Consolation, July 9, 1941
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Contents
Vindicated 3
Findings of Fact 4
Conclusions of Law 6
Judgment 7
Another Just and Righteous Decision 8
Biloxi May Go Red 10
Jehovah's witnesses—
Who Are They? What Do They Teach? 11
Satan's Final Fling 11
Hitler's Victims 12
The Right to Fight 12
Thomas McEwan Finished 13
Resolution 13
Helping the Blind at Ida Grove 15
'New Order' Called Pope's 15
Facsimile Pages from Morse's Book 16
Counsel by J. F. Rutherford
Fair Warning 17
Felix's Lies Are Unprofitable 19
Real Work for Mr. Felix 19
Idolatry of Mary 20
Jehovah's witnesses—Ordained Ministers 22
British Comment
Protestants' Fears 29
"The Golden Bough" 29
Feeding the People 30
Juvenile Crime 31
Evacuees from Gibraltar 31
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Notanda
Sheep Behind Bars
◆ To be placed behind bars for the doing of Jehovah's will is a great honor, borne successively by Joseph, Jeremiah, Daniel, Christ Jesus, the Son of God, and all the holy apostles.
Nothing could be more foolish than arresting persons for proclaiming the Kingdom for which Jesus taught His followers to pray. Yet that was done in Harlan, Kentucky, to the everlasting shame of Harlan be it said.
The same thing was done at Connersville, Indiana, where two innocent Christian women were sentenced to from two to ten years in prison for obeying the Lord's command to preach the gospel of Jehovah's Kingdom. (And see picture on page 13.) While one of these "witnesses" was in prison, she received the following letter from a family related only by marriage, and with but an elementary knowledge of the Truth:
This is a hard letter to write, as we have been left nearly speechless by the news of your trial. We keep saying that they just can't do such things in this country; but they do. We want you to know that our every thought is of you, and if there is anything in our power that we can do, please don't hesitate to say so. It is pretty hard to tell a person as righteous as you to keep praying and never lose faith even once, as we know that is what you will do. But remember it is persons like you, with your strength and courage, who go ahead, as you do, breaking a path into the future for others, that are the real winners. We wish we were as sure of our place in God's Kingdom as we are of yours. We learn to hate and despise that low kind that tries to bring shame and defeat to leaders like you. They think they are beating you down, while in reality they are elevating you far above us all. So we want you to know that our hearts and thoughts are with you and that we love and respect you far more now than we had any thought of before.
MIKE, HILDA and CAROL SUE GREENE.
CONSOLATION
"And in His name shall the nations hope."—Matthew 12:21, A. R. V.
Volume XXII Brooklyn, N. Y., Wednesday, July 9, 1941 Number 569
Vindicated
IN June, 1940, Mussolini and his ally, the Hierarchy, at Vatican City, double-crossed the French and stabbed England in the back. Simultaneously there broke out hysteria instigated by the Jesuit priests all along the southern border of the United States. Many honest, sincere Christians of America were forcibly driven from their homes, and their property destroyed, and they were arrested and thrown into prison. This was done as a result of false charges that the persons thus ill-treated were "fifth columnists". The facts are that all these ill-treated persons are witnesses of Almighty God's kingdom, otherwise known as Jehovah's witnesses. Because they were distributing literature among the people informing them of God's purpose to rid the earth of fraud and all wickedness and to establish His kingdom of righteousness among men, the Vatican agents in America seized upon the "fifth column" hysteria as an excuse to maul and browbeat these faithful Christians.
About the same time, in Harlan, Kentucky, another company of Jehovah's witnesses were forcibly seized by beastly fanatics because they engaged in distributing Bible literature among the people, advising them of God's gracious provision for the blessing of those who devote themselves to the great THEOCRACY. These faithful Christians, Jehovah's witnesses, at the instance of the Hierarchy, were arrested, thrown into prison in Harlan, Kentucky, and held in small, filthy cells, incommunicado, for nearly three months, without bail, in one of the hottest of summers, and falsely charged with the crime of "sedition" and "treason" because they worshiped, as the indictment charged, "One Jehovah God," meaning, of course, Almighty God, whose name is JEHOVAH. This is the same false charge that was framed to kill Christ Jesus, the Son of Almighty God.
The public officials of Harlan, Kentucky, continued to threaten these and other of Jehovah's witnesses with repetition of such prosecution, imprisonment and severe punishment of twenty-one years in the state penitentiary. These all, citizens of the United States, were pursuing their constitutional rights in worshiping God by distributing literature devoted exclusively to instruction concerning His Word.
Those faithful Christians thus persecuted, because of their faithfulness in serving Jehovah God, engaged the services of Mr. Hayden C. Covington, a member of the Texas and of the New York Bar, and who also is a faithful Christian, to take action in their behalf. He instituted in behalf of those Christians a suit in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky asking for an injunction that the officers of Harlan County, Kentucky, be enjoined and prohibited from further prosecuting the false charges of "sedition" and "treason" and from interfering with such Christians in carrying on their work of preaching the gospel by distributing literature explaining God's Theocracy as set forth in the Bible prophecy.
The case came on for trial before a court of three United States judges, and those presiding at this court were Honorable Elwood Hamilton,
Circuit Judge;
Honorable H. Church Ford,
District Judge;
Honorable Mac Swinford,
District Judge.
At the trial approximately 100 of the books, booklets, magazines, phonograph records and other publications of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society were offered in evidence, such being the publications that at the time of the false arrests of Jehovah's witnesses by Harlan officials were being distributed by Louis Beeler and others, plaintiffs in the injunction suit. The cause came on for trial, and while the defendants L. O. Smith, mayor of Harlan, and his political ally Daniel Boone Smith, the Commonwealth attorney in and for that district of Kentucky, and the other defendants with them, also officers, bitterly fought against these Christian people that they might continue to persecute them, they, by Jehovah's grace, failed completely.
On June 4, 1941, the court of three judges rendered an Opinion in the case, which Opinion speaks forcibly for itself, and is therefore here set out in full:
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
EASTERN DISTRICT OF KENTUCKY
London—No. 64
LOUIS BEELER, et al., Plaintiffs,
v.
L. O. SMITH, Individually, and as Mayor of the City of Harlan, Ky., et al., Defendants.
FINDINGS OF FACT, CONCLUSIONS OF LAW AND JUDGMENT
This cause having heretofore been heard upon the defendants' motion for an interlocutory injunction and a final hearing of the suit having been had upon proof introduced by the parties and the cause being submitted for final judgment to the undersigned, sitting as a District Court of Three Judges, and the Court being advised, makes the following Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law upon the issues herein presented, to-wit:
FINDINGS OF FACT
1. That the plaintiffs, Louis Beeler, Elmer Hopkins, Lyndell Carr, S. F. Lehman, M. L. Lehman and Elihu Hurst, are citizens and residents of the State of Kentucky and of the United States; that each of them is a member of an organization known as "Jehovah's witnesses" and as such, at the time of the institution of this action and prior thereto, each of them was a duly authorized representative of "Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society", a corporation engaged in printing and publishing various books, tracts, pamphlets, periodicals and magazines, which the plaintiffs and other members of the organization "Jehovah's witnesses", at the time of the institution of this action and prior thereto, were engaged in distributing, selling and otherwise circulating on the streets and public places in the cities, towns and villages of Harlan County and other counties of the State of Kentucky and in distributing to the residents of the County of Harlan at their homes and elsewhere.
2. That the defendant L. O. Smith is the duly elected and qualified Mayor of the City of Harlan, Harlan County, Kentucky; that the defendant Daniel Boone Smith is the duly elected and qualified Commonwealth's Attorney in and for the District of the State of Kentucky which includes the city and county of Harlan; that the city of Harlan is a municipal corporation duly organized and existing under the laws of the State of Kentucky; that the defendant Harmon Noe is Chief of Police of the city of Harlan; that the defendant Lige Howard is the duly elected and qualified Judge of the Police Court of the city of Harlan; that the defendants Estle Giles and Ben F. Unthank are duly qualified and appointed members of the Police Department of the city of Harlan; that the defendant H. C. Caywood is the duly elected and qualified Sheriff of the county of Harlan, and that the defendant Hubert Meredith is the duly elected and qualified Attorney General of the State of Kentucky.
3. That prior to the institution of this action, on or about the first day of June, 1940, the defendants, other than the defendant Hubert Meredith, Attorney General, acting in their respective capacities as public officers of the city of Harlan, county of Harlan and State of Kentucky, arrested or caused the arrest, imprisonment and prosecution of the plaintiffs upon the charge or charges that by engaging in the distribution, sale and circulation of certain hereinafter described books, tracts, pamphlets, periodicals, magazines and other printed matter the defendants committed the crime of "sedition" in violation of chapter 100 of the Acts of the Legislature of Kentucky of 1920 (Ky. Statutes, sections 1148a-1 to 1148a-14, inclusive) and they have since threatened, under color of said statute and by virtue thereof, to continue to so arrest, imprison and prosecute the plaintiffs and other members of the organization of "Jehovah's witnesses" who may continue to so distribute such printed matter in Harlan County, Kentucky; that by so doing the defendants, other than Hubert Meredith, Attorney General, prevented the plaintiffs and others of "Jehovah's witnesses" from continuing to exercise the right to engage in, carry on or pursue their business or activities in circulating, selling or otherwise distributing such printed matter in Harlan County, Kentucky.
4. That the printed matter so distributed or proposed to be so distributed and circulated by the plaintiffs consists of the following books, tracts, pamphlets, periodicals, magazines and printed matter printed and published by Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, Inc., to-wit: Book entitled "Salvation"; Book entitled "Deliverance"; Book entitled "Preservation"; Book entitled "Riches"; Book entitled "The Harp of God"; Book entitled "Religion"; Book entitled "Preparation"; Book entitled "Jehovah"; Book entitled "Creation"; Three-volume set of books entitled "Vindication"; 1940 Yearbook of Jehovah's witnesses; Book entitled "Government"; Book entitled "Enemies"; Two-volume set of books entitled "Light"; Book entitled "Prophecy"; Magazine entitled "Consolation", of date December 13, 1939; Magazine entitled "Consolation" of date April 17, 1940; Magazine entitled "Consolation" of date October 4, 1939; Magazine entitled "Consolation" of date April 17, 1940; Six copies of magazine entitled "Consolation" of date, respectively, November 29, 1939; April 19, 1939; October 4, 1939; April 3, 1940; April 17, 1940, and May 29, 1940; Magazine entitled "The Watchtower" of date March 1, 1932; Magazine entitled "The Messenger" of date November, 1938; Magazine entitled "Consolation" of date January 10, 1940; Magazine entitled "Consolation" of date February 7, 1940; Printed Sheet entitled "Kingdom News" dated October 1939; Booklet entitled "Home and Happiness"; Book entitled "Choosing Riches or Ruin"; Book entitled "His Works"; Book entitled "Uncovered"; Book entitled "World Recovery"; Booklet entitled "The Final War"; Booklet entitled "Beyond the Grave"; Booklet entitled "Government and Peace"; Booklet entitled "Judge Rutherford Uncovers Fifth Column"; Booklet entitled "Armageddon, the greatest battle of all times; who will survive?" Booklet entitled "Government, Hiding the Truth, Why?" Booklet entitled "Protection from those who seek to hurt or destroy me; How can I find it?" Booklet entitled "Hereafter"; Booklet entitled "Safety"; Booklet entitled "Fascism or Freedom"; Booklet entitled "Loyalty; Questions and Answers, Whose Servant, Saluting a Flag; Last Days"; Booklet entitled "Refugees"; Booklet entitled "Warning"; Booklet entitled "What You Need"; Booklet entitled "Liberty"; Booklet entitled "Health and Life"; Booklet entitled "What Is Truth?"; Booklet entitled "Dividing the People"; Booklet entitled "Where Are the Dead?"; Booklet entitled "Universal War Near"; Booklet entitled "Favored People"; Booklet entitled "Supremacy"; Booklet entitled "Righteous Ruler"; Booklet entitled "Neutrality"; Booklet entitled "His Vengeance"; Booklet entitled "Face the Facts"; Booklet entitled "Conspiracy Against Democracy"; Booklet entitled "Cure"; Booklet entitled "Model Study No. 2"; Booklet entitled "Keys of Heaven"; Booklet entitled "Angels"; Booklet entitled "Who Is God?" Leaflet advertising the broadcast of Judge Rutherford's Lecture "Government and Peace"; Printed sheet entitled "Informant" dated April 1938; Printed sheet entitled "Informant" dated May 1940; Two printed sheets of paper entitled "Informant" dated January 1940; Printed sheet of paper entitled "Informant"
dated February, 1940; Two different printed sheets entitled "Informant", dated March, 1940; Book entitled "1930 Year Book of the International Bible Students Association and Daily Texts and Comments"; Book entitled "The Finished Mystery—The Way to Life and Heaven"; Book entitled "Thy Kingdom Come"; Book entitled "The Battle of Armageddon"; Book entitled "Comfort for the Jews"; Book entitled "Photo-Drama of Creation"; Book entitled "Riches" printed in the Greek language; Book entitled "Creation", printed in the Greek language; Book entitled "Deliverance" printed in the Greek language; Book entitled "Enemies", printed in the Greek language; Booklet entitled "Angels" printed in the Polish language; Book entitled "What Is the Truth?", printed in the Polish language; Booklet entitled "Dividing the People", printed in the Polish language; Book entitled "Prosperity Sure"; Booklet entitled "A Testimony"; Booklet entitled "The Kingdom—The Hope of the World"; Book entitled "Advice for Kingdom Publishers"; Placard reading "Religion is a Snare and a Racket", and Magazine entitled "Consolation" dated April 3, 1940, copies of all of which literature and publications are filed and identified herein as plaintiffs' exhibits numbers 2-93, inclusive, and defendants' exhibits numbers 1-3, inclusive.
5. That the plaintiffs are fairly representative of the class or group of persons residing in the state of Kentucky and carrying on similar business and activities known as "Jehovah's witnesses".
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
1. That the plaintiffs are entitled to maintain this action for and on behalf of themselves and all others embraced in the class or group of persons in Harlan County and the State of Kentucky known as "Jehovah's witnesses".
2. That this Court of Three Judges sitting pursuant to section 266 of the Judicial Code of the United States has jurisdiction of the parties and the subject matter of this action to restrain future arrests, imprisonment or prosecution of the plaintiffs or others of "Jehovah's witnesses" on account of the acts herein described under color of chapter 100 of the Acts of the Legislature of Kentucky of 1920 (Kentucky Statutes sections 1148a-1 to 1148a-14).
3. That this Court is without jurisdiction to enjoin, restrain or otherwise interfere with prosecutions or other criminal proceedings pending in the Courts of the State of Kentucky under the indictments set out in the petition or otherwise instituted therein prior to the institution of this action.
4. That the sale, circulation and distribution of printed matter described in Paragraph No. 4 of the foregoing Findings of Fact do not constitute "sedition" as defined by chapter 100 of the Acts of the Kentucky Legislature of 1920 (Ky. Statutes sections 1148a-1 to 1148a-14, inclusive), and such activities are not prohibited thereby or in violation thereof.
5. That by threatening to continue to arrest, imprison and prosecute the plaintiffs in the manner and to the extent described and set out in Paragraph No. 3 of the foregoing Findings of Fact the defendants, other than Hubert Meredith, Attorney General, have deprived the plaintiffs of rights, privileges and immunities secured by the Constitution of the United States; that plaintiffs have no adequate remedy at law and on behalf of themselves and other of "Jehovah's witnesses" they are entitled to a permanent injunction restraining the said defendants from continuing such deprivation.
6. That the provisions of chapter 100 of the Acts of the Legislature of Kentucky of 1920 (Ky. Statutes sections 1148a-1 to 1148a-14) are not applicable or effective to prohibit or interfere with the plaintiffs or others of "Jehovah's witnesses" in circulating, selling or distributing the herein described printed matter and the acts and activities of the plaintiffs in so doing are not violative thereof, therefore the Court concludes it is unnecessary to consider or determine the question presented as to the constitutionality of the Act.
7. That the defendant Hubert Meredith, Attorney General of the State of Kentucky, was not a party to any threats to continue the arrest, imprisonment or prosecution of the plaintiffs or others of "Jehovah's witnesses", and since it is stated in the petition that he "is joined in this suit solely because the plaintiffs attack the validity of a statute of the Commonwealth of Kentucky" this action as to him should be dismissed.
JUDGMENT
It is therefore ordered and adjudged by the Court as follows:
1. That as to the defendant, Hubert Meredith, Attorney General, this action is dismissed.
2. That the defendants, L. O. Smith, individually and as Mayor of the City of Harlan, Kentucky, Daniel Boone Smith, individually and as Commonwealth's Attorney, the City of Harlan, its agents and officers, Harmon Noe, individually and as Chief of Police of the City of Harlan, Lige Howard, individually and as Police Judge of the City of Harlan, Estle Giles and Ben F. Unthank, individually and as members of the Police Department of the City of Harlan, and H. C. Caywood, individually and as Sheriff of Harlan County, Kentucky, be and are hereby enjoined and restrained from hereafter arresting, imprisoning or prosecuting the plaintiffs and others of "Jehovah's witnesses" for or on account of circulating, selling or otherwise distributing in a peaceable and orderly manner the literature, books, publications and printed matter listed, identified and described in Paragraph No. 4 of the foregoing Findings of Fact, or by threats or otherwise interfering with such activity on the part of plaintiffs and others of "Jehovah's witnesses", under color of chapter 100 of the Acts of the Kentucky Legislature of 1920 (Ky. Statutes sections 1148a-1 to 1148a-14, inclusive) or upon the ground that such acts constitute "sedition" in violation of any law, statute or ordinance of the State of Kentucky, provided, however, nothing herein shall be construed to restrain or interfere with the defendants or either of them in the performance of their public duties as officers of the State of Kentucky in the arrest or prosecution of the plaintiffs or other persons for trespass or unlawful entry upon private property or other acts in violation of law of the State of Kentucky, or to restrain or otherwise interfere with the prosecution or other criminal proceedings pending in the courts of the State of Kentucky under the indictments set out in the petition or otherwise instituted therein prior to the institution of this action.
[signed] ELWOOD HAMILTON
Circuit Judge
[signed] H. CHURCH FORD
District Judge
[signed] MAC SWINFORD
District Judge
June 4, 1941
A copy.
Attest: A. B. Rouse, Clerk.
Thus it is seen that these faithful people, who were pursuing their lawful duty, and the message they distributed, have been fully vindicated by the United States District Court above mentioned, which court has decided that they have the right to distribute the literature mentioned without interference from any public officials, and, of course, decided that the literature distributed is NOT seditious, and that the distributors of the literature are not in any way guilty of sedition, and that the literature did not advocate the overthrow of the government, and that they are not guilty of violation of any other law by distributing it.
There is great force in the statement, "Truth, crushed to earth, shall rise again." Ever and anon the unrighteous crush some of the righteous people and crush to earth the truth that the righteous ones are proclaiming. In due time the tables are reversed, and truth rises, to the shame and degradation of those who try to put it down. This reminds us that God has plainly declared in His Word that although the Nazis, Fascists and Hierarchy combine are now trying to overrun the earth and to destroy all truth and freedom of speech and freedom of action, in the very near future God will wipe out for ever all such wickedness, and truth shall rise to prevail forever, and the name of Almighty God, JEHOVAH, will stand vindicated for ever.—Elton Groves.
Another Just and Righteous Decision
THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA,
In the Supreme Court
City of Gaffney, Respondent,
v.
Shannon E. Putnam, Appellant.
Appeal from Cherokee County
E. C. Dennis, Judge
Case No. 2134
Opinion No. 15271
Filed June 2, 1941
REVERSED
Grover C. Powell, of Atlanta, Ga., and C. E. Cooley, of Anderson, for Appellant.
Solicitor Samuel R. Watt, of Spartanburg, and H. R. Swink, of Gaffney, for Respondent.
FISHBURNE, J.: The Circuit Court upon appeal upheld the judgment of conviction of the defendant, Shannon E. Putnam, in the Recorder’s Court of the city of Gaffney, wherein he was charged with violating an ordinance of the city, the pertinent part of which reads as follows:
"Any person or persons creating any disturbing noises, or making, creating or engaging in any brawl, riot, affray; fighting or indulging in profane, obscene, abusive or vulgar language, . . . shall if found guilty, be subject to a fine . . . ."
There were two trials in the Recorder’s Court. In the first trial his conviction was reversed, and a new trial granted upon appeal to the Circuit Court. We are now dealing with the second trial, in which the judgment was sustained. The defendant contends that his motion for a directed verdict of acquittal should have been granted.
The facts which were held to support the conviction of the defendant follow: Putnam is a member of a group known as Jehovah’s witnesses, and claims to be an ordained minister of the gospel. On Saturday afternoon, June 15, 1940, about three o’clock, he was standing upon a corner of a business street in the city of Gaffney, engaged in selling or distributing, or attempting to sell or distribute, the Watchtower Magazine, which is one of the propagandic mediums of Jehovah’s witnesses. In order to call attention to the magazine he would from time to time call out, “Religion is ruining the nations; Christianity will save the people.” While he was so engaged one Ernest Fowler, as he was passing, took exception to Putnam’s statement about religion. He turned, walked up to Putnam, and accosted him with the remark, “Don’t repeat that statement,” or with the inquiry as to what he meant by making that statement. The defendant repeated what he had said about religion and Christianity, whereupon he was immediately given a severe beating by Fowler. He was knocked down several times, and every time he got up he was knocked down again, until a crowd which had assembled stopped the fight. The evidence shows that Fowler was a much larger man than the defendant, and physically superior in every way.
Fowler testified, upon cross-examination by the defendant, who was not represented in the Recorder’s Court by an attorney, “I admit positively I was the aggressor in this assault; but you fought me back all the time. I started it. I hit the first lick. . . . You were saying ‘religion was ruining the nation;’ I don’t see what else it could be except abusive, vulgar language.”
It is true that in another portion of his testimony the witness Fowler attempted to qualify in some measure his foregoing statement. He said that when he walked up to the defendant, “We had a word or two, and he kind of turned one of his papers loose and done like this (indicating with clinched fists), and when he did I hit him. I don’t know whether he was going to hit me or not. I just knocked him down a time or two, and he came back.” After describing further blows delivered by him Fowler said, “I quit then and stepped back, and he never made no other attempt.”
There were two or three eye witnesses, all of whom were merchants who operated nearby stores. They testified to hearing the defendant say “Religion is ruining the nations; Christianity will save the people;” they saw Fowler walk up to the defendant and address some words to him, which they did not hear, and they witnessed the fight which immediately followed. All of them said that Fowler was the aggressor, and that he administered a severe beating to the defendant.
The Chief of Police, Mr. Julian Wright, was not present at the fight, but just a short time before he had passed Putnam and saw and heard his efforts to sell or distribute the Watchtower Magazine. The officer said that he at that time was not violating the ordinance, but because he had heard that some of the citizens had become offended on account of the statement made by the defendant concerning religion, he had advised him to move on, being afraid that he would get into trouble. But there is no evidence that he communicated his apprehension of danger to Putnam. The officer further stated that he reached the scene immediately after the disturbance, and that he arrested the defendant and had the warrant issued solely on account of the disorderly conduct arising from the fight. We may say in passing that Fowler was also arrested, and paid the fine assessed against him for fighting in violation of the city ordinance.
It is entirely clear, as manifested by the record, that Fowler was the aggressor. Nor can there be any reasonable doubt but that he made the assault solely because of the statement uttered by Putnam. The testimony shows that the defendant’s remark which offended Fowler was not addressed to him or to any individual personally, but to the public at large. It does not appear that he had ever seen Fowler before, or that he had any reason to believe that his words would be personally offensive to him by reason of the latter’s religious views or convictions. There is no showing that the defendant’s deportment was noisy, truculent, overbearing, or offensive. He indulged in no opprobrium or abuse of the public, or of Fowler. So far as the evidence shows, he wished only to interest those who passed by in his propaganda.
In the instant case the defendant was not guilty, in our opinion, of any assault, and it is clear that Fowler, who provoked the difficulty and was the physical aggressor throughout, had no reasonably well founded apprehension of bodily harm or danger to his person. So that the real question presented by the appeal is whether the words concerning religion and Christianity, spoken under the circumstances above narrated, addressed to the public at large, constituted of themselves sufficient legal justification for the assault made by Fowler. It is plain that they do not.
In view of the fact that peace and good order forbid that individuals shall right their own wrongs, we have announced the rule in numerous cases that in the absence of statute, mere words, no matter how abusive, insulting, vexatious or threatening they may be, will not justify an assault or battery, unless accompanied by an actual offer of physical violence, —although they may mitigate the punishment. State v. Cooler, 112 S. C. 95, 98 S. E. 845; State v. Workman, 39 S. C. 151, 17 S. E. 694; State v. Jacobs, 28 S. C. 29, 4 S. E. 799; State v. Jackson, 32 S. C. 27, 10 S. E. 769.
Nor can it be successfully contended that in attempting to defend himself under the facts in this case, Putnam was guilty of assault upon Fowler. One acting in self-defense to repel an unlawful attack is not guilty of assault; he may repel force with force and continue his self-defense as long as the danger apparently continues.
By several exceptions, and in his printed brief, the defendant attempts to show that his constitutional rights have been violated, with special reference to religious freedom and liberty of speech and press under the First and the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and Article I, Sections 4 and 5 of our State Constitution. These exceptions are so indirectly connected with the issue which we have already passed upon that they hardly need be discussed. No one would deny the postulate that a state or municipality may not by statute or ordinance wholly debar the right to preach or to disseminate religious views. Clearly an absolute restraint would violate constitutional guaranties. As was said in State v. Langston, 195 S. C. 190, 11 S. E. (2d) 1:
“In this state there are so many religious beliefs, so varied in what they teach and with such great difference, that one of the most fruitful, and yet fruitless, sources of argument is some theological question. It certainly cannot be said that there is not in this state an absolute freedom of religion. A man may believe what kind of religion he pleases or no religion, and as long as he practices his belief without a breach of the peace, he will not be disturbed.” And see generally Morison v. Rawlinson, 193 S. C. 25, 7 S. E. (2d) 635.
It must be kept in mind that the common law offense of breach of the peace is not charged here. The charge against the defendant was founded upon the broad and general phraseology of the ordinance hereinabove set out. But in Cantwell v. Connecticut, 310 U. S. 296, 84 L. Ed. 1213, the Court dealt with a case involving two members of Jehovah’s witnesses, charged with a breach of the peace. In that case the defendants, with a portable phonograph, on one of the public streets of New Haven, Connecticut, played a record which included an attack upon the Roman Catholic Church. This record gave offense to two members of that church who heard it. They made no physical attack upon the “Witnesses,” but the latter were charged with a breach of the peace. We quote some portion of the opinion of the Supreme Court because the discussion has a general bearing here:
“In the realm of religious faith, and in that of political belief, sharp differences arise. In both fields the tenets of one man may seem the rankest error to his neighbor. To persuade others to his own point of view, the pleader, as we know, at times, resorts to exaggeration, to vilification of men who have been, or are, prominent in church or state, and even to false statement. But the people of this nation have ordained in the light of history, that, in spite of the probability of excesses and abuses, these liberties are, in the long view, essential to enlightened opinion and right conduct on the part of the citizens of a democracy.
“The essential characteristic of these liberties is, that under their shield many types of life, character, opinion and belief can develop unmolested and unobstructed. Nowhere is this shield more necessary than in our own country for a people composed of many races and of many creeds. There are limits to the exercise of these liberties. The danger in these times from the coercive activities of those who in the delusion of racial or religious conceit would incite violence and breaches of the peace in order to deprive others of their equal right to the exercise of their liberties, is emphasized by events familiar to all. These and other transgressions of those limits the states appropriately may punish.
“Although the contents of the record not unnaturally aroused animosity, we think that, in the absence of a statute narrowly drawn to define and punish specific conduct as constituting a clear and present danger to a substantial interest of the state, the petitioner’s communication, considered in the light of the constitutional guaranties, raised no such clear and present menace to public peace and order as to render him liable to conviction of the common law offense in question.”
It follows from what we have said, that the defendant’s motion for a directed verdict in the Recorder’s Court should have been granted.
Judgment reversed.
BONHAM, CJ., BAKER and STUKES, JJ., concur.
Biloxi May Go Red
◆ The city of Biloxi, Mississippi, is in a bad way. It may go red at any minute. Jehovah’s witnesses were arrested for preaching the gospel. The court dismissed them, but warned them that if any of the community misbehave while the witnesses are in town it is the witnesses that will be arrested. This is all regular. It would never do to arrest the troublemakers; they might not like it. And besides all that, the priests and preachers might not like it.
Jehovah's witnesses: Who Are They? What Do They Teach?
MANY readers of the Evening Dispatch must be asking the above questions, and also wondering why Jehovah's witnesses are being so much featured in the Press at the present time. As a keen student of the Bible, let me endeavor to give as accurately as possible a short summary that may be of some assistance to readers, particularly those who have read the Church of Scotland leaflet dealing with this subject.
Jehovah's witnesses do not claim to be a sect or a religious organization. They claim to be in the class of faithful men referred to in the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, whose main purpose is to inform the people of God's purpose to establish a righteous government on the earth, and in obedience to God's commandments to warn the people of the impending disaster upon the nations.
Their only claim is to be true Christians, and hence there is nothing modern about their origin. They take their stand on Isaiah 43: 12, which states, "Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, that I am God."
Jesus Christ is the chief witness of Jehovah, and all true Christians right down the ages have been or are Jehovah's witnesses. They obey every law of the land that is not in conflict with God's law. They do no injury to anyone. They have nothing against individuals because of their religion, but, in order to bring out the truth, they cannot avoid exposing the errors of religious systems which, they claim, teach the traditions of men in place of the truths of the Kingdom.
Fated to Persecution
They are hated by Satan and all Satan's agencies, who persecute them and say all manner of evil against them falsely. That is why they do not bother to contradict the false allegations now being made against them. Instead of being discouraged by such misrepresentations, they are encouraged by the further evidence that their textbook, the Bible, is true. They know that their Leader, Jesus, was crucified for telling the truth, and they also know that His followers must also undergo persecution, must be unwept, unhonored, and unsung by the world, and, above all, will be persecuted by the nominal churches just as Christ was.
Their doctrine, which they claim to be based solely on Scripture, may be summarized thus:
(1) That Jehovah's organization is a Theocracy called Zion, and that Christ Jesus is the Chief Officer thereof, and is the rightful King of the world; that the anointed and faithful followers of Christ are children of Zion, and are his witnesses, whose duty and privilege it is to testify to the supremacy of Jehovah, declare His purposes toward mankind as expressed in the Bible and to bear, the fruits of the Kingdom before all who will hear.
(2) That Satan's rule on earth is about to end, and the Lord Jesus Christ has been placed by Jehovah upon His throne of authority, has ousted Satan from heaven and is proceeding to the establishment of God's kingdom on earth.
Satan's Final Fling
(3) That Satan has been given his notice to quit and is "shooting the house down", using wicked men such as Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin, and others as his earthly accomplices.
(4) That at Armageddon, which is a battle between the heavenly hosts and the Satanic hosts, and which will take place in the near future, Satan's earthly organization will perish.
(5) That the relief and blessings of the peoples of earth can come only by and through Jehovah's kingdom under Christ, which has now begun. That the Lord's next great act is the destruction of Satan’s organization and the establishment of righteousness in the earth, and that under the Kingdom the people of good-will that survive Armageddon shall carry out the divine mandate to “fill the earth” with a righteous race.
Hitler's Victims
In a recent leaflet issued by the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, which acts as publisher for Jehovah’s witnesses throughout the earth, the following statements appear:
The British people today know they are fighting against the most wicked and iniquitous combine of enemies ever organized to destroy freedom and true Christianity in the earth. Britain alone stands firm, battling against the religious and totalitarian combined enemies in her fight for the rights of a free people.
Since 1933 Hitler has stamped out the Christian work of Jehovah’s witnesses in Germany. He has imprisoned, maltreated, and killed many of these faithful servants of the Most High God because of their stand for the open Bible and for God’s Kingdom. Today over six thousand of Jehovah’s witnesses languish in Hitler’s concentration camps.
Strange as it may seem, Hitler engages in a crusade for the re-establishment of the Holy Roman Empire.
Before an American audience of 45,000 of Jehovah’s witnesses on Sunday, July 28, 1940, Judge Rutherford, . . . who continually tells Jehovah’s witnesses that they have no earthly leader but that Christ alone is their leader, made the following statement amidst great applause:
Britain alone stands firm, battling against the religious totalitarian combine in her fight for the rights of a free people. Britain has been kind to Jehovah’s witnesses, and because of that kindness shown it may be expected that Almighty God will show some special favor to Britain in her hour of terrible distress.
Blessed family of Kingdom publishers, Guymon, Oklahoma
The Right to Fight
In conclusion, Jehovah’s witnesses are enjoined not to try to dissuade anyone from taking up arms in defense of his country. Individual witnesses may take the view that their personal covenant to carry out Jehovah’s work of witnessing at this time may preclude them from taking up carnal weapons, but that is left entirely to the individual to decide.
As regards those who have not entered into such a covenant, Jehovah’s witnesses feel that it is quite natural for such to battle against the evil things. They do not criticize them for this in any way, but they know that the number of people who will have the courage to enter the covenant, bringing, as it must, scorn and persecution and misrepresentation in its train, is so small that it cannot affect the issue. It is simply a fact that in Germany it was much easier for a witness to “heil Hitler” and go with the crowd than to refuse to do so and languish in concentration camp or be shot.
However angry one may feel with conscientious objectors—and there is no use hiding the fact that in this struggle against evil most people do feel angry with them—one cannot truthfully maintain that Jehovah’s witnesses who take their stand as objectors in Germany are cowards. It takes great courage, both physical and moral, to be a true Christian in any totalitarian country today. It is also true that even in this country it is much harder to be a Jehovah’s witness than not to be.—Bible student, in the Edinburgh, Scotland, Evening Dispatch, February 13, 1941.
Connersville, Indiana, entertains Jehovah's witnesses (74 of them) unawares, as well as illegally (men and woman confined in the same room) seven days, without beds and without sufficient food.
Thomas McEwan Finished
◆ The Catholic Times of April 4, 1941, carried a notice of the death of "Rev. Fr." T. McEwan of Clydebank and mentioned some of that gentleman's accomplishments. It said nothing, however, about his greatest claim to infamy, the persecution of Jehovah's witnesses in 1939 (March 5), at which time he interfered with a sound-van proclaiming the gospel of the Kingdom of God at hand. He, with another clerical anarchist, stirred up a mob and threatened to push over the car and set it afire. Jehovah's witnesses were charged with "disturbing the peace" although the "Reverend" disturber himself is entitled to all the credit for any disturbance that occurred then and subsequently. That was just two years ago. He has now finished for ever the exploiting of the ignorant and the persecuting of the truth-proclaiming servants of Jehovah. He died almost on the anniversary of his infamous attack on the witnesses of the Lord.
Resolution
◆ Two thousand of Jehovah's witnesses residing in Greater London, in assembly at the Golders Green Hippodrome, Sunday, January 19, 1941, considered and unanimously adopted the following resolution:
WHEREAS the press has reported that the activities of Jehovah's witnesses have been considered subversive in Canada, New Zealand and Australia and that their legally constituted organizations, namely, the WATCH TOWER BIBLE & TRACT SOCIETY and the INTERNATIONAL BIBLE STUDENTS ASSOCIATION, registered in London, have been declared illegal—BE IT RESOLVED—
1. That we greatly deplore the action taken by the Canadian, New Zealand and Australian governments in recently banning the Christian activities of Jehovah's witnesses in those lands.
2. That the charges of being "disloyal," "causing disaffection," "deliberately calculated to destroy national morale and hamper the war effort" and "denouncing citizens of the British Empire as followers of Satan" cannot be true and must be without foundation.
3. That as Jehovah's witnesses we are loyal, law-abiding citizens of Britain and fully render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's and render unto God the things that are God's.
4. That we are not engaged in a work of spreading disaffection. Our Christian activities are confined solely to preaching the Gospel of Christ's Kingdom, The Theocracy, which is the only hope of mankind.
5. That the purpose of our Christian service which has been carried on in this country for the past sixty years is to bring comfort, hope and consolation to people of good-will who love righteousness; that this Christian work conducted in Britain during the past sixteen months of the war has strengthened the hopes and courage of thousands of persons who had lost faith in God because of the hypocrisy of religion.
6. That, as an organization, Jehovah's witnesses have not counseled nor encouraged its associates to become "conscientious objectors"; that such a charge, when made, is wholly false as well as any charge that we have "hampered the war effort". (There are many in the forces today who favor the message of the Kingdom of God under Christ yet are loyally serving in the various services.)
7. That the policy of the Society representing Jehovah's witnesses is never to denounce a person for his beliefs. The Society has never violated that principle and has never denounced any citizen of the British Empire or any citizen of any other government. Jehovah's witnesses have denounced the evils of organized religion and the religious efforts of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy at Vatican City in supporting such wicked forms of gangster rule as Nazism and Fascism.
8. That Jehovah's witnesses are not pacifists; but believe in combating and exposing the evils of this day by using the sword of the spirit, which is the Word of God, and are wholly determined to continue to fight against the Catholic-Nazi-Fascist element.
Manchester, England, Pioneer Home and staff, with A. D. Schroeder, London Branch servant, at extreme right
Workers at the Kingdom Farm, Essex, England
9. That Jehovah's witnesses in Britain who themselves have lost thousands of pounds' worth of property and goods, and some of them even life itself, are co-operating with their friends and neighbors in defending their homes and property against the wicked Nazi demons' air warfare.
10. That the false accusations brought against Jehovah's witnesses in Canada, New Zealand and Australia have evidently been brought about by leading Catholic religionists in those lands; that such continued persecution of innocent Christians in those countries will certainly bring upon such the disfavor of Almighty God. (Do Canada, New Zealand and Australia desire to follow the Fascist policy of the Catholic-controlled countries of the continent where they have suppressed the activities of Jehovah's witnesses because of their stand for true Christianity? Do Canada, New Zealand and Australia desire to join Nazi Germany in their wicked persecution of Jehovah's witnesses? In Germany alone today six thousand of Jehovah's witnesses lie in Hitler's concentration camps, and some have been foully murdered, martyrs to their Christian cause.
Theocracy publishers, refugees from Czechoslovakia arriving in Brazil
See Sir Neville Henderson's report in the British White Paper Cmd. 6120.)
11. That as Jehovah's witnesses we commend the stand of the British Government against the religious-totalitarian combine and appreciate their kindness in permitting us to faithfully carry forward our Christian work of preaching the Gospel and in continuing to grant us the right of the freedom of assembly and worship.
12. That as Jehovah God's servants we champion His name, and are this day resolved to renew our covenant relationship with Him, the Almighty God, and are determined to be found faithful unto the end in performing His commands; that we will faithfully continue the work of the apostles, and the Protestant reformers in exposing the iniquity of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy, and continue to help people of good-will to serve Jehovah's glorious heavenly government, the Theocracy under Christ.
Unanimously adopted this 19th day of January, 1941.
Signed, A. PRYCE HUGHES (chairman).
Copies sent to the governments of Canada, New Zealand, Australia and to the Home Office, London.
JULY 9, 1941
Helping the Blind at Ida Grove
◆ June 8, 1941, Consolation No. 567 was placed in every home in Ida county, Iowa. Some resisted the light "because their deeds were evil" (John 3:19); there were assaults upon the innocent, and arrests of the malefactors followed, but the distribution went through as planned. Illegally mobbed out of one town, one of the witnesses went back into the town and finished his job. Such faithfulness is bound to have and does have the Lord's approval and blessing.
Back to Sanity
◆ A paragraph in the Wilkes-Barre (Pa.) Independent says that "no matter how much the average person decries the ideals of Jehovah's witnesses one has to admire the pluck and courage of these determined men who are carrying the torch" of truth and liberty. That is sanity.
'New Order' Called Pope's
ROME, June 9—(UP).—An editorial in the Turin newspaper Stampa said today Germany and Italy are organizing a new European order in conformity with the principles laid down in the Encyclical Rerum Novarum, to which Pope Pius called attention in his June 1 speech.
Post-war Europe, the editorial said, will be a group of States whose national sentiments will be subordinated to a greater Europe. The new order already is being placed in operation, it added.
N. Y. Journal-American
MONDAY, JUNE 9, 1941
(To be continued) ---
ions? I will give my readers a brief account of him, abridged from the Encyclopedia Americana, (edited by a German,) sufficient to enable them to judge if too much stress is laid upon his opinions. "Frederick Schlegel, (one of the great literary stars of Germany,) went over to the Catholic faith, at Cologne, and in the year 1800 repaired to Vienna. In 1808, he received an appointment at the head-quarters of the Archduke Charles, where he drew up several powerful proclamations. When peace was concluded, he again delivered lectures in Vienna on modern history and the literature of all nations. In 1812, he published the German Museum, and gained the confidence of Prince Metternich by various diplomatic papers, in consequence of which he was appointed Austrian counsellor of legation at the Diet in Frankfort. In 1818, he returned to Vienna, where he lived as SECRETARY OF THE COURT AND COUNSELLOR OF LEGATION, and published a view of the Present Political Relations [of Austria,] and his complete works." In 1828, he delivered his lectures on the Philosophy of History, in which his views as I have stated them are fully developed.
This is the man whose opinions on the relation of Popery and Monarchy, and of Protestantism and Republicanism, and of the influence of the United States, have been followed by the action of the Austrians, in the formation of the St. Leopold Foundation. He was part and parcel of the government, he was ONE OF THE AUSTRIAN CABINET, THE CONFIDENTIAL COUNSELLOR OF PRINCE METTERNICH!
Let me now examine matters nearer home. How far are the Roman Catholics of this country to be considered as implicated in this Conspiracy? This is indeed a grave question, and one which demands serious attention, lest we should be, on the one hand, too regardless of danger from them, and on the other, unjust to those who are innocent. We are told that they disclaim hostility to our free government, that they profess the warmest friendship to our democratic institutions. I readily concede that there has been, and are now, many true patriots among this sect, many estimable men of sound political views, sincere in supporting the democratic institutions of the country; but making the most ample allowance, they are but exceptions to the rule. The sect, as a sect, is still justly chargeable with the tendency of its acknowledged principles. If a Roman Catholic in the United States is a Democratic Republican, he is so in spite of, and in opposition to, the system of his church, and not in accordance with it. To the truth of this fact, the arguments of Schlegel, a Catholic, and the profoundest investigator of the subject in the present age, are unanswerably conclusive. From their principles of passive obedience, and the denial of the right of private judgment alone, Roman Catholics, as a sect, must be ignorant and willing slaves to the schemes of any despotic ecclesiastic that a foreign power may see fit to send to this country to rule over them. The secret plans, the real designs of the Jesuits may be confined to few bosoms, it is by no means necessary that the mass of the sect should have any knowledge of the plot for from the nature of their system they may be blind instruments of the few.
Popery and despotism are notoriously united in the Austrian government, and Protestantism and Republicanism in that of the United States. At the time I adduced arguments to prove the truth of these two categories, I was wholly unapprized that so distinguished a political writer as Schlegel had taken the same views of these opposite systems, to rouse Austrians to the defence of their own category. A powerful argument is derived from this corroboration of an important political truth, by Schlegel, who writes in the interest of absolutism, to urge all true friends of liberty on this side of the water, to the vigorous maintenance of the American category. It is a truth now no longer to be questioned, that Popery is so naturally the ally of Absolute government, that the diffusion of the former will result in producing the latter; and it is equally true, that the diffusion of Protestantism will result in the production of liberal institutions. What, then, is the duty of Americans, all who really love their own free system of government? There can be but one answer. They must unite in giving every facility to the spread of Protestant principles. Patriotism demands that every Protestant religious sect be encouraged to promote its own views, each according to the dictates of conscience; and patriotism equally demands the discouragement, in every lawful way, of the further introduction of Popery and Popish influence into the country. Popery is the antagonist to our free system. No one can doubt that the unusual efforts of despotic foreign governments to spread Popery in the United States, has for its principal design the subversion of our republican institutions. Ought a vaunted but spurious charity to be allowed to blind the eyes of Americans to the evidence of the attack made upon them? ought they to aid these foreign conspirators, by adding their own contributions to the means of spreading Popery? ought they to encourage the schools of Jesuit agents; their immoral nunnery systems; their slave-making seminaries, by placing American children within the pale of their discipline? ought they to court Jesuit influence in our politics, and screen their political principles from examination, on the plea that this is merely a religious controversy? Let patriotism answer these questions.
I will now examine the disclaimer of hostility to our republican institutions, (to which I have alluded,) made in behalf of the Catholics in this country, by a Catholic journal. As a Unitarian paper in Boston has quoted it with satisfaction, I give it here, with the Unitarian editor's remarks prefixed:—
CATHOLIC DISCLAIMER.
"We have no doubt that the Roman Catholics have their due share of proselyting spirit. Some of our good people, clergy and laity, would have a poor opinion of their sincerity if they were destitute of that spirit. But the cry is—'Conspiracy against
Facsimile pages from the valuable work by Prof. Samuel F. B. Morse, Foreign Conspiracies Against the Liberties of the United States. Although published a good many years ago, by the Van Nostrand publishing house, of New York, the work is as significant today as when written. Professor Morse warned President Lincoln of his impending assassination by tools of the Jesuits, and wrote an introduction to the book Confessions of a French Catholic Priest, also published by the Van Nostrands, and reviewed in Consolation No. 561.
COUNSEL
by J. F. Rutherford
Fair Warning
WHO controls the world? Why must a change of world control shortly come to pass? What shall come to pass at the end of the world, where we now are, was foreshadowed by what came to pass in connection with an ancient nation of Biblical record. The nation of Israel began to function while domiciled in Egypt. There the people of Israel pictured or represented the people now on earth who are on the side of Jehovah God and His Messiah and who desire to see righteousness control and oppression end. Pharaoh, the oppressive king of Egypt, stood for Satan, the invisible ruler or "god of this world". Pharaoh and the officers of his government heaped great oppression upon the Israelites. Jehovah God sent Moses and Aaron to Egypt to be witnesses to His name and power. There Moses was a type of a greater Prophet, Christ Jesus, while his brother Aaron was a type of the spiritual brethren of Christ, Jehovah's witnesses working under the direction of Christ Jesus. God commanded Moses and Aaron to go before Pharaoh and demand that the people of Israel be permitted to go and serve and worship God in the way that Jehovah had appointed for them. Pharaoh refused to grant that request. Then God commanded Moses to bring plagues upon Egypt, that the rulers and the people might be informed and warned that Jehovah is the Almighty God and that His commandments must be obeyed. In all there were ten plagues that befell Egypt. The ninth was that of great darkness over all the land except that part where God's chosen people were, and there the Israelites had complete light, a special favor.
Now at the end of the world Jehovah has sent Christ Jesus, the Greater Moses, and has sent forth His witnesses, pictured by Aaron, and commanded that His testimony must be given to the world rulers and the people that Jehovah is the Supreme One and that His people shall be permitted without interference to worship and serve God in the way He has appointed for them because the world has ended and the kingdom of God is at hand. The serving of such notice and warning constitutes the fulfillment of the nine plagues on Egypt; which nine prophetic plagues have been fulfilled upon the world rulers. As the ninth plague was great darkness, just so now the rulers of the world are in great darkness as to God's purpose, because they refuse to give heed to God's truth. The only exception to this great darkness is that those persons who have taken their stand on the side of Jehovah God and His kingdom by Christ are now enjoying the light of God's Word and are directed by it in the right course. At the conclusion of the ninth plague upon Egypt Pharaoh said to Moses and Aaron: 'Be gone and see me no more.' Even so now, after the ninth prophetic plague has been served upon the world rulers, they have in effect said to Jehovah's witnesses: 'Be gone and let us have no more to do with you.' Pharaoh defied Jehovah God. The world rulers are now doing the same thing. They oppose Jehovah's witnesses and spurn God's warning, and they reject God and His kingdom. Hence Jehovah's witnesses must now bring to the attention of the people of good-will toward God the message of notice and warning concerning the battle of Armageddon and God's kingdom, even as Moses and Aaron gave special instruction to the Israelites just before the tenth plague came upon Egypt.
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