy brings the names of “distinguished” persons into this appeal in the hope that, for yet a little while longer, it will aid them in their efforts to keep the people bamboozled, and the flow of their shekels into the collection boxes unimpeded.

Destruction of American School System

rpiIE canons of the Roman Catholic church J- forbid attendance of Roman Catholic children in public schools, and would by implication forbid a devout Catholic to teach in a school in which Catholic doctrine may not be taught, yet in Chicago the superintendent of public schools is a Roman Catholic, 75 percent of the elementary teachers are Roman Catholics, and 55 percent of the high-school teachers are Roman Catholics. Because of this situation the nonCatholic teachers are often so harassed by Roman Catholic principals and teachers that they become disheartened and resign. The “pope” claims the absolute right to conduct all educational activities in the United States and declares that state control of education is a great evil.

Pentecost at San Quentin

THE Oakland Post-Enquirer tells us about the arrangements for the new Pentecost at San Quentin. It says: “Hanna to Confirm Quentin Convicts. San Quentin Prison, April 12. Archbishop Edward J. Hanna will confirm more than 170 San Quentin convicts into the Catholic faith here tomorrow, it was announced today by prison officials. Warden James B. Ilolohan, member of the state parole board, and invited guests are to witness the ceremony.” For San Quentin it will be a kind of Pentecost.

We are not just sure why it seemed best that these men already in this way should be confirmed in it. We should like to see them turned from that course, not confirmed in it. But Hanna may have some motive in it that we do not see.

“Holy Year” Devotees Disappointed

T STIRLING, New Jersey, a nation-wide movement has been started by St. Joseph's Guild to set aside a day in September to pray for prosperity. The Jews are to pray on the day originally set aside for them by Jehovah God; others are to pray on sabbaths of their own making; but all will pray in vain, for God will not hear their prayer. It all reminds one of the account in 1 Kings 18: 26-29: “And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, 0 Baa], hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped [up and down at] the altar which was made. And it came to pass at noon that Elijah mocked them, and said, Cry aloud; for he is a god: either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he sleepeth, and must be awaked. And they cried aloud, and cut themselves, after their manner, with knives and lancets, till the blood gushed out upon them. And it came to pass, when midday was past, and they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that there was neither voice, nor any to answer, nor any that regarded.” All the beads and images and holy water in creation will never bring an answer. “Christendom” is doomed.

Virgin Mary Created Before Eve (!)

THE following is a translation of an item in a publication put out by the Franciscan order, circulated in Poland to the extent of half a million copies. It speaks for itself:

“God breathed upon the flowers of the Garden of Eden, and pure white, beautiful as light and fragrant as the lily, stood the first woman, created from the most beautiful things of beauty and brightness that the Garden possessed. . . . But Adam stood wholly indifferent and insensible, because she was too fluttery, nebulous and cloudy and he would not know what to do with such a mate, therefore could not line up with her. God knew at once that to such a rough nature as Adam’s the beautiful woman would be too fancy, and that, at the least, Adam was not worthy of her. So God took the virgin flower for himself and for Adam he created another woman, a more suitable mate, that looked much like Adam himself. From his bone, from his rib was Eve made. The virgin flower God preserved in the immaculate state and purity of her color for another purpose; then, later, he made her the mother of his son. ’ ’

And, mind you, these are the people that are trying to crowd a person like Judge Rutherford off the air. There is not a syllable of truth in any of their statements, nothing of the Bible, nothing of common sense. Mary was a virgin, like other respectable young women, but she was the child of Eli and his wife, both sinners (Luke 3:23), and was a sinner herself, according to the Scriptures. She was a good woman; that was enough to fulfil God's purpose. All attempts to make her more than that are sheer folly, idolatry.

Catholic Press Blessed

URING the “holy year” the outstanding effort of the Catholic Press in America was to do everything that lay in their power to force Judge Rutherford off the air. Several columns and sometimes a whole page in a single issue were devoted to this unmanly and un-American way of doing things. One of the chief offenders was the Cleveland Universe Bulletin. The shameless list of vile appellations, and vile descriptions of Judge Rutherford’s work as Jehovah’s witness, was published in our issue of February 14, 1933, 82 masterpieces of the “accuser of the brethren”, the Devil. Under the circumstances it is a peculiar pleasure to us to note that the Catholic Press held its annual meeting for 1934 in the city of Cleveland, and that when it abjectly sent the pope a message of filial greetings and obedience he came back with a special blessing for them all, and especially for the Catholic Universe Bulletin and its readers. No doubt this means that they will soon get all that is coming to them in the way of punishment. The “pope's” blessings generally work out that way.

What He Got for Sainting Mother Thouret

ACK in the days of the apostle Paul, and the other bona fide apostles, all the Lord’s true people were called saints, and nobody expected to call them anything else. Now it is different; it takes money and lots of elaborate ceremonies. The pope just made “Mother” Thouret a saint. As a reward he was given a keg of wine, two bowls of bread, a bunch of candles, two doves, two pigeons, a group of small birds, and three bird cages. He might just as well as not have had a box of toothpicks, a bag of marbles, and a half dozen Pittsburgh stogies, but nobody thought of it till too late. The pope, so it is said, permits himself a cigar once in a while, and it would seem that for doing a job like this somebody would give him at least one.

Saint Anthony of Padua

DODGER distributed in New York advertises a Spanish motion picture show to be held on Seventh avenue. The dodger is in both Spanish and English and says, in part: '‘Every man, woman and child should see this great production and hear its marvellous music, to wonder at the faith of a man that commanded the fishes of the sea, restored a boy's severed foot; that made the beast bow in adoration to the Sacred Host; the power of a saint who healed the sick and restored the dead to life.” Having thus set out that this person, born at Lisbon in A.D. 1195, could do about everything that Christ could do, it goes further and says of him that he was “St. Anthony, the man who saw God, and glorious and immaculate virgin Mary! St. Anthony, the man who held the Child Jesus in his arms! St. Anthony the Miracle Man of the Centuries”. Anybody can seo that if Saint Anthony, 11G2 years after Christ ascended into heaven, could enter there and pick up in his arms the One who said, “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth,” there would be nothing to prevent his taking charge of the premises and running everything as he liked. And that is manifestly what the motion picture show is intended to teach.

The Spiritual Qualities of Artillery

IN AN address praising Italy's artillery the “pope” said that the profession of artilleryman demands not only special physical qualities, but also special spiritual and intellectual qualities. As he did not go into details, we expand this subject a little. Suppose, for instance, here is a bad man, an enemy of the Italians, and, like many of old, the man is possessed of a devil. Anybody who will think about it can see that when an artilleryman has planted a quart of shrapnel in this man’s gastronomic apparatus the man is no longer possessed of the devil; it has been literally blown out of him. And thus, thou seest, how the spiritual qualities of the artilleryman are brought to light. The “pope” has been accused recently of having stock in an Italian poison-gas plant; so he and the artillerymen have something in common. Wonder if he has looked into this new scheme of treating shrapnel with acids, so that the patient surely dies in four hours after the pieces enter his breadbasket.

Another “Holy Name” Breakfast

HE Catholic hierarchy is fairly falling over itself in its effort to put it up to the American people that it has grabbed the country. About every week now we hear of some new division of the United States government or the New York city government mentioned in such a way as to indicate that it is in some way ofli-oially connected with the Roman church. The latest is the third annual communion breakfast of the Brooklyn and Queens Holy Name Society of the Department of Sanitation; more than 3,500 city employees, in the St. George Hotel, after they had all attended mass in a near-by church. If a street sweeper wants to stop cussing, that is his right; and if he wants to be a Catholic, that is his right; but the combination of the street sweeping department with the Catholic church does not just suit. In New York city's civic center, in the very heart of it, a Catholic church has been left standing in such a position that it greatly injures the architectural appearance of a city court building that cost millions of dollars. It is strategically left in a place where it can be readily made to appear to the ignorant and unthinking that it is a part of the city government, as, in fact, it dearly longs to be.

Trying to Make It Strong Enough

eneral Hugh S. Johnson, National Recovery administrator, was merely trying to make it strong enough when he said to the National Catholic Alumni Federation: “The Franciscans and the Society of Jesus did more to make America than any other group of men from Columbus to this day.” In his excitement the general forgot to tell his audience that eighty-five percent of the population of America have no interest in the Roman Catholic church, and no president of the American republic has ever been of that faith.

Don Bosco Barely Made the Grade

EPORTS say it took 5J hours to canonize Don Bosco and thus make him a “saint” for good and all; looks as if he barely made the grade. The next day the “pope”, wearing his three-story stovepipe hat and a little white apron, went back through the “holy door”, the last man to go through it, as he was the first. It is said that 1,250,000 went through it while it was open. It is supposed to be opened again in 1950.

St. Jude Does the Handsome Thing

HERE is a magazine from Australia called

Filipinas. It is boosting St. Jude. It seems that if you want a job or some money, or want to get into business, or what not, you take it up with St. Jude; and on account of the fact that he is a relative of the Lord, you can get almost anything you want if you pay the priest for it. Here are cases Numbers 10921 to 10936 inclusive. The numbering probably started at 10,000; that is the way the railroads used to do with freight cars. If you start with too small a number it doesn't look like anything. No names are given; the reason for that is readily apparent. It is hard enough to make up the stories themselves without having to manufacture the names and addresses. One man was out of work; he promised to do the right thing by Jude if he got a job. The result was that Jude came across with a job that pays £2 a week; not so much, but the times are hard and it is a lot better than nothing. Another man wanted to pass an examination. Don’t know how Jude helped on this, but it seems that he helped. Another man wanted to get into business. He promised to divide with Jude, and Jude must have found out about it, for he sent him a flock of customers. Another man got his rent reduced and also got a roomer. All in all, it seemed that Jude stepped on the gas in good shape and used his pull to good advantage, so why shouldn’t we boost him? If a saint does a batch of first-class, No. 1 stunts and we don’t say anything about it in The Golden Age he might get sore and lie down on the job; and that would be just too bad—for the priest.

A Form of Confession

A FRIEND has handed us a printed form of confession, in use in a Polish Catholic church at Passaic, N. J. It is intended to help the sinner think of the sins he is supposed to have committed. Eleven different kinds of supposed sins are named, and it is interesting that seven of these are not mentioned in the Scriptures :

I have missed Mass on Sundays about 2 times a month.

I was disobedient to my parents about 10 times a week.

I was cursing about 5 times a week.

I was stealing money, about 10 dollars.

I was telling lies, about 12 times.

I had bad thoughts on an average of 3 times a week.

I did not listen to my teacher, about 3 times a week.

I did not say my morning and evening prayers, about 4 times.

I was throwing stones at cats about 2 times a month.

I was eating meat on Friday about 2 times.

I was angry about 7 times; and so forth.

Free Speech in St. Louis

THE St. Louis Star-Times comments editorially and favorably on the fact that the German ambassador could and did come to St. Louis to boost the Hitler regime. The editorial is entitled “Speech Is Free Here”, and has a noble ring to it. One wonders, however, if the Star-Times knows that in that same city of St, Louis last fall the Catholic organizations of the city forced KMOX to discontinue broadcasting the addresses of Judge Rutherford, under threat that if it did not do so all its advertisers would be boycotted. The Star-Times ought to write another editorial and entitle it “Speech Is Not Free Here”. We will gladly supply all the facts.

The Hair-snatching Party at St. Herbot

ON MAY 25, 1934, the natives of St. Herbot, France, snatched hairs from the tails of all their horned beasts and brought them to the statue of the “saint” for blessing. We hate to think what would have happened to those animals during the ensuing year if they had not had those hairs snatched from their tails, and still more do we hate to think what would have happened to the gent that taught them this hairsnatching stunt. Without that little wrinkle to fall back on, who knows but that by now he would have had to face the dread reality of the overalls and the alarm clock”?

Chief Vachon’s Untimely End

Gerald Barry, of Canada, writes in that Chief of Police Vachon, of Three Rivers, Quebec, was killed in an automobile accident. In November, 1931, six of Jehovah’s witnesses went to Three Rivers to give the witness there, but had hardly ■worked two hours before Chief of Police Vachon clapped them all in jail. Since then no work has been done in Three Rivers, and Barry wonders if this is not one more case where the divine displeasure has been shown; and he may be right. We do not know.

Must Be a Nice Place

ON JUNE 20, 1934, at Troy, New York, two girls were seriously injured, perhaps fa-ally, when they fell from a rope made of sheets wherewith they were attempting to escape from the House of the Good Shepherd. This “House of the Good Shepherd” must be a nice place, when two girls, 17 and 18 years of age, risk their lives in a desperate effort to escape from the fifth floor.

Prayers, Prayers, Prayers, Money, Money, Money A SUBSCRIBER writes in and says that some old gentleman dressed in white skirts recently said that what the world needs is prayers, prayers, prayers and incidentally money, money, money. She says it makes her think of the colored lady in a church in the South. The pastor was showing lantern slides supposed to show how nice it would be to be in heaven. Some rascal slipped in a very naughty slide in place of the heaven scene. The colored lady was the heroine of it. The reason the pastor showed the heaven slide was to encourage people to pray, so they could get to heaven when they died. But when the dame saw her slide come on and recognized herself in it, she rose and went out like a rocket. As she passed the pastor she said, ‘‘Out of my way, Niggah, I does my own praying.” The subscriber thinks she would rather do her own praying than to have the pope do it for her.

Two Reasons for Paying Money

Reverend I. McHugh, The Catholic Church, Hethe, Bicester, England, thinks of two reasons why people should send him money. The first is that in a certain year in the fifteenth century, on April 25, all the church bells in Genazzano, Italy, were rung without human hands, and the angels came through the clouds bearing a beautiful fresco for a new church; and the other is that the nun Walburga died in the year 779, and from the year 1042 a miraculous, tasteless, odorless, transparent, oily fluid exudes from her bones during four months of each year. That all sounds interesting, but just how the “Reverend” McHugh rings in on this thing, or on either of these things, in the year 1934, is the prize puzzle. However, “Reverend” McHugh takes pains to say that “all letters received will be cordially acknowledged”; and that is sump’n, ain't it?

Another Good “Religious” Investment

NOTING that some religious groups in Europe have invested in poison-gas plants and other armament ventures, we venture to draw their attention to the new kind of shrapnel, coated with acids in exploding, which causes death with terrible agony within four hours after wounding, thus making medical units largely unnecessary in future armies. Indications are that business in this line will be good.

Somebody Pleased over Hitler Triumph

SOMEBODY is so pleased over Hitler’s triumph in Germany that at Magdeburg, when the new Nazi bishop of Saxony was installed, the bishop’s door of the Cathedral of Saint Maurice and Saint Catherine was opened to him, the first time it had been opened in 410 years—since the days of Luther. German Evangelical pastors, fighting the complete Nazification of their churches, petitioned the pope, not exactly for admission to the Roman Catholic church, as first stated, but that he would organize all Christians in Germany against the Nazi pagans that have now obliterated all churches except the Nazi and Catholic ones.

Statue Bleeds in Italy

IT SEEMS, so goes the story, that a statue of Christ, in St. Joseph’s church, Asti, Italy, bleeds. The news was sent halfway around the world, to Santa Cruz, California, and from there sent out as a United Press dispatch under date of April 7, 1934, and published in many American papers. A little reflection will show why it is more profitable to send out an item of this kind with a California date line than to send it out from Italy; and it makes a better advertisement. And, after all, what is any business unless well advertised?

The “Terrible Silence”

THE Paris edition of the New York Herald, issue of January 2, 1934, commented on the “terrible silence” from what esteems itself to be the religious center of the world. It seems that the gentleman in charge had nothing to say. It is well; and here is hoping the lesson is permanent.

Crime in Catholic New York

IN LONDON last year the police had to deal with 21 murders; in New York city, with 431 cases. There is manifestly something radically wrong, and everybody who knows the religious group that dominates the latter city knows what it is.

At the End of the Holy Year

AT THE end of the “Holy Year”, April 13, 1934, an Associated Press dispatch from Washington reported that there were 100,000 more American families on the relief rolls than when the “Holy Year” began, a year previously.

In the City Home for Dependents

IN THE City Home for Dependents, on Welfare island, New York city, Catherine Man-nigan, an inmate, sat in a chair for three days with broken ribs before being taken to the hospital; in one ward there were forty-five inmates and bnt two nightgowns; among the attendants for 2,000 inmates there was but one registered nurse; the attendants, chosen for their political ability, stole cream and butter from the blind and made up for it by bathing them in water that had been used over and over again; the attendants often went to bed and set inmates to do their work of seeing that none strayed out during the night—the inmates stayed up all night, while the attendants slept. Mary Schwartz, over 70 years of age, very feeble, and receiving no pay, was compelled to work from 4:45 a.m. to 7: 00 p.m., making beds, bathing patients and mending stockings. An aged woman, dying, was tied to a chair with a sheet, to keep her quiet, instead of being sent to a hospital. Another woman received no care for an infected finger for ten days, when the infection had spread to her elbow. People who did not know the first thing about nursing unhesitatingly prescribed for inmates and thus often caused their deaths. When the doctors prescribed, the attendants could not understand the prescriptions, and did as they pleased. Bandages, improperly adjusted on inmates in the first place, were frequently unchanged for a week at a time. Inmates who could not pay, and had nothing that could be stolen, were simply out of luck.

Trying to Stop Begging in New York

A COMMITTEE of six magistrates and chairmen of various city committees has broadcast an appeal to New Yorkers not to give anything to street beggars, because it is harmful to the mendicant and to the community. The claim was made that there is a place, a bed and food for every person who is in need, and that such has been the case during all the past winter.

The Longest Telegram

fPHE longest telegram in history was sent to

President Roosevelt from Birmingham, Alabama, on the occasion of his fifty-second birthday. It was 1,290 feet long, and weighed eight pounds two ounces. To it were signed the names of 41,000 people. It took 20 hours to send it.

Soothing the Last Hours at Welfare Island

Tt/FORE gems come to light respecting the com-■‘■“JL forts of Welfare island, New York city’s “City Home for Dependents”. There was one lady, Mrs. Mathilda Beecher, who had $9,000; she was SO years of age, expected soon to die, and sought to arrange for an elaborate funeral. The superintendent of the home, at last accounts in hiding, got Mrs. Beecher to turn the $9,000 over to his wife. At length the lady died, and when the funeral came off she was buried in a dress that cost $11, accompanied by $5 worth of flowers. Looks as if the one who got the $9,000 could have spared enough change to make it two bouquets instead of one. Another inmate, Stephen Mahon, eighty-seven years of age, was also induced to part with $1,000 in cash and an estate of $5,000. Patrick C. Kane, another inmate, was robbed of $3,000 in cash. The gentleman who carried through these transactions missed his calling. If he had started out as a priest he could no doubt by this time have become a bishop or a cardinal.

Living in Bedlam

John F. O’Ryan, police commissioner of New York, declares that the young are now so ill-mannered that parents have given up having parties in their homes, on account of the actual property damage wrought. The bad manners include pushing, shoving, stealing and acts of vandalism, such as carving initials on expensive and freshly painted doors. He has no solution, but we have. The young people that are doing these things have been taught that all they have to do is to confess to the priest and repeat some lingo so many times and they will be forgiven here and hereafter. It is not true. What these young people need to know is that every act of disobedience will receive a just recompense of reward, and nobody will be exempt, not a person.

Potential Human Furnaces

NEW YORK city still has standing many tenements that were condemned before the twentieth century began. It is estimated that 30,000 families are rotting in the cellars of these disease-breeding pestholes. Of the 1,664 persons burned to death in New YTork tenements in the twentieth century, 1,422 were trapped in the old-law tenements. Of 67,000 tenement buildings in New York, it is estimated that 90 percent are fire traps. They shelter 2,000,000 persons.

Margaret Allison Writes to the Cardinal

Margaret Allison, famous actress, Hollywood, a subscriber for both The Watchtower and The Golden Age, favors us with copy of the following interesting letter written by her to Cardinal O’Connell:

Hollywood, California

May 24, 1934

William Cardinal O’Connell Archbishop of Boston:

“Hollywood Scandal of World, Says Cardinal”!

These are the headlines that greet me on the front page of Hollywood Citizen News of Maj’ 24.

How flattering! thought I; and what is the charge ?

Here it is, word for word:

Denouncing screen stars ‘with their unutterable disregard of every decent convention of life, with their three or four or five or six or seven husbands, with beautiful clothes, and what might be called beautiful faces but are only masks’, the cardinal asked:

‘ ‘ Can any decent woman look on that sort of life as not being a horrible thing to avoid, as a contagion? How can you go and sit through a performance of that kind, carried on by people with an openly scandalous reputation, and pour money into their laps by the million?”

Thunder over Mexico was not in it at the righteous indignation that arises in me at the hypocritical charge.

Now, as a decent woman (but let me remind you, Mr. Cardinal, the Word of God says, “If we saj’ we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us”), I propose to answer your charges and lift my pen, not in defense of individuals, but in defense of righteousness.

His servants ye are whom ye serve; so, claiming to be a representative of Christianity, let me point you to Matthew 21: 23-32. A conversation ensues between Jesus and the chief priests of the temple, those who profess to know God and keep His commandments. Mark the closing verses to the narrative:

…