Golden Age, July 15, 1936
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The Golden Age
A JOURNAL OF FACT HOPE AND COURAGE
in this issue
WILL ROOSEVELT AID CATHOLIC HIERARCHY
HATERS OF GOD IN NEW JERSEY
AND ELSEWHERE
JUDGE RUTHERFORD INTERVIEWED
every other WEDNESDAY
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one dollar a year
Canada & Foreign 1.25
Vol. XVII - No. 439
July 15, 1936 CONTENTS
WILL ROOSEVELT SUPPORT THE ROMAN HIERARCHY? 643
AN IMPORTANT INTERVIEW WITH JUDGE RUTHERFORD 648
ROMAN CATHOLIC HIERARCHY, HATERS OF GOD IN
GERMANY 651
QUEBEC 654
NEW JERSEY 658
"Religion is still free within our borders."
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The Golden Age
Volume XVII Brooklyn, N.Y., Wednesday, July 15, 1936 Number 439
Will Roosevelt Support the Roman Hierarchy?
Read Carefully the Following
June 20, 1936
To the President
of the United States,
Franklin D. Roosevelt,
Washington, D. C.
HONORED SIR:
In Re Freedom
of Religion and Worship
Your speech at Vincennes, Indiana, publicly delivered on the 14th day of June, 1936, is my reason for addressing this letter to you. In that speech, according to the Press, you said among other things the following:
"The ordinance of 1787 . . . went on to declare that—religion, morality and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. It seems to me that 149 years later the people of the United States in every part thereof could reiterate and continue to strive for the principle that religion, morality and knowledge are necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind. Today religion is still free within our borders; it must ever remain so."
July 11, 1936
To the Golden Age Magazine,
Brooklyn, N. Y.
Gentlemen:
Enclosed please find a copy of my letter to President Roosevelt. Three weeks have elapsed since the original letter was delivered to Mr. Roosevelt and to date I have no reply from him, and the letter is therefore released for publication and you are privileged to publish it.
J. F. Rutherford
In connection with the ordinance of 1787 above mentioned it is appropriate here to call attention to the Declaration of American Independence, which recognized that the law of Almighty God is superior to the law of man, and that all men are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, which includes the right of worship of Almighty God in a manner consistent with one's conscience.
That part of your speech, to wit, "Today religion is still free within our borders," is so contrary to the facts that I must call your attention to some of these facts, and I kindly request that you give serious consideration thereto, and that you take the necessary action within your power, as President, to remedy insofar as possible the present-day unjust and unhappy conditions which result from an ungodly persecution of honest, sincere Christians in America.
During the past five years the Roman Catholic Hierarchy and the agents thereof have carried on a malicious persecution of many American citizens because those citizens have worshiped Almighty God as He commands in His Word. You cannot be entirely ignorant of this fact. On the 26th day of June, 1932, I delivered a speech, which was broadcast by radio, on the subject of "CAN THE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT ENDURE?" and to which speech you listened while at the executive mansion at Albany, according to your admission to a representative of the WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY. In that speech mention was made of the persecution of conscientious Christians, and that the persecution was incited, encouraged and carried on by clergymen who desired to keep the people in ignorance of the truths contained in the Bible. Shortly after your inauguration as president you made the following statement to a representative of the WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY: "The men who are responsible for that persecution of Jehovah's witnesses are now out of office."
During your administration as president the Roman Catholic Hierarchy has wickedly and viciously carried on a campaign the purpose of which has been and is, according to their own language publicly uttered: "To drive Rutherford from the air." That organization, which operates as a religious institution and is directed from a foreign country, has employed all manner of wrongful means to compel American radio stations to cancel contracts made with me, or the WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY, to broadcast my speeches. They have repeatedly threatened owners and managers of radio stations that if their stations did not cancel their contracts and cease to broadcast my speeches or programs of the WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY, they would do injury to such stations. All of such speeches so broadcast were in the public interest, and strictly confined to the worship of Almighty God as He has commanded. Many radio stations yielded to such wrongful influence and canceled their contracts because of such threats.
So glaringly vicious and wrongful has that campaign been carried on by the Roman Catholic Hierarchy that in 1934 a Petition, signed by two and one-half million American citizens, was filed with the Congress demanding that proper action be taken to protect the interests of broadcasters and the people. Congressional Hearings were had on this Petition in March, 1934, on H.R. 7986, and in May on H.R. 8301, at which Hearings an abundance of proof was submitted showing the wrongful interference with radio stations by the Roman Catholic Hierarchy and its agents. The Congress, at your request, disregarded that petition of two and one-half million American citizens; did nothing for the relief of the people as therein asked; and to this day nothing has been done, and the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, with the apparent approval of the government, continues its campaign of persecution and interference with radio stations and broadcasters.
You caused the Federal Communications Commission to be created and appointed the members of that Commission. Thereafter a Hearing was had by the FCC, at which Hearing further evidence was introduced showing conclusively the activities of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy wrongfully interfering with radio stations and broadcasters, and particularly with their wrongful effort to prevent programs of the WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY to be broadcast. Evidence was also there introduced which strongly tended to prove that a certain Catholic priest had willfully mutilated the public record of a Hearing before Congress. The record of this Hearing is now on file with the Federal Communications Commission. No action has been taken to punish such violator of the law, or to check the Roman Catholic Hierarchy in its work of interfering with the freedom of speech and the free exercise of worship of Almighty God by use of the radio or otherwise.
A member of the Federal Radio Commission, during the year 1933, acting in his official capacity, wrote letters to various radio stations in the United States in an effort to intimidate those stations and to prevent them from broadcasting Bible lectures given for the instruction of the people concerning the Holy Scriptures, and did so because the Roman Catholic Hierarchy objected to such speeches. A number of radio stations, yielding to such improper influence, did decline to further broadcast, and to this day decline to broadcast, such programs for hire.
On June 2, 1935, I delivered a public address at Washington, D.C., before a visible audience of twenty thousand persons, and which speech was broadcast throughout the land. There was a strong demand for the publication of that speech in the Press. The Washington Post and the Washington Star both engaged to print the same. Both papers accepted the copy, set it in type, made up the forms, and were ready to go to press; both papers had received full pay for such space at advertising rates, and had given receipts therefor. At the moment of going to Press both papers, under the strong pressure exercised by the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, and a member of your official cabinet, broke their contracts, and refused to publish because the speech given referred to some indisputable facts concerning the wrongful influence of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy with the political affairs of America. No one but the Hierarchy could object, and no one did object to the publication except them.
On February 23, 1936, I delivered a public address at the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, and a large number of radio stations contracted to broadcast that speech and many of them did broadcast it. The Roman Catholic Hierarchy conspired to prevent radio stations from broadcasting that speech and succeeded in preventing some in so doing. I cite this specific case:
Cardinal Dougherty and James J. Clarke and others entered into a conspiracy to prevent radio station WIP of Philadelphia from broadcasting speech. They addressed letters to said radio station, its manager and owner, and threatened Gimbel's Department Store, the owner of the station, that if the station broadcasts Rutherford's speech or WATCH TOWER programs, a boycott would be carried on against the store and station. Further, said Cardinal Dougherty publicly declared that if that threat of boycott was not sufficient to prevent the broadcasting of Rutherford's lectures he, the cardinal, would take more drastic action. That conspiracy succeeded and induced radio station WIP to cancel its contract and to refuse to broadcast Bible lectures of myself, sponsored by the WATCH TOWER SOCIETY. That specific case of conspiracy is a clear violation of Section 51, Title 18, of the Federal Penal Code, and the conspirators therein mentioned are guilty of an indictable offense.
J. Wesley Weekes, senior counsel of the Broadcasting Division of the FCC, gave notice in November, 1935, to radio station WRBL, Columbus, Georgia, that said station should not broadcast Rutherford's speech, which speech was entirely devoted to Bible instruction and teaching in matters of vital importance to the people.
The above are a few of a great number of like offenses committed by the said Hierarchy in interfering with the freedom of speech and freedom of worship of Almighty God, and which action is contrary to the fundamental laws of the nation; and which shows that your statement at Vincennes, Indiana, is not in accord with the facts. Many other cases will be brought to your attention upon request.
The Roman Catholic Hierarchy claim that the Mexican government was persecuting their church and people in that land. A Resolution was introduced in the United States Senate, calling on the American government to intercede in behalf of the Catholic people of Mexico; but nothing has been done in behalf of the millions of American citizens, who have been cruelly persecuted by the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, and solely because faithful Christians have stated their honest and sincere understanding of the Scriptures.
In the Hitler government of Germany thousands of true Christians are subjected to severe punishment because of their faith in God’s Word. The United States is not far behind Germany in this respect. During the past five years in the United States, and at the instance of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, thousands of American citizens have been wrongfully arrested, fined, imprisoned, and otherwise cruelly treated because they have exercised their right of freedom of worship of Almighty God as He has commanded, and as guaranteed by the laws of the land. From October 1, 1935, to June 17, 1936, eight hundred and seventy men and women have been arrested and thrown into prison, their only offense being that of preaching the gospel of God’s kingdom in obedience to the commandments of Almighty God, as stated in the Bible. Such arrests have taken place in seventeen different states.
Jehovah’s witnesses are not a cult or sect. They are true followers of Christ Jesus, who worship Almighty God in spirit and in truth by obeying His commandments. According to the Scriptures every person consecrated and devoted to God and His kingdom under Christ must be a witness to the name and kingdom of Jehovah, and for that reason these Christians are properly called Jehovah’s witnesses or witnesses of the Lord God. (Isaiah 43:10-12; Isaiah 62:2; Matthew 24:14) Jehovah God commands that His witnesses must give notice and warning to the people as set forth in the Bible, and that their failure to obey will bring upon them the condemnation of the Lord. (Ezekiel 33:7-12; Acts 3:23) These true followers of Christ Jesus are acting strictly according to the commandment of Almighty God and plainly within their rights under the laws of America. But their rights are being grossly denied, their freedom of speech and freedom of worship violated and interrupted, and they suffer persecution at the hands of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, and their agents, because they are obeying the commandments of Jehovah; and the present government has winked at such wrongful doings; and in the face of it you still say: “Religion is still free in America.”
MORE EVIDENCE: A few specific instances are here cited. The town of Secaucus, New Jersey, in open violation of both the federal and state constitutions, did on February 25, 1936, enact an ordinance which prohibits the handing of a piece of paper to a resident of the town. At the time of the enactment of that ordinance it was announced by members of the town council that it would be enforced only against Jehovah’s witnesses. That announced purpose has been carried out. Catholics and Baptists distribute their literature in that town without interference, but Jehovah’s witnesses have been arrested and fined for merely handing to a resident a slip of paper announcing a radio lecture on the Bible. This wrongful action was taken at the instance of the religious priest, who conspired with others to prevent the freedom of speech and freedom of worship of Almighty God.
Maplewood, New Jersey, moved by the same Roman Catholic influence, recently enacted an ordinance to restrain the activities of Jehovah’s witnesses in preaching the gospel of His kingdom under Christ Jesus by means of the printed message. That town of Maplewood sent letters to other towns recommending that the other towns enact similar ordinances and for the same purpose. Irvington, New Jersey, and Livingston, New Jersey, followed that advice, enacting such ordinance against Jehovah’s witnesses.
At Irvington, New Jersey, eight of Jehovah’s witnesses were arrested for calling on people with a message of God’s kingdom as set forth in the Bible, and which they did in obedience to the commandment of Almighty God. When arrested excessive bail was required of them. More than Seventy Thousand Dollars in value of real estate was offered as bail security and refused, the excuse being made that it was not owned by thirteen different persons. All this was done at the instance of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy and its agents. The Catholic judge before whom these defendants were brought viciously declared: “I will stab Jehovah’s witnesses in the back at every opportunity.” The same judge sent two small children to the juvenile court for trial on a charge of delinquency and held their parents in bonds of One Thousand and Fifteen Hundred Dollars, respectively. Their delinquency consisted in preaching the gospel of God’s Kingdom and worshiping Him, as guaranteed by the fundamental law of America, and as commanded in the Bible.
At Orange, New Jersey, twenty-four of Jehovah’s witnesses were sentenced to pay a fine of One Hundred Dollars each, and imprisonment for thirty days. Ten others to pay a fine of One Hundred Dollars each. The offense of these Christians was the handing of one piece of printed matter to another person in town, which printed slip of paper contained information concerning the Bible and its teachings. Here Roman Catholic Hierarchy influence was employed to intimidate citizens and prevent them from signing appeal bonds in behalf of the defendants.
At Maplewood, New Jersey, a petition, addressed to the town commissioners asking for repeal or amendment of an ordinance under which Jehovah’s witnesses had been wrongfully arrested and persecuted, was being circulated. For the offense of circulating this petition nine persons were arrested and imprisoned.
At Monessen, Pennsylvania, one hundred and forty-six of Jehovah’s witnesses were arrested and imprisoned for circulating a similar petition addressed to the city council. No trial was held, no evidence was offered, and yet a Roman Catholic judge entered a fine against each one of the one hundred and forty-six defendants.
At Lagrange, Georgia, the mayor, chief of police and city attorney conspired together to arrest, beat and expel Jehovah's witnesses from that city. Those officials led a mob that seized, struck and abused and arrested men and women who were doing nothing, but who had in their possession a petition intended to be circulated among the people asking for fair treatment by the officials of the city. Women were held in prison and compelled to sleep on bare floors; some of these with babes in their arms, and some who fell very ill by reason of such treatment. Against those women no charge was ever filed. When released they were required to leave the city, although they had committed no offense whatsoever. At the same time men, who had committed no offense against the law, were confined in concentration camps, and compelled to sleep on the bare ground exposed to the weather. They had gone to the city merely to exercise their God-given right of helping the people to understand the Scriptures and to thereby worship Almighty God. The city officials arrested and dragged them from their automobiles, and severely beat some of them, and drove them out of town. All of such conduct was and is an open and flagrant violation of the federal laws. "Religion is still free in America."
In Pennsylvania, children of Jehovah's witnesses have been abused and severely beaten for no reason under the sun save that they are the children of parents who insist on worshiping Almighty God as they believe is their right.
It is a frequent occurrence for policemen who make these arrests to say to the defendants: "We don't want to make these arrests, but we have our orders from the higher-ups, and we must obey them or lose our jobs." The higher-ups, particularly in the cases in New Jersey, are cardinals, priests and bishops of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy. Many of these persons are convicted and imprisoned without any evidence to support the charge whatsoever. Their property frequently seized and confiscated many of them are held in prison incommunicado, not even their friends being able to find out where they are. That sounds very much like Hitler's crowd in Germany. Men, women and children are crowded into filthy jails. Many of them are tried before prejudiced judges. Many of them are tried and fined in their absence. These cases are too numerous to cover in a letter, but proof can be furnished at any time upon request.
Please know, Mr. President, that I am not against any person because of his religion or faith. Catholics, Protestants, Jews or those of any other religious faith should enjoy equal rights of worship as they desire and which they are guaranteed by law. Jehovah's witnesses have the God-given and Constitutional right to speak the truth as commanded by the Bible and as written therein, and that without permission being given by anyone, and without let or hindrance by men or any combination of men. I am asking no favor for myself or my fellows, but I am bringing these matters to your attention that you may clearly see and be convinced, if you will, that American citizens are being denied their fundamental rights as guaranteed by the law. Certainly a foreign power, operated in the name of religion and directed from Rome, has no right to interfere with the freedom of worship by American citizens within the land which has always held sacred the freedom of speech and freedom of worship.
The Roman Catholic Hierarchy is today using every possible means to gain control of the American government and to rule it as Germany is now ruled. They are operating through the schools, private and public, and through every branch of the political organization of the government. You can certainly not be entirely ignorant of that fact. In a book recently published by E. Boyd Barrett, the title, Rome Stoops to Conquer, the author, a former Jesuit, submits an abundance of proof showing that it is the purpose of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy to gain control of America and to compel the people to be submissive to its religious and political harsh rule.
The book published by The Fellowship Forum at Washington, Proof of Rome's Political Meddling in America, sets forth a great deal of authentic evidence taken from the official records of the Hierarchy itself, and which discloses the purpose of the Hierarchy to seize the American government at the first opportunity; and also discloses that the Hierarchy is completely out of accord with the American principles of government. From the report of the chairman of the Administrative Committee, National Catholic Council, the following is quoted:
"The Executive Department supervises the co-ordinated activities of the other departments. It keeps in direct personal touch with the officials of the Government from the President and Cabinet members to members of Congress. . . . We have found, as we stated in our report of last year, an even more constant, more vital need of keeping in close touch with the Federal Government, not alone on technical legislative matters, but also on those manifold questions that precede legislation, and the right handling of which means a personal acquaintance and touch with the officials of government."
John B. Harney, one of the "Paulist Fathers", had put to him a question, and answered it, which appears in the publication of the Washington Fellowship Forum, May 1934, to wit: "Does the Roman Catholic Church regard Protestants as heretics, and does it not believe and teach that heretics should be punished, even unto death, if necessary?" Answer: "In a way, I say, Yes. . . . I do not doubt, if they were strong enough, that the Catholic people would hinder, even unto death, if necessary, the spread of heresy through the people, and I say rightly so."
Catholic papers in the United States have boasted that the pope of Rome is the author of the NRA blue eagle. On March 8, 1934, the New York Sun published a dispatch from Rome, stating that, "A definite agreement had been reached between President Roosevelt and the Vatican, to the effect that diplomatic relations shall be established between the United States and the Holy See as soon as public opinion in America might be brought around to it."
A great majority of the American people desire to preserve the freedom of speech and freedom of worship of Jehovah God and that without interference. They do not want America to be Hitlerized and to be ruled by a harsh, cruel, arbitrary and ungodly power. Seeing the tendency in that direction they are deeply concerned as to what may come to pass within a short time.
In view of your Vincennes speech, and of the further fact that you are asking the American people to again make you their Chief Executive; and in view of the wrongful activities of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy in the political and other affairs of the nation, and of their interference with the liberties of American people in matters of freedom of speech and freedom of worship, it is my privilege in behalf of many American citizens, who love truth and righteousness, to propound to you a few questions. As a servant of the American people it is your privilege and solemn duty to frankly and clearly answer those questions. Will you please give consideration to and answer the following?
FIRST: If the evidence is laid before the Department of Justice, showing that Cardinal Dougherty and others have conspired together to deprive and have deprived American citizens of their rights guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States, will you, as the Chief Executive, direct the Legal Department of the Government to prosecute such conspirators under the Section of the Penal Code above mentioned, and see to it that adequate punishment is administered as provided by law?
SECOND: Will you use your power and influence to have the Congress to fully investigate and to report the activities of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy and their agents in their wrongful attempts to compel owners of radio stations to broadcast only what pleases them and to refrain from broadcasting any Bible truth that may "shock the religious susceptibilities" of such clergymen? And will you advise the Congress to enact the necessary laws to prevent such wrongful interference with radio stations and broadcasters in their broadcasting of programs that many of the people desire to hear, and which programs are of public interest, convenience and necessity for the uplifting of the people, mentally, morally and spiritually?
THIRD: Shortly after your election you endorsed the so-called "Holy Year", which failed to bring the blessings promised by the pope, but which deceived many people. If you are again elected will you continue to thus co-operate with the Roman Catholic Hierarchy?
FOURTH: Is it your purpose to arrange for and establish diplomatic relations between the United States and the Vatican at Rome, and will your re-election be sufficient evidence to you that the American people have been brought around to see that such diplomatic relationships and receiving of an ambassador from the Vatican is right and proper?
FIFTH: Do you approve of the prosecution and persecution by the Roman Catholic Hierarchy that is being carried on throughout the country against Jehovah's witnesses, who serve and worship Jehovah God in spirit and in truth?
SIXTH: Do you favor the American people being governed by the Roman Catholic Hierarchy and their agents and ruled with arbitrary power, directed from Rome, which now controls Germany? and if not, will you appoint a postmaster general who will refuse to use his official power in behalf of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, and who will deal justly and fairly with all the people?
SEVENTH: If, Mr. President, you will kindly answer these questions, your answer together with this letter will receive wide publication that the people may know exactly what are your sentiments concerning these important matters. If you choose to ignore this letter, and decline to answer, then the letter will be duly published.
May I remind you in harmony with the plain declaration of the Holy Scriptures that he who willfully opposes or persecutes consecrated persons because those persons are actively engaged in proclaiming the Word of God and His kingdom, that such opposition and persecution is fighting against God. Furthermore that any political power that winks at, encourages, condones or participates in such opposition or persecution is a party to wrong doing and in due time must answer to Almighty God for such wrongful action. Pleading for unity and harmony amongst the religious organizations will not excuse or palliate that crime.—Ezekiel 3:18, 19; Ezekiel 33:12-15; Matthew 25:31-46.
Regardless of the sincerity of men in their efforts to bring forth remedies to relieve the distress of the people, none of such human remedies can wholly succeed, for the reason that the Kingdom of God under Christ Jesus is the only hope of the nations of earth. (Matthew 12:18-21) To oppose the work of bringing to the people the information of God's provision for them is 'turning the stranger away from his right'; and God is against all such. (Malachi 3:5) If the work now being carried on by Jehovah's witnesses in bringing these truths to the attention of the people "be of men, it will come to nought; but if it be of God" it cannot be overcome, and those opposing and seeking to prevent such proclamation of truth will find themselves 'fighting against God'.—Acts 5:38, 39.
This letter, Mr. President, is written that these matters may be brought to your attention, and with that my responsibility in this behalf ends.
Very sincerely,
J. F. Rutherford An Important Interview with Judge Rutherford*
THE GOLDEN AGE directs attention to the fact that the Roman Catholic Hierarchy continues to use coercion and threats to boycott and other wrongful means to induce the radio stations to refuse to broadcast speeches of Judge Rutherford on Bible questions. Recently the cardinal at Philadelphia, by threats to use drastic methods against radio station WIP, induced that station to cancel its contract with the WATCH TOWER to broadcast Judge Rutherford's speeches, which it had been broadcasting for a long period of time. Catholic publications now state that the reason for such protest against Judge Rutherford's speeches is that he misrepresents the teachings of the Catholic church and foments religious hatred and bigotry. Recently a petition has been signed by a great many people in the vicinity of Philadelphia calling upon radio station WIP to continue to broadcast Judge Rutherford's lectures and to arrange for a joint debate between some prominent Catholic and Judge Rutherford that the people may determine whether he is misrepresenting their teachings or the Catholic church is teaching that which is not true.
A representative of The Golden Age interviewed Judge Rutherford as follows:
QUESTION: Is it true that you misrepresent the teachings of the Catholic church and that you thereby foment hatred and bigotry?
ANSWER: That statement is not true. I have never misrepresented the teachings of the Catholic church. I have no reason to misrepresent them. I am not trying to induce the people to (Continued on page 650)
*The heart of every true American, every liberty-lover, every truth-lover, and, above all, every lover of Jehovah, the true and living God, will quicken as he reads the contents of this number.
First to engage his attention will be Judge Rutherford's kind and manly letter to President Roosevelt, and then this equally manly offer to discuss openly his differences with the Hierarchy. If it be true that he "misrepresents the teachings" of the Roman Catholic church and "foments religious hatred and bigotry", then by all means let the Roman Catholic Hierarchy present their side of the question, not in a sneaking, underhanded manner, but in the open, where all may hear what they have to say, and all may hear what Judge Rutherford has to say in rebuttal.
Second, the reader will be interested in the letters of the Reverend James J. Clarke, pastor of the Church of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, Holy Ghost Fathers, 714 North Broad St., Philadelphia, Pa., seeking to prevent public discussion of public questions of greatest importance over the radio station of Gimbel Brothers, WIP, Philadelphia, Pa., and to deprive Judge Rutherford of the right of free speech.
Third, the reader will note with interest that on a plain sheet of paper the same James J. Clarke, same handwriting, same address, but with no "Reverend" before his name, or anything to indicate his business connections, asked for himself the address which he did not wish any of his flock to hear.
Fourth, on this page (648) the reader will see the proof that the course of James J. Clarke in writing the letter marked "a" (400,000 copies of which were placed in the homes of Philadelphians) has the approval of Dennis Cardinal Dougherty and of his chancellor, J. Carroll McCormick.
Fifth, on page 650 is a copy of the Petition to Gimbel Brothers, WIP, now being widely circulated and signed in the territory served by WIP.
Sixth, on pages 656-657 is a cartoon to the same effect.
Seventh, on pages 651-655 and 658-671 is the proof that "all that will live godly shall suffer persecution", and that the greatest haters of God and of the truth on earth are the Roman Catholic Hierarchy. The story is too large to crowd into one issue, and will be continued in the next number.
CHANCERY OFFICE
1712 Summer Street
Philadelphia
April 30, 1936.
TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:
Having consulted His Eminence, Dennis Cardinal Dougherty, regarding the letter of Rev. James J. Clarke, C. S. Sp., rector of the Church of Our Lady of the Blessed Sacrament, Philadelphia, he informed me that this letter has his entire approval, and that His Eminence joins in the protest; moreover, that he will take further and more drastic action if the broadcasting of Judge Rutherford is permitted to continue.
Dennis Cardinal Dougherty is Archbishop of Philadelphia.
J. Carroll McCormick,
CHANCELLOR
Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
400,000 copies of the above letter were placed in the homes of the people of Philadelphia and Camden by Jehovah's witnesses.
(Continued from page 648)
join some organizations, nor to become followers of myself or any other man. My sole purpose is to aid the people in studying the Bible that they may gain a knowledge thereof, because the Bible is the true and only safe guide for mankind.
Q. Some of the doctrines taught by the Roman Catholic church are these: That every man has an immortal soul and therefore he does not die; that at the moment of so-called "death" the soul of man passes on to purgatory, hell or heaven; that prayers of Catholic priests may, on behalf of those in purgatory, result beneficially to the one in purgatory. Do you contend that these doctrines are taught in the Bible?
A. The teachings or doctrines which you just mentioned do not find any support in the Bible whatsoever and therefore of necessity are false.
Q. The Catholic church also teaches the doctrine of the "holy trinity", that is, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, and that the three are one. Does the Bible support that doctrine?
A. It does not.
Q. The Catholic church also teaches that Peter was the first pope, the foundation of the church, and that the men who have occupied the office of pope since the death of Peter are the successors of Peter, with the same authority Peter had; that Peter is the rock on which the church was built and that the Roman Catholic church is that divine institution. Does the Bible support those doctrines?
A. It does not.
Q. Would you be willing to publicly debate these questions in an effort to prove to the people that the foregoing doctrines are not supported by the Bible, provided some prominent Catholic official will take the other side of the debate?
A. Yes, I will be glad to do so.
Q. The Golden Age is advised that a petition is being circulated, asking radio station WIP to arrange for such a debate. Are you willing to take one side of it and use the radio to broadcast the debate?
A. Yes, I am willing to do so; and whatever expense is attached thereto, I am certain my friends will provide one-half that expense, the other half to be supplied and paid by representatives of the Catholic church.
Q. Would you please submit some propositions that you are willing to debate?
A. I suggest the following:
PETITION
To Gimbel's radio station WIP, Philadelphia:
The undersigned consistent listeners to your radio station have, for a long while, very much enjoyed your broadcasts, including speeches by Judge Rutherford in Watch Tower programs. Now we are informed that WIP no longer broadcasts those speeches because of strenuous protests to you by high officials of the Roman Catholic church, and that those protests are based upon the claim that Judge Rutherford "misrepresents the teachings of that church and foments religious hatred and bigotry".
Many believe that Judge Rutherford does not misrepresent the teachings of any organization. Since Catholic officials object, why not have their teachings discussed publicly and broadcast by WIP, Judge Rutherford taking one side, and some high Roman Catholic official the opposite side? Surely there is nothing of greater public interest, convenience and necessity than the teachings of the Bible concerning the salvation of humanity, as that is the question involved. Every fair-minded person is vitally interested. We therefore petition you and hope you will arrange for such public discussion and also continue Judge Rutherford's broadcasts on WIP.
(1) Resolved, That the doctrine of purgatory, as taught by the Catholic church, finds no support in the Bible or Holy Scriptures, and that such doctrine is therefore false, misleading, and works injury to the people. I am willing to take the affirmative of that proposition.
(2) Resolved, That the spiritual supremacy resides in the pope of Rome as the successor of the apostle Peter, who was the first pope, and who is the foundation stone of the Catholic church. This proposition will be supported by the representative of the Catholic organization, and I will take the negative, because such teachings by the Catholic church find no support in the Bible.
(3) Resolved, That the doctrine of the "Holy Trinity", as taught by the Catholic church, finds no support in the Bible. I will take the affirmative of that proposition.
(4) Resolved, That the teachings of the Catholic church that it is proper to call the pope "Holy Father", and other priests by the name "Father", and that the pope properly exercises temporal power, find no support in the Bible. I will support the affirmative of that proposition.
(5) Resolved, That the Catholic church is the church of God as taught by the Bible or Holy Scriptures. That, of course, will be affirmed by the representative of the Catholic church and I will take the negative.
Roman Catholic Hierarchy
HATERS OF GOD in Germany · Quebec
NEW JERSEY
IN Judge Rutherford’s latest and best and most timely of all books, Riches, he said:
The Roman Catholic Hierarchy not only is a friend of the world of Satan, but forms an integral part thereof, and for that reason alone that wicked organization could not represent God, but is in fact God’s enemy. . . . That the Roman Catholic Hierarchy constitutes the modern Philistines, and is the chief enemy of God and his kingdom, there is not the slightest doubt. (Page 257)
Why is it that the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, in every country, is bitterly opposing Jehovah’s message of the kingdom? The answer is, because that devilish institution is vexed at the message of God’s Word, which is being declared by his witnesses and which exposes its very hiding place, which is the great mountain of lies. (Page 266)
At the instance of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy Jehovah’s witnesses are now being cruelly persecuted in all parts of “Christendom”, and particularly in Austria, Germany, Estonia, Quebec and New Jersey. In the above-mentioned foreign countries books of the WATCH TOWER SOCIETY, because they explain the Bible, have been seized and destroyed, and many of Jehovah’s witnesses, the true followers of Christ Jesus, are charged with “seditious conspiracy” and thrown into prison because they had in possession or distributed such books, and all this wicked persecution of faithful witnesses of Jehovah is done by those who claim to be the “successors of the apostle Peter” and the official representatives of God and Christ on earth. Amazing hypocrisy! This persecution the modern Philistines carry on against Jehovah’s witnesses “by revenge” and “with a despiteful heart” and “hatred”, exactly as the ancient Philistines did against God’s chosen people in Palestine.—Ezekiel 25:15. (Pages 254-255)
So you won't Heil Hitler!
“Catholic Action” in Germany
The Argentinisches Tageblatt, a German paper published in Buenos Aires, Argentina, under date of April 5, 1936, contained nearly a page on the persecutions of Jehovah’s witnesses in Germany, making a heart-rending story fully as bad as anything that happened in the days of Nero.
Across the top of the page are spread in large type the words “Prügellager Sachsenburg” (Flogging-Camp Sachsenburg) and another headline across the page, “Auspeitschung von Ernsten Bibelforschern” (Beating of Jehovah’s witnesses). The account is lengthy, so readers will accept a much condensed review, in English:
Lashing was always one of the means of torture used in that notorious prison camp, especially since the former SA guards (Schutz-Abteilung, or ordinary Nazi guards) were replaced by SS-men (guards from the Schutz-Staffel, or picked Nazis). All night long one could hear the piteous cries of pain of some mistreated men. But since April 1, 1935, the day of the official introduction of the new camp rules and penal code, such floggings have become official and public acts. (The Manchester Guardian published, in June, 1935, the complete text of those regulations.)
Responsible for the enactment of corporal punishment is Hitler’s special commissioner of all concentration camps in Germany. His name is Eicke. The new commanding officer of the camp in Sachsenburg is SS-Obersturmbannfuehrer Schmidt. His broad breast has hardly room for all his medals. He is bestially brutal, often intoxicated, calls the prisoners “swine” and told them at the first roll call, when he presented himself, that he had come to treat them brutally and mercilessly and that he does not care a thing if they all “peg out” under the hand of the beaters. And then he gave them a warning example by the demonstration of a heartless flogging.
Since May 8, 1935, when four prisoners were beaten, such public punishments have become the rule. Every week there was at least one, and often there were two or three. The harrowing and appalling spectacle was usually like this:
Incredible Devilish Ferocity
Evening of May 8, 1935. The three companies of prisoners formed a wide square. Expecting the revolting spectacle of the flogging might incite them to a desperate rebellion, they were surrounded by two formations of SS-men in steel helmets, armed with rifles, held at the ready; besides, heavy machine guns were posted at strategic points. The windows of the building at the opposite side were full of other SS-men, who were off duty, but did not wish to miss the “elevating” spectacle of a public flogging. At the open side of the square formation appeared the commanding officers of the prison camp, amongst them a certain Weigel, a notoriously bad man, and also the camp physician, Dr. Gebhardt, all in full regalia with steel helmets, side arms and revolvers.
The victims of their sadistic lust were four prisoners, two of them members of the “Bible Students”, or “Jehovah’s witnesses”, as they now call themselves. Their “crime” was that they had steadfastly refused the Hitler salute. As reason for their refusal they stated: “There is only one God; His name is Jehovah. We hail only Him, but no worldly power, and also not Hitler.” They were formally charged with repeated refusal of the military salute, insubordination and contempt of the State. The other two delinquents were charged, one of them with smoking at a forbidden place, the other with ridiculing the State. And for this they received the inhuman verdict of fourteen days’ dark cell with 25 lashes before and 25 lashes after imprisonment.
In the midst of the square there was placed a threshing table. The names of the four victims were called; they came forward and stood before the table. A command sounded, and twelve SS-men marched forward in goose-step, each holding a cane. They pounced upon the first of the prisoners, threw him upon the table, and held his arms and legs so that he could not move. At the command “Go it!” the first SS-executioner struck up an attitude, tested his cane by whipping the air, and then struck the body, lying before him, with all his might! The body reacted with violent convulsions and tried to get loose from the tormentors. In vain! The SS-men were stronger.
Prisoners Faint at the Sight
After five lashes the first flogger was replaced by another one, who continued with a new cane and new vigor. Under the threat that he would receive additional lashes the flogged was forced to himself count the lashes with loud voice. The flogging of the fourth of the victims was especially heart-rending. As he was tortured he prayed, crying with a loud voice, shaking the very marrow of his fellow prisoners: “Help me, Jehovah!—Oh, help me!—Have mercy on me, Jehovah!—Save me; oh, hear me!—My God, deliver me from my pains; I cannot bear it any longer—.” His cries changed to an unarticulated groaning and then died out. He had lost consciousness. In the meantime more than six of the onlookers amongst the prisoners fainted, and had to be carried away.
This hideous execution was performed with such brutality that repeatedly the canes went to pieces. In order to prevent this in the future prisoners had to make in the camp shop a long tin box where canes are kept in water, when not in use, in order to keep them pliable, and prisoners themselves have to see to it that the canes are always covered with sufficient water.
After the flogging the prisoners marched away under heavy guard, singing, as they were commanded, “a happy song.” . . .
That night there was the stillness of death in the prisoners’ dormitories. But through the entire camp could be heard the hooting of the SS-men, who with whisky and beer were celebrating their “victory”. For days afterward the guards mockingly saluted one another with “Heil Jehovah!” instead of with the usual “Heil Hitler!”
Faithful unto Death
September 12, 1935, when five prisoners were flogged, one of them, a witness for Jehovah, received especially brutal treatment, and that by the beastly commander of the camp, Schmidt himself. After the man had received eighteen lashes he began to groan in his excruciating pains. Then commander Schmidt, with a face red as a turkey cock, bellowed at him: “You damned pig, cry to your Jehovah for help! Why doesn’t he help you? Cry to him to crush us; then you could trample us under foot!”
The tortured man lost consciousness, but, regardless of that fact, received seven more strokes. When the execution was over, he was unstrapped from the torture instrument, where he dropped to the ground lifeless as a log. Schmidt, even more inflamed than before, roared at him, commanding him to get up, and using obscene language, at the same time setting his boot upon the prostrate body of the victim. "At it!" he commanded; "pour water over his skull! Then he can get twenty-five more lashes with the stick!"
SS-men went for water and poured bucketfuls of it over the body. The camp physician, Dr. Gebhardt, came forth, and commanded: "Carry him away! Throw him into the black hole! That guy is only feigning!" Two SS-men brutally pulled the lifeless body up and dragged it out like that of a dead dog.
The table which was originally used for the floggings went to pieces at an execution and was replaced by a kind of trestle (called "Prügelblock"), a torture instrument which would decorate any torture-chamber of the medieval Inquisition. The arms and legs of the unfortunate victims are no longer held by Nazis, but are strapped to the four massive legs of the trestle. Another "improvement" of the torture is that since November, 1935, the flogged, instead of being compelled to count the lashes, has to sing the national anthem, "Deutschland, Deutschland über alles" (Germany, Germany above all)! That trestle, by the way, had to be built by the poor prisoners themselves.
In January of this year there were 1500 persons imprisoned in the Sachsenburg camp, though it was made for only 463 prisoners. The place is so terribly overcrowded that the tables and benches have been removed from the halls of the prisoners. They sleep in miserable bunks (one lower and two uppers) and use the lower during the day as the only place to sit. Since the reign of terror in Germany is worse than ever before, and therefore constantly more prisoners are brought to the camps, they are at present building additional barracks in Sachsenburg.
Directly Chargeable to Roman Hierarchy
The scenes like the above which happen today to Jehovah's true and faithful witnesses in Germany are directly chargeable to the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, for many reasons:
For centuries the Hierarchy has claimed to be the sole interpreter of God's Word in the earth and has never told the people that such horribly fiendish acts could bring only reproach to the name of God and joy to the heart of the Devil.
For centuries the Hierarchy has encouraged the so-called "doing of penance" acts as pleasing to God, whereas such acts are entirely foreign to the letter and the spirit of God's Word and could please and honor only the Devil.
For centuries the Hierarchy has claimed the right to flog and torture and kill the people of Jehovah God, whose trust is only in the great Creator of heaven and earth and not at all in beskirted hypocrites in black—priests.
The Hierarchy to this very day, among the Flagellantes in Mexico, countenances floggings that are so horrible that none but Roman Catholics may witness them, on pain of death. The members of the Hierarchy themselves do not submit their own bodies to these floggings, but reserve that for their dupes.
The Hierarchy, in the person of the pope, helped finance Hitler (the house painter) and the other so-called "storm troopers"; Catholics were instructed to turn out and vote for him when the forced elections were held in March; and when the German troops occupied the left bank of the Rhine the pope sent congratulations. In return, Hitler sent felicitations to the pope.
Hitler is a Roman Catholic, and so acknowledged in the German Who's Who, and also by Cardinal Faulhaber. The swastika, now the official German flag, is a design which Hitler saw in the courtyard of an Austrian monastery. The German ambassador in the United States denies that Catholics are being persecuted in his country. Indeed, when five nuns were to be tried for treason they were shipped out of Germany to the United States.
Hitler compelled Protestant churches to fly the swastika, but this was not required of the Catholic churches; he suppressed Protestant seminaries and robbed Protestant churches; he made the German courts a mockery and a laughingstock; he betrayed and killed his own personal friends; his comrades in cruelty tortured many persons so horribly that the bodies were cremated to hide the extent of the injuries inflicted; he reduced German womanhood to be mere handmaids of the males; he destroyed freedom of speech and of the press; he caused the imprisonment of men and women, some of them in their seventies, for singing hymns, and for meeting together to commemorate the Savior's death in obedience to the Lord's commands; he robbed the Jews of their business enterprises and turned them over to his fellow Catholics for a fraction of their value.
And, finally, by his every act, he has shown that nothing that he says on any subject is to be believed, that he is cruel and merciless beyond description, that he believes that men like Mussolini, Horthy and himself are the "higher powers", and therefore he is what is termed a "practical Catholic", a loyal son of the Devil.
Roman Catholic Hierarchy in Quebec
WHAT the Roman Catholic Hierarchy is in one place in the earth it is in every other; i.e., there is no limit to its pretensions or to its avarice. One familiar with the province of Quebec recognizes this at once. In Quebec the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, with the craven consent of the government, taxes the people direct for the support of the priests and the building and maintenance of the churches and the houses of the clergy. In most of the smaller places the only decent buildings in town are the huge church and the fine brick or stone house where the priest lives like a rooster in a hen house.
In a pathetic statement issued by French Catholics of Quebec occurs the following, showing how the plain people need Jehovah’s kingdom:
Our educational plan (French) is so bad, and our clergy bleeds us so persistently, that we have no money left which we could so profitably use to educate our children. In other words, our French clergy, many of whom blasphemingly classify themselves as God, think so much of having magnificent churches, owning beautiful cars, lovely homes, and living on the fat of the land, that it is time we woke up and insisted on a square deal. The present policy of our French clergymen is very dangerous and unchristian. Let us wake up—insist on the same educational facilities as our English friends.
In Quebec the Roman Hierarchy takes it for granted that it is a part of the government, though as a matter of fact it is nothing of the kind. But the fact that they have no legal standing as a part of the government never hinders the Hierarchy from going ahead full steam with its pretensions.
At Ste. Anne de Beaupré two of Jehovah’s witnesses were arrested and taken by the chief of police to—where do you suppose?—to the residence of the priest. The chief had no more right to take these men to the residence of a priest for a hearing than to the residence of the village garbage collector. Indeed, the garbage man would probably have dealt more wisely and more justly; for that night these innocent men were housed in Quebec city jail. The village of Ste. Anne de Beaupré subsequently paid the costs of their illegal arrest.
"Lifting the lid"
At Coaticook, Quebec, a member of the Knights of Columbus and two French priests accused two ladies, Jehovah’s witnesses, of blasphemous libel, and they passed a night in Sherbrooke jail on that false charge. The magistrate, himself a French Catholic, said the booklet (by Judge Rutherford) did not contain anything blasphemous.
Priests Pester the Police
The Roman Catholic Hierarchy is forever pestering the police to get them to act illegally in arresting those who expose their racket to the people. One of Jehovah’s witnesses arrested on one occasion in the city of Quebec was frankly told by the officer making the false arrest that he had been ordered to do it by Mr. Lavergne, the curate of that parish.
The French Catholic lawyer engaged for the defense was told by the city attorney, the clerk of the recorder’s court and the deputy chief of police that the arrests were illegal, but they were so hard pressed by the clergy that they had to make it as difficult for the prisoners as possible.
The four of Jehovah’s witnesses arrested on this occasion were told by representatives of the police department that delegations from the bishop’s palace had called every day insisting that the witnesses were a menace to the Catholic church and that, law or no law, they were not doing their duty unless they did something to get rid of them.
When the time came for the trial, the sneaks in skirts did not show up. (They seldom do.) There is no record that Judas was present at the trial of Jesus of Nazareth before Pilate.) The judge on this occasion so feared the Roman clergy that when he gave the decision in favor of Jehovah's witnesses he could not be heard six feet. The deputy chief of police confessed that he was never so annoyed by the priests as when cases against Jehovah's witnesses were pending; they were everywhere, prying into everything.
Time and again in Montreal the priests of the city goaded the police into arresting the witnesses, though in every case knowing they had no right to do so. On one occasion the city offered settlement out of court, agreeing to pay to Jehovah's witnesses $75 damages and $50 costs, which offer was accepted.
But the final score will not be so easily settled. If the "authorities", police officers, judges, and other servants of the people continue to ignore law, righteousness, truth, common sense and their own consciences they will ultimately have to settle for it. It will not do, before the Court of Last Appeal, to offer the excuse that they "had to do it" and that the clergy "made them do it" and other equally inexcusable reasons for a spineless course of action. There is only one thing one positively "has to do", and that is to observe the righteous laws of the great Creator, Jehovah.
"The Crisis" in Quebec
Oddly enough, the giving away of Judge Rutherford's book The Crisis really brought a crisis in the affairs of the Roman Hierarchy in Quebec. A large number of Jehovah's witnesses were arrested on this occasion, but the police authorities fixed on two, one from Belleville, Ontario, and one from Toronto, and decided to sentence them to sixty days' imprisonment and a fine of $300 for helping to open the eyes of their fellow men.
The action went through all the Canadian courts and was finally decided in favor of the two witnesses, but all the French Canadian courts up to the Supreme Court of Canada were so under the thumb of the priests that they shamelessly tried to make out that innocent and instructive and helpful literature is seditious because it might induce discontent, might stir up opposition to the Government, might disturb the tranquillity of the State, and might incite the people to take the power into their own hands.
In the court of appeals Justice Walsh made a record by saying that unbelievers, if convinced that Judge Rutherford's interpretations of the Bible are correct, might revolt at once. How preposterous! They are unbelievers to start with; they read Judge Rutherford's books and become believers; the judge urges them to be patient and to wait upon the Lord till Armageddon, and off they go in revolt, entirely contrary to what they learned. Surely nobody but a Roman Catholic jurist, under the thumb of the Roman Hierarchy, could reason like that. For a full statement of Justice Walsh's squirmings out of the frying pan into the fire, see The Golden Age No. 414, pages 690-697.
Quebec has some judges that are down to the level of Hitler's. One of these is Judge Lacoix, 275 Bloomfield Avenue, Outremont, Quebec. At Ville St. Pierre two young Christian girls, one of them under eighteen years of age, were calling at the homes of the people with literature explaining the Bible. They were arrested and taken to the home of Judge Lacoix. He questioned them and sentenced them to eight days in jail, refusing their request to get in touch with the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society. At the time they were being questioned they did not know that they were undergoing trial, and for that reason attempted no defense. They served their time, Judge Lacoix favored the Hierarchy, and Jehovah God will settle the bill at Armageddon.
Let no one think that the goats can do what they will to Jehovah's true and faithful witnesses and merely cease to exist. Knowledge of what they have done, and knowledge that God's hand will destroy them, will be a part of their punishment. Scores of times Jehovah says, "They shall know that I am Jehovah," and at the climax comes this terrible picture, which will be fulfilled to the letter:
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