Consolation, February 17, 1943
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Contents
Roman Catholic Hierarchy and Axis Collaboration
The Press Collaborates
“Protests” by Catholic Dignitaries
Freedom of Speech Only for Hierarchy
Whitewashing the Pope
4 Persecution of Catholics in Germany
Cumulative Evidence .
‘Come, Let Us Reason Together’ ' ;
“Comfort All That Mourn”
Jehovah’s witnesses—Ordained Ministers
The Hope of a Perfect Day
Another Police Force at Reedley
Baptism .
“Thy Word Is Truth”
Your Unseen Adversary ■
School Hitlerism (Part 2)
Immorality
“Hearings”
Spineless, Rudderless Boards
Conquest Aided by Seduction of Schools 24
The Issue
Results
Presenting “This Gospel of the Kingdom” Paragraph Construction
Edison Can’t Figure It Out
The Totalitarian Monstrosity Rebuked
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No tan dum
The Totalitarian Monstrosity Rebuked j ♦ To me it is a monstrous thing that ! in any American community the right of children to public school education should be made dependent upon such a thing as a salute to the flag. That right is theirs by reason of citizenship. “The country and its institutions exist for the people, not the people for the institu-'tions." That the people exist for the state is a totalitarian notion.
The flag salute was injected into the schools by busybodies and its adoption seems to have coincided with the decadence of the teaching of American history, a decadence which has been the subject of recent editorials in the HeraldNews. As the New York Times has said in its long campaign against encroachments in Central Park, that if every structure which busybodies had wished to erect there had been built there would be no park; so with the public schools, if all the notions of busybodies were injected into them there would be no education.
If Jehovah’s witnesses refused to salute the flag in order to show defiance of the nation’s Constitution and laws and in support of some foreign power there might be some reason for all the judicial fuss. But they do not; theirs is a religious attitude.
Freedom, including religious freedom, is so precious, and should be so close to the heart of every American, that we should rather lean over backward to sustain it than to have it encroached upon in the slightest degree. Rather than have one child driven from the public schools for declining to salute the flag in contravention of his conscience I would prefer to take that compulsory ritual out of the schools. After all, America got along very well without it for a century and a half.—Russell Palmer, in the Passaic (N. J.) Herald-News.
CONSOLATION
“And in His name shall the nations hope.”—Matthew 12:21, A.R.V.
Volume XXIV
Brooklyn, N. Y., Wednesday, February 17, 1943
Number 611
Roman Catholic Hierarchy and Axis Collaboration
THE Roman Catholic Church blesses the arms" of the dictators, and gives thanks for their victories. She goes even farther. She takes her position in the ranks of the totalitarian forces as an integral part of the war machine. Her job is to prepare the way by manning the fifth-column activities, and her priests then consolidate the gains in the wake of the conquering Fascist legions and prevent uprisings of the Catholic occupied countries. Since their organization the Jesuits have been foremost in the fifth-column infdtrations and backstabbings. The Jesuits have, because of these seditious traits, been run out of many countries, only7 to return later and repeat the performance. Instead of their becoming dizzy by this “revolving door” existence, the practice has only resulted in a closer approach to perfection in the nefarious work of their father the Devil.
The Hierarchy’s hand in this respect was exposed more in Spain than anywhere else. Throughout the recent civil war there this was obvious and the pope’s blessing of Franco, the “Christian gentleman”, would of necessity include his two cat’s-paws, Hitler and Mussolini, used to rake the papal chestnuts from the Spanish fire. Now the pope is further embarrassed by the dead giveaway7 of his Fascist connections by Franco’s plans, recently publicized in the press, for a Catholic axis against the democracies, consisting of Vichy France, Spain, and Portugal.
The Spanish Falange is a notoriously Fascist organization; it is also Catholic. The bishop of Madrid is the director of the youth front of the Falange. Speaking to the leaders of this youth front the bishop, “Reverend” Leopoldo Eijo y Garay7, said: “Falange would not have raised you to the dignity of instructors of Spanish youth unless you were found to be good Catholics; and you would not be good Catholics if you ignored the saving social. doctrines of the church.” The bishop quoted the founder of the Falange as follows: “Man must be free, but liberty exists only7 within a determined order.” Incidentally, this is similar to the sophistry7 of the majority7 opinion of the United States Supreme Court, rendered on June 8, 1942, against Jehovah’s witnesses, that ‘the mind of man remains forever free, but he must have a license to preach the gospel’.
The dictator of Spain had two diplomatic receptions at New7 Year’s. To avoid embarrassment he had the friends of the Axis at one of them and the friends of the United Nations at the other. The representatives of Eire and of the Vatican w7erc at the Axis reception. Six weeks later the Vatican telegraphed the abbot of the Benedictine monastery at Montserrat to bless the Butcher; which he did.
The Western Hemisphere
Perhaps the reader would like to view the fifth column work nearer home.
At a meeting of the governors of the Pacific coast states of Mexico held at Mazatlan, Governor Gonzalez, of Jalisco, stated that the clergy in his state was carrying on a ridiculous. campaign against Mexican efforts to organize
national defense, telling the people “they should be on the side of Germany and Japan because those countries represent the religious interest of the world”. When' Mexico’s archbishop, Luis M. Martinez, denied the charges, the Jalisco legislature, the local branches of the Mexican Confederation of Workers, the ^League of Agrarian and Peasant Syndicates, and the Federation of Leagues of the People’s Sector supported the governor’s charges, declaring that “the activities of the National Synarchist union and National Action unquestionably follow the tactics pointed out for them by ecclesiastical authorities”.
The Los Angeles Times, November 9, 1941, contained a story stating that the Synarchists (elsewhere described as “Mexico’s gold-shirted legions”) are “ardent Catholics”, “claim 500,000 members and few deny their claim” and that “the power potentially commanded by the Sinarquistas [Synarchists] is formidable when one realizes the Mexican army numbers only 61,500 men”. And the Synarchists demand “restoration of full liberty for the Catholic Church”.
It was found necessary to outlaw a Catholic weekly in Costa Rica because of its love of Nazism and the “new order”.
The president has ordered the suspension of the pro-Nazi Catholic weekly Epoca under the extraordinary powers granted to him by Congress. The action, based upon the fact he considered the weekly an organ of the Nazis, Fascists and Falangists, meets with the general approval of the public and press. —New York Times, March 9, 1942.
Only the most expert of liars could be backing Hitler and Hirohito tooth and nail to gain world domination, and at the same thne pretend to the democracies that he is wholly on the side of .freedom. The conference of the republics.at Rio de Janeiro was prevented from gaining the end it had in view because Chile and Argentina, under control of the Vatican, refused to go along. Anticipating that some might suspect him of being at the bottom of their balky conduct the pope sent out a feeler, through his secretary of state and his delegate at Washington, denying that he had done anything to torpedo the conference. The joke is that nobody accused him of it. He denies everything as a matter of routine policy. He knowTs he should be accused. (Chile has since broken diplomatic relations with the Axis.)
In February of this year a well-knowm and responsible news commentator added to the voluminous evidence proving the collusion of the Vatican with Hitler in the present war. The statement broadcast was, in part, that “the Brazilian government has just seized a big supply of Nazi arms intended for a Nazi uprising. The arms were hidden in a church, the monastery of the German Franciscan Friars at Ceara.” This is all regular, but the plan slipped up. .The Brazilian government seized the arms and the Hierarchy denied that they ever existed. That was, of course, to be expected. Poor, persecuted church! The use of churches as centers from which to overthrow democratic governments is a long-established practice. Tn the betrayal of the Spanish Republic, the churches were the ‘arsenals of Fascism’.
The Press Collaborates
Jesus -was accused of sedition, was innocent, and was crucified, ft has ever been the same with His sincere followers. But Barabbas, on the other hand, was accused of sedition and murder, was guilty, and yet was freed! So it is with the fifth-column Barabbas priests of the “Hol/’ Roman Catholic Church today. This advance army of Hitler and the pope infiltrates behind the enemy lines and does its deadly work, preparing the way before the mechanized hordes of the church’s “sword”, as it so effectively did in France. And the courageous, battling public press of America insipidly falls all over itself to feed soothing sop to these beskirted termites while they honeycomb democratic structures! If any other group or person has enough spine to present the obvious facts about their precious sacred cow, they belittle and ridicule and treat facetiously the evidence, calling them bigots, campaigners of hate, unneighborly, peculiar and unique. The unique thing would be if they could recognize a fact when they stumbled and fell over one, and, even more startling, then have the spunk to publish it. Under the lightly worded headline “H. G. Wells Pops Up with Unique Idea on the War", the Chicago Daily Tribune, August 31,1942, reported:
"The present pope is in open alliance with the Japs,” he [Wells] wrote in the Sunday Dispatch, “and is the declared enemy of our ally.Russia. Why not a 2,000-pound bomb on the Vatican garden as a warning now? What mysterious influence or what diplomatic imbecility is it that prevents this clear and decisive action?”
The Rev. Dr. John C. Heenan, in a “Catholic Reply to Wells”, said that “with the exception of Jehovah’s witnesses, nobody now takes him [Wells] seriously when he talks about history or religion”.
H. G. Wells’ reputation as a historian is generally good and the publicity and circulation enjoyed by his books would tend to indicate many do take him seriously, far more so than do Jehovah’s witnesses. This so-called “reverend doctor”, Heenan, may be indulging in a little wishful thinking on this point. Typical of all Hierarchy rebuttal tactics, the facts presented are ignored, of necessity since they are true, and the man personally is attacked. But the press continues to grovel at the old lady’s feet. When the clandestine love of the Hierarchy for totalitarians shall have been fully exposed, as it surely will; when the darkness shall have given way to light; when even the dissipated press can see a truth; it will be amusing to see this brilliant press blinking stupidly in the unusual element called “light”. This belief of their ignorance is the kindest deduction from their attitude. If, on the other hand, they see the dark blight of Jesuit control twining its cruel lingers slowly about democracy’s throat, and tolerate and even aid its throttling work, then their traitorous course is most despicable. With the vast resources for gathering news at the disposal of the large newspapers, ignorance is really inconceivable.
“Protests” by Catholic Dignitaries
But here, you say, if there is this collusion which the facts presented indicate, why do the Hierarchy spokesmen protest against the Nazis in Germany? Why is there so much persecution'of the church by the Nazis? To make anything approaching a complete consideration of this conspiracy, these questions must not be side-stepped.
Certainly there is a flood of alleged protests by Vatican representatives printed in the press at the present time. The protests are never clear-cut. They cannot be understood by the common people. The ordinary person is too busy or uninterested to ferret out the “vigorous protests” of such Hierarchy state-/ ments. But there is always an obliging papal-instructed reporter or editor to interpret the “courageous and bold” speech. According to the Catholic Church, the people are too dumb to read the Bible, although God tells them to ‘search the Scriptures and study to be approved of Him’. They say one must have a priest to interpret the Scriptures. Certainly a dexterous interpreter is required to bring to light from Vatican droolings any tangible protest against the dictators.
The New York Times, June 30, 1942, opens the account of such a dynamic protest against Nazism with the statement, “A sermon directly opposing Nazi state and social theories was read yesterday at St. Hedwig’s Church, Berlin, by the Catholic Bishop of the German capital, Count Konrad von Preysing.” The ‘direct opposition’ turned out to be a statement that the pope is praying day and night for peace and a better world, that it should be based on love, that you should not do unto others what you would not want others to do unto you, and that life is sacred, both of an unborn child and an old and decrepit man. Now doesn’t that blistering and scathing denunciation of Nazism make your skin tingle and incite your admiration for the courageous bishop? It doesn’t? Then you tmust let the Times interpret it; which It does as follows: “Thus the Bishop was indirectly criticizing the theories and practices of Nazi extremists who preach racial hygiene and euthanasia.” Now you see? Of course, the promise given by the introductory words about Cdirect’ opposition has dwindled to ‘indirect’; but don’t trouble your head about that: the newspapers will do your thinking for you. Incidentally, the bishop, in flowing red robes, arrived in a carriage drawn by two white horses and was met by enthusiastic “hails” for “our bishop”, three more cheers for “our holy father, Pope Pius XII”, and there were probably three more heils for Herr Hitler, the .third member of this trinity, but this, if reported, would take the edge off the story for the democracies.
The Times also carried a story, on July 7, 1941, of a pastoral letter by the bishops in Germany in which they allegedly assailed the Nazis and stated that this was their first protest read from the pulpits since the start of the war. According to the account this unusual move “had a startling effect upon the faithful”. But they weren’t startled for long. The letter praised the soldiers, saying their achievements encouraged constant prayers in their behalf, described the war sacrifices made by the church in the interests of the German nation and that ‘the Catholic church in Germany is loyal to the government and gladly shouldered the burdens and sacrifices of the times’. If this had really ■ turned out to be a protest and thus continued startling the German Catholics unaccustomed to such action, one might ask why they waited until the war was two years old before deciding to object.
Much ado was made during May of last year about the blasting of the Nazis administered by Cardinal Faulhaber, archbishop of Munich, Part of the “protest” was, “Whoever complains that Peter’s throne does not stand on German soil does not know the history of God’s kingdom and ancient Germany.” This is in effect a statement that the papacy (Peter’s throne to the deceived Catholics, usurped) is standing in Germany as it did in the days of the “Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation”. He complained of the peaceless condition of the hearts of those of the Catholic religion in Germany. True Christians, regardless of trials, are not so troubled; for, “The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” (Philip-pians 4:7) This great ‘liberty-loving’ cardinal concluded with the following magnanimous prayer that should touch the hearts of the Protestant democra-' cies: “Today it is a question of life or death for Christianity, for in its blind rage against religion the Nazi ‘faith’ does not or cannot distinguish between Protestantism and Catholicism,” Thus he gives the tip-off to his true sentiments, that blind rage against Protestants is all O, K. and in harmony with the returning Middle Ages procedure, but that Catholicism should be spared. The Herald-News, of Passaic, N. J., after reporting on this supposed denunciation of Nazism but in reality a condemnation of Protestantism, simpers on, “Remembering the fate of Pastor Nie-moeller and of thousands of Christian clergymen in Germany, Protestant and Catholic, we tremble for this great Archbishop of Munich. But the cardinal is not trembling. He will carry on. He is a brave man. He will meet death and not cringe! He is on God’s side!”
Freedom of Speech Only for Hierarchy
Niemoeller was a Protestant. He protested against the Nazis. He landed in a concentration camp. The Catholic dignitaries supposedly protest, are free to do so, and remain free. Why? Also, why is it that as soon as Niemoeller decides to become a Catholic the gate to freedom begins to open for him? Catholic apologists needn’t waste breath denying this; for their own paper, the Altoona Register, says, “The International News service said it had word of the conversion on reliable authority. He may soon be released from the concentration camp as a result of it.” Thus it may be seen why the cardinal is not trembling, and the gushing Herald-News may save its tremors for those that need them. The cardinal will carry on, with Catholic Hitler. He is on god’s side, which according to Catholic teaching means the pope, who in turn is in the Hitler clique. All are on the side of the god of this world, Satan the Devil.
After discussing Niemocller’s position the Manchester Guardian, October 27, 1941, said: “It is the adherents of the Bible Students’ sect (Ernest Bibelf or-scher), corresponding to Jehovah’s witnesses in this country, who have been persecuted for pacifism in concentration camps.” Jehovah’s witnesses continue to protest in Germany and are still in these camps. Niemoeller as a Protestant suffers ; as a Catholic, gets relief. The Catholic prelates have always been free to voice supposed protests. Why? Does the Nazi party fear public opinion if they took action against them? No; for they would just as soon murder whole towns, as Lidice, that uprise as they would one person. The fact is that the Hierarchy is in cahoots with the Nazis, and the “protests” are for democratic consumption and avidly swallowed by the majority of persons in such lands.
Whitewashing the Pope
Here is a typical sample of the vigorous moral leadership Pope Pius XII is setting for the liberty-loving peoples of earth, accompanied, of necessity, with the interpretation thereof: ,
Mussolini, this writer learned from reliable Vatican circles, suggested that the pope sanction what the Fascist press termed the “Christian crusade against the Russian atheists”. Pope Pius, however, refused to commit himself. [Now, wasn’t that courageous!] His silence showed more significantly than anything else up to that time the grave concern of the church over a possible Nazi victory in Europe. He has not, of course, come out openly in favor of an Anglo-American victory, for, in keeping with the traditional policy of the church, he must preserve at least a semblance of impartiality. But those who can read between the lines have now a clear idea of his attitude.—Kansas City Star, June 8, 1942.
Of course, Pius XII hasn’t come out openly for a United Nations victory. And those who can read between the lines without the aid of servile reporters and editors who read between lines as told to by the Vatican, or get no more news releases from there, can easily see he’s on the other side, with Catholic Hitler. The only reason that he attempts to maintain an outward appearance of impartial ity and even favoritism toward the democracies is to kid them into thinking he’s for them and hence desirable as a peace arbiter when the time for that comes. One Catholic paper says in apology for the Vatican’s failure to protest the bombing of civilians in Catalonia by Franco that it was necessary to avoid “any association to which a political character might be imputed”. Of course, there was no political partiality involved in papal blessings for Mussolini in Ethiopia and Franco in Spain and Japan against China. Now the pope shows conclusively his ‘fighting spirit for right’, not by refusing to bless the Russian crusade, but merely by his refusal to commit himself one way or the other. Isn’t that a thrilling rallying point for the oppressed peoples? Some of his henchmen are not silent, and doubtless speak with his approval. In Italy Archbishop Margotti called for a crusade against Bolshevism: “Italy has joined the anti-Bolshevik front with enthusiasm and faith of the ancient crusaders, proving that Italian soldiers are ready to give their blood generously for civilization’s victory against atheism and barbarism. Therefore, we also invite all good Catholics to raise insistent prayers to God to concede triumph to the new order and justice.” (New York Daily I News, July 21, 1941) Thus this high * church dignitary under the pope’s control not only goes "all out” for the crusade in Russia but is also for the “triumph of the new order” advocated by the crusading Axis powers.
. The New York Times, June 25, 1941, said, “The German Catholic episcopate today sent to all dioceses a message describing the war against Russia as a battle for Christianity all over the world.” In Italy, Archbishop Margotti called for a crusade against Bolshevism: “Today we salute and bless the Italian legions who are marching with their allies in the common struggle to open the immense prison which encloses the Russian population.”—New York Times, July 21, 1941. .
So, outwardly the Vatican remains 'impartial’ but inwardly approves; 'appears piously beautiful outwardly, but within is full of dead men’s bones.’
So perhaps in view of these statements the pope’s silence is not significant of his enmity toward the Fascist cause as so obligingly interpreted by a spineless press but rather that the generally accepted saying holds true here also, namely, 'Silence gives consent.’ In this same article praising his 'intrepid daring’ in maintaining silence it said that copies of his speeches "advocating peace and a new world order sell by hundreds of thousands”. The “new order” is the Hitler-Pacelli revival of the old order of the “Holy Roman Empire”,
Vatican “protests” entirely fade out when contrasted with the course of Protestant ministers in Norway, and more so when compared with the unyielding integrity of Jehovah’s witnesses for the New World, or Theocracy, as maintained despite the Vatican-inspired persecution, against them in Germany. Go still further, and consider the/course of the great Fighter for the New World, Christ Jesus. No pope has ever denounced Nazism. Nor can anybody point to any encyclical or anything else that definitely shows his disapproval of the outfit now trying to seize control of the world. The most that can be shown is that on one occasion the pope said something that one or more reporters said was a reflection on Nazism. That was the way they interpreted the remark, and doubtless the way they were told to interpret it. But that is not the way Christ Jesus said things. If He had something to say He said it so that He could be understood the first time. When He called the clergy vipers, hypocrites, liars, thieves, and murderers, they understood whom He meant, and so did everybody else I (Matthew 23) Strange indeed if this straightforward Fighter for righteousness would use some ambiguous and pussyfooting pope as His “vicegerent”! They have nothing in common.
Persecution of Catholics in Germany
So much for “protests”. What about persecution of Catholics in Germany? This reported persecution is the greatest obstacle to many seeing clearly the true position of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy and the Nazi party. Hitler and the Hierarchy may have a few lovers’ quarrels. But don’t fret; it’s nothing serious, yet. Here’s an analysis of Catholic persecution in the Third Reich.
First, the Vatican and the Jesuits have always opposed liberalism and favored totalitarianism. There are many honest Catholics who desire freedom and democratic principles to prevail, but the Catholic Hierarchy feels differently. This liberal element of the Catholics of Germany formed the Catholic Centre Party, and was one of Hitler’s enemies in his rise to power. This bulwark against Nazism—-these liberal Catholics —was “sold out” and dissolved by order of Pope Pius XI, and Catholic Hitler surged into power as a result thereof, and a concordat was immediately concluded between Hitler and the one who put him into power. The leader of the liberal Catholic Centre Party, Klausener, was assassinated in the purge of June 30, 1934, and the Jesuit fear of infiltration of Protestant and liberal ideas into the German Catholic mind was quieted. Catholic social reformers within the church suffer its enmity as well as outside dangers to its absolute rule, and this is amply verified by the Reformation and the Inquisition. These liberal Catholics, therefore, are persecuted, and that with the full collaboration of the Vatican and the Jesuits to ‘cleanse’ the church, all under the guise of Nazi persecution. It is so capitalized upon in democracies to facilitate “fifth column” work therein by Jesuits.
A catechism entitled “Brief and Simple Explanation of the Catholic Catechism”, by R, P. Angel Marcia de Arcos, S. J., distributed by hundreds of thousands of copies, says regarding liberalism and in proof of the foregoing:
Q. Is there no grade of Liberalism which may be Catholic?
A. That is what its partisans claim; but the church teaches that what is called Catholic Liberalism is not Catholic.
Q. Then there is no grade of Liberalism that can be good?
A. None; because Liberalism is mortal sin and anti-Christian in essence.
Q. Then whatever is liberal in politics sins?
A. Certainly; because in liberal polities there exists that liberalism which the Church condemns.
Q. Then a Catholic must be anti-Liberal ?
A. Without a doubt; exactly as he must be anti-Protestant or anti-Freemason; in short, against all the contraries to Christ and His Church.
So the Catholic Hierarchy serves two purposes in conniving with the Nazis in persecuting honest and liberal-minded Catholics in Germany: purges out of her own organization any decency and freedom, thus maintaining her cherished totalitarian corruptness, and capitalizes upon this self-inflicted persecution in the democracies for propaganda purposes. How the Devil must pride himself in the infamous duplicity of his favorite child.
Cumulative Evidence
Add to all the foregoing testimony the following facts and the pile of evidence against papal Rome mounts and the case against her becomes conclusive: (1) The prosperity of the Cathohc church in Germany, and (2) her prosperity in the wake of the German armies in the occupied countries.
First, in Germany. In a statement in Rome Virginio Gayda, prominent Fascist, declared that “the Catholic churches, like the Protestant, are always open and full of people in German territory and carry on their functions undisturbed”. Corroborating this, the Seattle Times, November 16,1941, contains the information, forwarded from London by the United Press, that “Catholic churches are crowded as never before in Germany”. Four days later the Springfield Union, Springfield, Mass., contained the following excerpt from’ a personal letter by Mrs. Virginie Jourdan-Herbst, ’ Newtown, Conn., which speaks for itself: “More people attend ehurch with a real love in Germany than any other country I’ve been in. The German government supports the clergy, spending hundreds of millions annually for them, their palaces, convents, monasteries, schools, etc.” An Associated Press dispatch of March 7, 1941, says: “Catholic clergymen are taking religion to the German people by means of specially built automobiles equipped with altars. Notwithstanding the nation’s gasoline economy measures, German authorities approved the plan because the motorized churches are intended to serve scattered garrisons and isolated hamlets. The priests do their own chauffeuring.” If Germany were trying to stamp out Catholicism she would not supply priests with precious gasoline and automobiles.
Secondly, the occupied countries. Wherever the Nazi conquest prospers, the Hierarchy reaps benefits. In an interview with a London Catholic Herald reporter, the archduke Felix, brother of
* the pretender to the Austrian throne (Otto Habsburg), made the statement that the [Catholic] churches of Austria “were more full than ever they were -before; in fact, Catholicism seemed to be enjoying a revival in the country”. This same paper further said that the churches in Luxemburg are full, as is the case wherever the Pacelli-Hitler conspiracy has been fully carried out. The ’ same system of state payment of the clergy is used in Luxemburg as in Austria.
Vichy France is another glaring example of the reaping the spoils of war by the Vatican. The “good marshal” Petain has "made financial grants to church schools of the primary grade”. The dispatch carrying this news says that the new laws "give satisfaction to the Catholic Hierarchy”, which Hierarchy doubtless drafted them in the first place. The article continues:
Enactment of these laws was foreshadowed in the New York Tinies last Wednesday. In effect they reverse one of the outstanding principles of the Third Republic, namely, that, while tolerated under certain conditions, church schools of the primary grade should receive no aid from the State. Conversely, there was every possible help for State schools.
The first of the three laws empowers prefects in each Department to grant subventions to church schools which otherwise might be compelled to close. The second establishes State inspection of church schools as regards both the health of the children and the instruction given them, but no inspector may enter any school unless accompanied by the headmaster or a duly accredited representative. The third authorizes the creation of “school funds” for church schools, which funds also may receive financial aid from the State. Hitherto “school funds” were authorized only for non-religious schools. The Petain government having restored religion as a moral value, it was but logical that the church should regain some of its privileges and that new ones should be granted.
A wireless from Vichy to the New York Times, November 5, 1941, pertaining to this same matter, shows the flourishing condition of the Hierarchy now as contrasted with her former status in France, and testifies of the church’s support of the “new order".
Under the former regime church schools were not viewed with a tolerant eye by Cabinets which, to say the least, described themselves as non-religious. All their attention was turned to State schools, which were strictly “lay” in the present French sense of the word which connotes agnosticism. Now, under the new order, Religion has its due place and a number of privileges have been restored to the church. Marshal Petain himself is a churchgoer. The church, on its part, supports the new regime, although some diehards, such as: the monarchists’ Action Frangaise, occasionally accuse it of being lukewarm.
An account in the New York Times of April this year shows the revival of papal power there. It reads:
Under a decree published today, the Council of the State Advisory Body on Legislation is empowered to issue legal status to religious congregations outlawed under the laws of 1901. The Cistercian Order by a special ruling was reinstated in the Grande Chartreuse and certain other expelled (Catholic] orders were believed to have resumed activities in France. -
The most recent evidence of papal prosperity and harmonious working with the Nazi church “sword”, Hitler, is seen in the following:
Considerable Catholic missionary activity in the occupied South Russian territories is reported by the Catholic newspaper, LTtaiia, of Milan, arriving here today.
The leader of the missionaries is Luigi Cardinal Lavitrano, archbishop of Palermo. The cardinal is also president of a Catholic organization which for past years has been striving for a union between the Catholic and Orthodox churches [in other words, the swallowing of the Orthodox by the Catholic].
Presumably with the consent of German military authorities, this church organization now has been given the opportunity propagate its ideas in Southern Russia.— St. Louis Post-Dispatch, July 23, 1942 (Copyrighted). '
Now you see why archbishops bless as a ‘Christian Crusade’ Hitler’s Russian venture and the pope gives his ‘consent by silence’? Religion is the binding tie; it is used to consolidate the Nazi gains.
Who Are Persecuted
Not only does the Hierarchy prosper as shown above, but their enemies suffer. Invariably dissolution of all Masonic lodges follows' Nazi conquest In the Balkans, patriarchs and priests of the Orthodox church suffer and monasteries are confiscated. G reat pressure is exerted everywhere to force Orthodox church members to become Roman Catholic. The enmity of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy (not liberal-minded Catholics) has always been manifested against the Jews. This anti-Semitism is marked in the occupied lands, as well as Germany. Its manifestation by Jesuits and like-minded totalitarians is also noted in democratic lands. According to the encyclopedias, the rise of the Catholic church in the early centuries of Christianity marked the beginning of the troubles of the Jews, and such troubles have since then been in direct proportion to the prosperity and power of the Hierarchy. The Hierarchy’s betterment in France has been mentioned. The Jews are in great distress there now. The pope, despite centuries of persecution of the Jew’s by the Catholic church, has the gall to pose as the Jews’ friend and “protests” their treatment in France. The simple-minded will believe this latest papal propaganda move; the thinking person will see that the facts outweigh and contradict this pose taken to deceive the naive. Above all, Jehovah’s witnesses are the targets of Nazi persecution inspired by the Hierarchy.
‘Come, Let Us Reason Together’
If Germany were trying to stamp out religion, and particularly Catholicism, as the public press wmuld have us believe, and for which fairy tale some gullible ones fall, why wmuld she inaugurate a “holy crusade” to ‘bring God to Godless Russia’? German Jesuits have so termed the war in Russia, that is, a "holy crusade”. The Nazis would not seek to establish Catholicism in another country while trying to destroy it in its own land. The only thing the Nazi-Hierarchy combine wants to stamp out is Christianity, not religion, least of all the Catholic cult. So all the Hierarchy “protests”, and all their crying about being persecuted, and all their crocodile tears publicly shed for the Jew’s, are all sham. The poor, weak, oppressed, mistreated “church”, still reeking with the Protestant and Jewdsh blood she so freely shed during her first tyrannical reign, now wails piteously to the Protestant nations that she is persecuted by bad people. । Will the gag go over? Will her comeback attempt succeed so she can once more splash about in her sanguinary splendor of the Middle Ages?
In actual practice she is now’ collaborating with the Axis powers to accomplish that goal. Should it seem expedient to her in the future to switch over to the camp of the United Nations, this adroit maneuver will be executed with a skill becoming a past master in duplicity. But, despite any seeming success the Roman Catholic Hierarchy may attain for a short season, her final end is sure.
Concerning such religious totalitarians Jehovah God’s decree has been entered and shall stand. “Yet he shall come to his end, and none shall help him.”— Daniel 11; 45.
“Comfort All That Mourn”
IT IS part of the commission of Jehovah’s witnesses, as ordained ministers of The Theocracy, “to comfort all that mourn.” (Isaiah 61:1-3; Matthew 5:4) It is therefore appropriate; that they should be ready to extend that comfort Jwhen asked to do so on the occasion of a funeral. It is a comfort to know that one’s dead are not in “purgatory” or the orthodox “hell”. It is a comfort to
Advertising The Theocracy by means of a loudspeaker, third-floor window, Chincoteague Island, Virginia
know that they are not wandering about as disembodied “spirits” but that they are at rest, asleep, and awaiting the awakening when they shall ‘hear the voice of the Son of God, and come forth’.
At rochester, N. Y., recently, those present at a funeral heard words of real comfort, conveyed to them by transcription. Several hundred persons outside the honui likewise heard the message of the resurrection, a loud-speaker installed outside enabling. them to hear.
400 gathered outride this Rochester, N. Y., home to hear appropriate messages from Tim Theocracy, on the occasion of a funeral. See the loud-speaker at upstairs window.
The mourning ones are not limited, however, to those who have lost some relative or friend in death. Many lives are darkened as a result of grief from other causes. Transcription recordings setting forth the consolation that will be realized in the Theocratic kingdom of Jehovah God are sounded forth by Jehovah’s witnesses.
Transcription meeting in Berrien county, Beorgia. Sec loud-speaker on roof of car.
Jehovah’s witnesses—Ordained Ministers
Recently the ATw York World-Telegram had occasion to publish an article about the status of Jehovah’s witnesses under the draft. In order to clarify the
matter there is quoted in full below the Opinion of Nation al Headquarters of Selective Service System which the World-Telegram quoted only in part:
CONSOLATION
VOL. Ill OPINION NO. U (AMENDED) NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS SELECTIVE SERVICE SISTEM
SUBJECT! Ministerial Status of Jehovah's Witnesses
FACTS; '
Jehovah' 6 Witnesses claim exemption front training and service and classification in Class IV-D as duly ordained ministers of religion under section 5 (d), Selective Training and Service Act of 1940; as amended, and section 622;44, Selective Service ■ Regulations, Second Edition, which read as followst
Section 5 (d):
"Regular or duly UTdained ministers of religion, and students who are preparing for the ministry in theological or divinity schools recognized as such for more than one year prior to the date of enactment of this Act, aha.13, be exe^it from training and service (but not from registration) under this Act."
Section €22.44:
"Class IV-D; Minister of religion or divinity student.
(a) In Class IV-D shall be placed aiy registrant who is a regular or duly ordained minister of religion or who is a student preparing for the ministry in a theological or divinity school which has been recognized as such for more than 1 year prior to the date of enactment of the Selective Training and Service Act (September 16, 1940) *
"(b) A 'regular mini atm- of religion' is a men who customarily preaches and teaches the principles of religion of a recognized church, religious sect, or religious organization of which he is a member, without having been formally ordained as a minister of religion; and who is recognized by such church, sect, or organization as a minister.
"(c) A 'duly ordained minister of religion' Is a man who has been ordained in accordance with the ceremonial ritual or discipline of a recognized church, religious sect, or religious organization, to teach and preach its doctrines and to administer its rites and ceremonies in public worship; and who customarily performs those duties." •
Question.—May Jehovah's Witnesses be placed in Class IV-D as regular or duly ordained ministers of religion exempt from training and service?
Answer)
1. The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, Inc., is incorporated under the laws of the State of New York for charitable, religious, and scientific purposes. The unincorporated body of persons known as Jehovah's
Witnesses hold in common certain religious tenets and beliefs and recognize as their terrestrial governing organization the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, Inc. By their adherence to the organization of this religious corporation, the unincorporated body of Jehovah’s Witnesses are considered to constitute a recognized religious sect. ■
1 2. The unusual character of organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses
* renders comparisons with recognized churches and religious organizations difficult. Certain members of Jehovah's Witnesses, by reason of the time which they devote, the dedication of their lives which they have made, the attitude of other Jehovah's Witnesses toward them, and the record kept of them and their work, are in a position where they may be recognized as having a standing in relation to the organization and the other members of Jehovah's Witnesses similar to that occupied by regular or duly ordained ministers of other religions.
. 3. Members of the Bethel Family are those members of Jehovah's
Witnesses who devote their full time and effort to the manufacture and production of books, pamphlets, and supplies for the religious benefit of Jehovah's Witnesses, the purpose of which is to present the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses and to convert others. For their religious services, the members of this group receive their subsistence and lodging and in addition a very modest monthly allowance. This group of individuals Consist of the office and factory workers at 117 Adams Street, Brooklyn, New York, and workers in the executive offices at 124 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, New York, and at the Farms. Pioneers of Jehovah's Witnesses are those members of Jehovah's Witnesses who devote all or substantially all of their time to the work of teaching the tenets of their religion and in the converting of others to their belief. A certified official list of members of the Bethel Family and pioneers is being transmitted to the State Directors of Selective Service by National Headquarters of the Selective Service System simultaneously with the release of this amended Opinion. The members of the Bethel Family and pioneers whose names appear upon such certified official list come within ths purview of section 5 (d) of the Selective Training and Service Act of 1940, as amended, and they may be classified in Class IV-D. The status of members of the Bethel Family and pioneers whose names do not appear upon such certified official list shall be determined under the provisions of paragraph 5 of this Opinion. .
4. The original paragraph 4 has been consolidated with paragraph 3 of this amended Opinion. .
5. The members of Jehovah's Witnesses, known by the various names of members of the Bethel Family, pioneers, regional servants, zone servants, company servants, sound servants, advertising servants, and back-call servants, devote their time and" efforts in varying degrees to the dissemination of the tenets and beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses. .The deference paid to these individuals by other members of Jehovah's Witnesses also varies in a great degree. It is impossible to make a general determination with respect to these persons as to their relationship to Jehovah's Witnesses. Whether or not they stand in the same relationship .as regular or duly ordained ministers in other religions must be determined in each individual case by the.
local board, based upon whether or not they devote their lives in the furtherance of the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses, whether or not they perform functions which are normally performed by regular or duly ordained ministers of other religions, and, finally, whether or not they are regarded by other Jehovah's Witnesses in the same manner in which regular or duly ordained ministers of other religions are ordinarily regarded.
6. In the case of Jehovah's Witnesses, as in the case of all other registrants who claim exemption as regular or duly ordained ministers, the local board shall place in the registrant's file a record of all facts entering into its determination for the reason that it is legally necessary that the record show the basis of the local board's decision.
LBH/spd
Legal
November 2, 1942
Secs. 5(d), 622.44
DISTRIBUTION »A,B,C,D"
The Hope of a Perfect Day
EVERY reasonable person will readily agree that there is more justice in a democracy that is an enlightened people’s rule than in a rule imposed by selfish and oppressive despots, whether religious or political. The present assault upon civilization, what little there was of it, by such despotic powers, will come to its end. It is Scripturally destined to fail. The real civilization of earth will come only when Jehovah’s King, Christ' Jesus, makes all things new. Then the earth shall yield its increase and the destroyer will no more devastate the fruitful fields or bring the people into want. The day of the aggressor will be at an end, and the present period of transition,- even if it be followed by a brief blackout of hope, is but the prelude of the perfect day when men shall learn war no more.
Another Police Force at Reedley
♦ Information is at hand that there is now another and first-class police force at Reedley, California. The present capable gentlemen on the staff do not wish to be classed or confused with the previous useless and lawless ones mentioned in Consolation No. 602, issue of October 14, 1942. One nice thing about a republic is that when the people do get an inferior public servant they can change him; but in an authoritarian and totalitarian state they have to put up with him permanently. The people of Reedley are to be congratulated on now having a police force that is a credit to them.
Baptism
BELIEVING on the Lord Jesus Christ does not mean merely a mental acceptance of the fad that He is the Son of God and Savior of the world. It means much more than that. It means that the person so believing also agrees to he ; , governed by the will of God, as Christ ' Jesus left an example. Belief includes the act of consecrating oneself to God, thus demonstrating real faith. In that manner the person comes into relationship with God through Christ, and has access into God’s favor. In order to continue to receive the favor of God one must continue to do the will of God. Having agreed to do God’s will, the proper thing for one then to do is to declare, confess and witness that he has so agreed, by being baptized in harmony with the example and command of the Lord Jesus Christ.—Matthew 3:13-17; 28:18-20.
Baptism, by immersion, is the symbol of a consecration to serve Jehovah God, to do His will in Christ. Jehovah’s witnesses and companions thus symbolize their consecration, usually in some outdoor body of water, but on occasion indoor pools or tanks are used, particularly when the weather is unfavorable for outdoor immersion. Some typical scenes appear on this page.
Baptism in Snake river, Twin Falls, Idaho
Baptism in the Rio Grande at El Paso Assembly
“John 17:17
"ThxWord is Truth"
Your Unseen Adversary
TIME was when the ones now the big devil and all the little devils were not devils. There was a time when they were “sons of God”, angelic sons, holy angels. Among these there was one especially bright and glorious creature styled “Lucifer, son of the morning”. (Isaiah 14:12) There is a grand description of him in Ezekiel 28: 11-19, in which, after explaining that he was at one time in Eden, the garden of God, it declares that in the garden he was “the anointed cherub that covereth”, unseen to man.
When Lucifer saw Eve, and reasoned upon God’s method of establishing an earthly dominion, he said in his heart: T will estrange Eve and her husband from their Creator; instead of worshiping and obeying Him they shall worship and obey me’; “I will exalt my throne above the stars of God [the other bright shining ones of the angelic hosts]; . . . I will be like the most High.” (Isaiah 14:13,14) Man’s temptation and fall in the garden of Eden followed.
So, then, when, in 1 John 3: 8, we read that “the Devil sinneth from the beginning”, we are to understand .that he sinned, not from the beginning of creation, nor even from the beginning of the fashioning of our earth, but from the beginning of the human race. The same thought was expressed by our Lord. /When He said of the Devil: “He was a murderer from the beginning” (John 8:44), Jesus locates just the point of time in history where Lucifer ceased to be Lucifer and became something else, a murderer; for the word “murderer” means a malicious, willful killer. Lucifer killed the first human pair by his wicked course; and in that he ceased to be Lucifer (Brightness) and became Satan (adversary), as he is now known.
That the words Devil, Satan, and Beelzebub refer to one and the same creature we can see from a comparison of certain passages of the Holy Scriptures. In the parable of the sower, as recorded in Mark 4:3-20, it is Satan that comes immediately and takes away the Lord’s Word from the wayside hearers, the hard-hearted ones. In the same parable, as also recorded in Luke 8:4-15, it is the devil that comes and takes away the Word out of their hearts. The identity of Satan with the Devil is thus established. The identity of Satan as Beelzebub, prince of the devils, is established at Matthew 12:24-28.
Satan has other titles than the above. To our Lord he was “the prince of this world” (John 14: 30), who had nothing in common with Him; also the prince that was to be cast out and to be judged. (John 12: 31; 16:11) To the apostle Paul Satan was “the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience” (Ephesians 2:2); and he was “the god of this world [who] hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them”. (2 Corinthians 4:4) To the prophet Ezekiel Satan was represented by “the king of Tyrus”.—Ezekiel 28:11-19.
The apostle Paul also urges all Jehovah’s people “to put on the whole armour of God”. To what end ? “That ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:11) The same apostle tells Christians respecting Satan that “we are not ignorant of his devices”. (2 Corinthians 2:11) A soldier who has no idea at all of the direction from which the enemy is likely to come is placed at a great disadvantage. In the day in which we live Satan makes his attack upon those who stand for the honor of Jehovah’s name. If he did not bend every energy to discredit those who are Jeho-
vah’s witnesses it would show him as not being onto his job. The persecutions which he is bringing against the Lord’s Kingdom publishers is one of the best - evidences that these publishers are on the right side. They must be on the watch, because the reason why some are , ensnared by the adversary is that they * are not watching, not wakeful or alert.
It is very evident that when Satan took Jesus “up into a high mountain” and “showed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time” and backed up his demonstration with the statement that “all this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is ‘delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it”, he was in person and not mentally making suggestions to the Lord Jesus; even as the angels ministered in person to the Lord thereafter. Evil was back of the suggestion that the Lord should demonstrate that He was the Son of God by leaping off the pinnacle of the temple. When it is stated that the Devil “brought him to Jerusalem, and set him on a pinnacle of the temple”, this was a descriptive suggestion, inasmuch as the account shows that throughout the whole period of temptation the Lord Jesus “was. there in the wilderness forty days, tempted of Satan”, and was not on a mountain from which an earth-wide outlook could be had, neither at Jerusalem nor elsewhere. Not for an instant did Jesus permit Satan to inject selfish, ambitious, wicked and unfaithful thoughts into his mind fixed on holiness.
Jesus’ experience discloses that some of Satan’s suggestions come along misapplications of Scripture; for in connection with the temple suggestion Satan quoted and misapplied the scripture, ‘He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee: and in their hands they • shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone.’—Psalm 91:11,12.
That Satan can and does put thoughts into the self-seeking, unfaithful mind appears from the scripture which tells of the circumstance of the Lord’s betrayal, and which tells of “the devil having now put into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray him”. (John 13: 2) Instead of resisting Satan, Judas was completely obsessed, possessed, owned, and controlled by Satan himself. The obsession did not come until after Judas made his bargain with the chief priests to betray his Master. The bargain took place before the Passover supper, but it was not until the Passover was begun that “Satan entered into him” to'possess Judas, so the plan could be carried out without further delay.—John 13:26, 27.
Satan’s suggestions are often along the line of apparent righteousness, apparent goofiness, apparent justice. It is for this reason that the apostle Paul says that “Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light”. (2 Corinthians 11:14)’ If his real motives were evident on the surface he would find fewer dupes.
While Satan can touch Jehovah’s people in the sense of testing their integrity toward God, and thus seek to take away their standing with God (Job 2:4-7; Ephesians 4:27), yet he cannot grasp and" hold the faithful ones who keep covenant with God; for such is the meaning of the word, at 1 John 5:18, translated “toucheth”. They can “overcome the wicked one”. (1 John 2:14) Satan opposes the Lord’s workers today by stirring up apparent reasons for discouragement, disobedience, disloyalty, discord, dissatisfaction and distrust. Eaith in God and unquestioning obedience to Him are the weapons to be used against Satan. Do not stop to argue with the Devil. He knows a lot more than you do in worldly matters; but you have the spirit and grace of God on your side as long as you keep busy, studying, practicing and proclaiming the truth. Those, who have faith in God cannot be discouraged, disobedient, disloyal, dissatisfied, distrustful or disagreeable to their brethren. They will be one in the service of God’s kingdom by Christ Jesus.
Beware of your unseen adversary.
School Hitlerism (In Two Parts—Part 2) i
IN THE first part of this article it was shown that the schools have been stressing things that have not been conducive to giving the pupils the start in life to which they are entitled. Emphasis and insistence upon outward gestures and fads have led to neglect of the instruction which would give the children a mental appreciation of the principles of freedom and democracy. It has resulted, too, in conditions of lawlessness and immorality that are startling in their extent. These are now given consideration.
Immorality
This article undertakes to show a condition in our schools paralleling those that prevail in Germany and for similar causes. Since Americans have observed the beginnings of encroachment of Nazism, and failed to sound the warning (except a few scattered voices “in the wilderness”), it may be expected that the advance will increase. And one of the results, as disclosed by Consolation's review of Germany’s methods set forth in the book entitled Education for Death, is gross immorality among the nation’s youth. Even the degeneration of our schools is seen to follow the Nazi decline. In New York an 11-percent increase in delinquency is noted.
In addition to the facts disclosed by the children, interviews with students reveal an even worse condition. In one school in California it is a common thing for girls to be sent home because of pregnancy. It is further alleged that much of the promiscuousness is practiced under the trees and on the very grounds of the campus. Married boys and girls acquaint their younger companions with . premature knowledge, which appears to lead many to desire to find out for themselves. Alcohol and tobacco, including the terrible marijuana, likewise help the demoralization along.
Until these conditions became prevalent in the schools it was never necessary for cities to adopt curfew laws requiring unaccompanied children to be off the streets after 9 p. m. San Francisco and Los Angeles have both adopted such laws. In the case of Los Angeles, hoodlums of high-school age were Attacking and robbing pedestrians in gangs. Several hundred of these were rounded up, all of them boys in the teens age. This menace to the lives and property of citizens has not yet been completely wiped out, and it is causing the authorities much concern. Assault, robbery, and rape are still on the rampage.
The situation in New York is causing widespread dismay. A recent article in the Times (December 11, 1942) states:
Teachers, alarmed by the breakdown of discipline among city school children, have appealed to the police over the heads of the Board of Education for protection, it became known yesterday. The step was unprecedented. In a letter to Police Commissioner Lewis J. Valentine, the New York Teachers Guild (Local 2, American Federation of Teachers) urged the immediate help of the police force to cheek the wave of terrorism in schools, particularly those in underprivileged areas.
The New York Sun of the same date carried the following item, going into some details of juvenile lawlessness:
The president of the New York Teachers Guild said today police had promised to protect teachers against beatings by unruly pupils and intruders. She cited a series of incidents “which vary in gravity from outright murder to mere threat”. The president, Mrs. Rebecca Simonson, said forty police precinct captains, following her appeal to Commissioner Lewis J. Valentine, had advised her they would send police by radio ear upon receipt of a telephone call.
…