Consolation, November 7, 1945

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Contents

Sodom, Gomorrah, and Catholic Quebec 3

The Case Against Laehine

Chateauguay Surpasses Wicked Laehine

Chateauguay’s Second Plunge

', Many Righteously Disposed in Quebec 8

I Why More Tolerable for Sodom

*“By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them”

Evil Fruits Unjustified

Laehine and Chateauguay, Whom Do You Serve?

Canada Waives Compulsory Flag Salute

Suspended for Conscientiousness

The Crux of the Matter

Where Are the $26,000,000,000?

“Thy Word Is Truth”

Why Any “AR Souls’ Day”?

Where Should Children Be Taught

Faith in God?

How About Joining a Church?

Forcing the Union of Church and State

The Schooner ‘

Strangle Hold on Hollywood

The Mechanic Interested in His Work

“Smoke over America”

Philipp Melanehthon

The Sun Gun and the Atomic Bomb

The Two-horned Lamb and His Atomic Bomb 31

Published every other Wednesday by WATCHTOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY, INC, 117 Adams St., Brooklyn 1, N. Y., U. S. A, OFFICERS

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, In Brief

Ripley’s Heaven

♦ Ripley, of “Believe It or Not” fame, has tried to figure out the capacity of heaven and the number of people who will eventually go there. He has concluded there would be so many that they would stand on each other’s heads 113,236 miles high. Ripley has a nimble pencil, lie takes 25 years as a generation. Then he concludes that every person has had two parents, four grandparents, eight great-grandparents, and doubling them all the way back. He assumes that every person has had this number of ■parents, grandparents, etc., and that no person has ever had the same parents or grandparents or other ancestors that any other person had; a manifest absurdity, He concludes that every person has had 302,231,454,903,657,293,676,543 different relatives since the beginning of the Christian era. Pretty good, eh? especially when we know that the population of the earth at that time was far less than it is today.

However, the heavenly city pictured in Revelation is represented as coming down to the earth, so that the “nations” might walk in the light of it, not necessarily living in it permanently. There is plenty of room on earth for all that have ever lived, and many millions more/

Of course, Ripley wrote with his tongue in his cheek, and he is only presenting the picture of religion’s heaven; for the generality of religionists believe that ultimately everybody “saved” must go to heaven, and that the “city” of Revelation is that heaven. Also inclined to take the measurements literally, religion’s heaven or Ripley’s heaven would be quite crowded, though not as badly as Ripley imagines, even though the majority of the human race had gone where religion thinks it is going anyway. There is as great a difference between the Bible and religion as there is between Ripley’s figures in this instance and the facts.

CONSOLATION

“And in His name shall the nations hope.”—Matthew 12:21, A.S. V.

Volume XXVII Brooklyn, N. Y., Wednesday, November ?r 1945 Number 682

Sodom, Gomorrah, and Catholic Quebec

APOLOGIES might be due because of the above title. But if so, they are not due Catholic Quebec, but Sodom and Gomorrah, There is no gainsaying the wickedness and utter depravity of the two godless cities once sprawled on the plains at the northern tip of what is now called the Dead sea. Their infamy is proverbial. Did not Jehovah God himself say, “The men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly”'? The city specialized in rendering evil for good. Outstanding was the time when Abraham, in rescuing his nephew Lot from conquering armies, returned to the king of Sodom not only his subjects but his possessions; yet thereafter a howling mob of Sodomites besieged Lot and his household and two special messengers of Jehovah God to ill-use them according to the basest of passions. Any attempt to witness concerning Jehovah God and His supremacy was received as mockery. There were not even ten righteously disposed ones living in Sodom. Abreast of it in wickedness was its sister city, Gomorrah. In the end Jehovah buried them both in a destructive downpour of fire and brimstone from heaven.—Genesis 13:13; 14:11-24; 18: 23,32; 19:1-25.

But that cities would arise long after Sodom and Gomorrah’s fall that would be even more steeped in wickedness is shown by Jesus’ words concerning cities refusing to hear His faithful witnesses: “Whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart put of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet, Verily I say unto you, It

SHALL BE MORE TOLERABLE FOR THE LAND of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of JUDGMENT, THAN FOR THAT CITY.” (Matthew 10:14,15; Mark 6:11) According to these inspired words of Christ Jesus, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah than cities in the Catholic province of Quebec; say, for example, the cities of Chateauguay and Lachine, both near Montreal. These two cities are not the first ones in this 86-percent Catholic province to outstrip Sodom and Gomorrah in evil-doing: they have had many previous bad examples to follow; they just happen to be the two latest. Know them by their fruits.—Matthew 7:18-2Q.

The Case Against Lachine

In this city mob action blazed fiercely on Saturday, September 15, 1945. Why? To halt the Christian work of Jehovah’s witnesses. Though Christians are never in mobs as participants in their demoniacal rampages, they are often the targets of such devilish and cowardly uprisings. So it was in Lachine. A Bible lecture was scheduled for Sunday, September 16. Jehovah’s witnesses were advertising it Saturday afternoon. Religiously inflamed Catholic mobsters massed their forces to combat free speech and worship and the circulation of Bible truth, which latter thing has been specially hated and feared by the Roman Catholic Church since its beginning in the fourth century after Christ. Disregarding all the fair means democracy offers to those desiring to answer their opponents, the venomous religionists laid hold upon their usual foul meth-

ods of mobocracy. At the climax of their evil work during the evening hours their freedom-hating, truth-hating ranks had swelled from 500 to 2,000 mobocrats. For some of the details of their work we quote from the Montreal Daily Star, . September 17, 1945;

t The trouble started in Lachine early Saturday afternoon when members of the sect, who were selling literature on street corners, were molested by Lachine youths. The disturbance gradually became worse and some started to tear Witness placards and magazines into shreds.

About five o’clock a group of persons on Notre Dame street saw a taxicab drive up to the shop and home of Joseph Letellier, who operates the Dominion Keys and Locks Repairing, at 96 Seventh avenue, near Notre Dame street. His store also consists of a clockmaker’s repair shop.

Albert Hubbard, his daughter Joyce and her husband, all members of the sect, stepped . out of the cab and carried a bundle of Witness literature into the shop. About half a dozen persons ran into the shop and picked lip some of the magazines, which they waved in view of the crowds.

Immediately the crowd started pelting the front of the store with stones and tomatoes, which seemed to have been brought along for the purpose. The plate glass of the display window was smashed. Mr/Letellier rushed to the telephone to call the police, but as he did someone smashed his fist into the elderly man’s face, inflicting a long cut and knocking his glasses to the floor. Then he smashed the telephone.

Mr. Hubbard and his son-in-law locked the door of the shop and closed the wooden shutters on the front left window of the one-story building before retiring to the rear where they also closed shutters over the windows. Stones were continually pouring into the shop from the street. One of them struck Joyee full on the chest.

The crowd was not pushed back off the street until almost -two hours later, when Lachine police, reinforced by a number of provincial police constables, placed barricades at Notre Dame street and also about 100 feet south of the store. No one was allowed to pass the barricades.

People started to climb house rooftops opposite the store after dark and continued to throw stones until midnight. As a result, the entire front of the building was completely wrecked and valuable clocks inside were destroyed. .

The five occupants of the dwelling meanwhile cowered for five hours in the rear of the house. They were not released from this virtual imprisonment until 10.10 p.m. when they were spirited away with the help of one of their number through the back yard.

In order to make their escape, the five persons were forced to squeeze through a passage, 25 feet long and one and a half feet wide, between two garages. They boarded an automobile which their friends had provided and v^ere whisked away.

For a continuation of the story we quote from the detailed write-up appearing in the Montreal Gazette, September 17, 1945:

At nine o’clock, 35 Lachine and Provincial Policemen were on the scene and Chief Pitre ordered them to push back the crowd. With the scene lighted by floodlights placed on the roof of adjoining houses, the police slowly succeeded in pushing part of the crowd back to Notre Dame street and arrested three juveniles on charges of throwing stones.

In the meantime, with the mob occupied at watching the police, several Witnesses entered the shop by the back door and took out Mr. and Mrs. Letellier and the Albert family and whisked them away in a car just as some of the crowd noticed what was going on, and called for the rest of the crowd to stop the car which got away.

On the circulars that had been distributed Saturday it was announced that a meeting would be held Sunday afternoon at three o’clock in the hall over the Banque Canadi-enne Nationale at the corner of Notre Dame street and Tenth avenue. With the west end unit of the Witnesses notifying Lachine authorities that they intended to hold their meeting despite Saturday’s disturbance, Police Chief Pitre ordered all his 20-man force to be on duty, as well as all off-duty firemen, and also 'asked for a six-man squad from the Provincial Police.

By one o’clock Sunday afternoon, a score or more of the officers were patrolling, two by two, the approaches to the Banque Can-adienne Nationale hall and allowed no one to stop on the sidewalk, but about half an hour before the meeting, Notre Dame street and Tenth avenue were crowded with people who just kept marching back and forth. When the organizers of the meeting arrived, they found the door of the hall locked.

One of them called the bank manager, J. 0. Daoust, who said that, due to the circumstances he could not risk his hall being damaged. He added that the-Witnesses would be refunded the money they had paid. The Witnesses then decided to hold their Bible lecture at the house of Mrs. M. Blickstead, 111 Fifty-sixth avenue, in Dixie, on the outskirts of Lachine.

Using about nine or ten taxis the Witnesses went to Mrs. Bliekstead’s home, where several policemen had been sent as soon as it had been decided to hold the meeting there. By 3.30, the meeting started with a score of Lachine and Provincial policemen keeping a close watch on the house. Several groups of youngsters came around by streetcar but were soon chased away by the police.

Chateauguay Surpasses Wicked Lachine

In this mobocratic city persecution and prosecution united to accomplish what religious mobs alone failed to effect in Lachine. The same issues were involved. Jehovah’s witnesses were advertising Bible lectures and inviting the public to attend. More than a thousand did, but not to listen. They came in a religious Hierarchy-like crusade to break up Bible study. Prior to that, however, officials gave the “persecution ball” a lusty kick and started it rolling by arresting fifteen of Jehovah’s witnesses for distributing the invitation slips. These arrests were in violation of fundamental freedoms Canada boasts. This illegal prosecution was the “Go ahead” signal for lawless persecution by mobsters. The Christian witnesses broke no properly applied laws; they were arrested. The Boman Catholic mobsters shattered the law; not one of them even came near being arrested. Furthermore, this religious but far-from-Christian city enjoyed its devilish fling so thoroughly the first time that it staged a repeat performance one week later, both persecution and prosecution again collaborating. Chateauguay got a week’s head start over Lachine, launching its anarchistic career on September 9, 1.945. The Montreal Gazette, September 10, 1945, reported the town's disgrace as follows:

A crowd estimated at more than 1,000 men, women and children, many armed with canes and sticks, broke up an outdoor Bible lecture of the Witnesses of Jehovah here today by showering them with tomatoes, potatoes and rocks and overpowering the speaker’s voice with two powerful sirens. Twelve witnesses were arrested on charges of distributing circulars and they were released on $10 bail pending their arraignment in Valleyfield.

About 90 Witnesses from the Montreal East Unit arrived in Chateauguay at 10 o’clock this morning to join about 25 local members to organize the first of a series of three public outdoor meetings to be held in Chateauguay basin. About 50 of the delegates arrived in a chartered bus, while the rest travelled in private cars and by train. They had been promised, Paul H. Couture, district organizer claimed, the use of the City Hall Park for their meetings.

Shortly after their arrival, the Witnesses spread out throughout Chateauguay Basin op a door-to-door tour, giving a short Bible sermon in each house and distributing “invitations” for their large outdoor rally scheduled for the afternoon. Trouble started, Witnesses claim, when a group of local men, travelling in hired taxis, and acting under instructions of Bene Lussier, town secretary, and Police Chief McClintoch, started to round-up all the canvassers, on the charge of distributing circulars without a license. Mr. Couture, one of the twelve adults and three youngsters arrested before the Witnesses halted their tour, claimed that he was forced into a taxi by a group of strong-arm men who were not policemen and who did not identify themselves.

The 15 persons arrested were brought to the City Hall at about 11 o’clock in the morning and were kept in a small room until one o’clock, when they appeared before Mayor Reid and Secretary Lussier. The three youngsters were freed and the 12 others were each allowed $10 bail until their arraignment in Valleyfield. They were also told they could not use the City Hall Park for their afternoon meeting.

In the meantime, those who had not been arrested retired to the house of R. W. Weaner, where they were joined by/those released from the City Hall. Since they could not use the park, they decided to hold the Bible lecture in Mr. Weaner’s yard, where they installed their loudspeakers.

Long before the scheduled start of the meeting, at two o’clock, hundreds of men, women and children had gathered around the yard. By two o’clock, the mob was estimated at about 1,200 persons. However, only 200 of them actively took part in the mobbing.

As J. R. Dufour, 5863 Sth avenue, Rosemount, began his lecture on “Will Man Succeed as a World Rebuilder”, several taxis loaded with men arrived in front of the house, followed by a panel truck filled with tomatoes and potatoes. During the first 10 minutes, the crowd surged forward slowly, showering the 125 persons attending the meeting with tomatoes and some large potatoes.

Then someone threw the first rock, which injured a Witness. The latter ran after his attacker and tried to hold him for the police. He was jumped upon by about 10 men who allegedly kicked him and beat him. Finally, two big fire sirens were placed about 25 feet away from the speaker, forcing him to give up after a hectic 35 minutes. The Witnesses asked vainly for the protection of Provincial Police who had arrived following an emergency call to Montreal.

The mobbing continued as the Witnesses. tried to get into their chartered bus and their automobiles. During the meeting, some of the crowd nailed “No Parking” signs along the street where the Witnesses’ ears were parked. As their owners tried to obey the new signs, they found their way blocked by several taxis. Finally the bus and the cars succeeded in breaking through the blockade and returning to Montreal.

Damage to the Weaner home was reported considerable, with windows broken, and walls spattered with tomatoes and potatoes.

Chateauguay’a Second Plunge

into Demonocracy

Satan the Devil is incorrigibly wicked; he will never change. The trail of the Roman Catholic Hierarchy stretches back black and bloody for fifteen centuries. Though she has tried desperately, she has been unable to cover her tracks of Inquisition and crusades and massacres by mobs. The history of this hypocritical religious blood-spiller is a stench in the nostrils of all freedom-lovers and Godfearers. But repent? Never! She even boasts that she will never change. (Jeremiah 13:22,23; 2:34) Like the Devil, the “god of this world”, the Hierarchy could hardly change for the worse, and will not make a change for the better. Her dupes, many of them ignorant and blinded by rabble-rousing priests, are prone to follow her on her journey to the ditch of destruction. They did in Chateauguay. The religious dupes there felt so pleased with their un-Christlike mob action of September 9 that they retraced their steps one week later. Will they, like the Devil and the Hierarchy, never repent? Only the long-suffering Lord knows. But read now of their second transgression. The following quotation is from the Montreal Gazette, September 17, 1945:

In Chateauguay, 17 Witnesses were arrested yesterday on charges of distributing circulars without a permit, while many others received minor injuries. The Witnesses did not even have a chance to open the second of a series of three Bible lectures as the crowd, numbering about 1,500, showered them with vegetables of all kinds and attacked several members of the sect. Last week, 12 Witnesses were arrested before the meeting was broken up by the mob.

The 17 persons arrested, most of them women and youths, were picked up around noon by four special constables acting under orders of Mayor Reid and Police Chief MeClintoeh. The Witnesses were making a door-to-door canvass, distributing printed sermons as well as invitations to attend the afternoon meeting at the home of Mrs. R. W. Weaner, 11 Crepin street, where they had attempted to hold their first meeting, last Sunday.

An hour before the scheduled start of the meeting, at two o’clock, there were already more than 500 spectators surrounding the house and booing the 125 Witnesses who had come from Montreal and the Chateauguay district. When the meeting started with the introduction of the speaker, Paul Couture, whose subject was “Escape the Coming Destruction”, the mob had grown to about 1,500 and they began to shower the Witnesses with potatoes, cucumbers, rotten eggs and a few rocks. It was impossible for the three men of the Chateauguay police, directed by Chief MeClintoeh, and for a special detachment of five provincial policemen headed by Lieutenant Sigouin, to control the attackers and they asked the Witnesses to close their loudspeakers to calm the crowd.

This did no good, and the pelting of the members of the sect continued until they called off the meeting and retired in the Weaner home, shortly after two o’clock. The siege began with the abusing of Frank Ron-carelli and his two children who decided to return by themselves to Montreal, since the meeting was not being held.

“When I saw that the meeting was broken up, I went to the police and asked them to stop the throwing of the projectiles,” Mr. Roncarelli said last night. “They replied that it was impossible and ordered us to silence the loudspeakers if we did not want Mrs. Weaner to be arrested for disturbing the peace. Since there was no alternative we obeyed their order.”

He then came out of the yard with his two sons and started to walk towards his car, parked near the river front. He was showered with potatoes, one of which struck his youngest son. Finally he was overtaken by ten or twelve youths who jumped on him and beat him until he was rescued by the Provincial police. Mr. Roncarelli was then showered again by various projectiles and, while his oldest son was starting their car, he had to jump on the running board of another ear to escape the crowd.

Meanwhile a company inspector had ordered back to Montreal two of the three special buses which had taken the Witnesses to Chateauguay “because I cannot risk them in such a mob”, he told officials. As for the third bus, the crowd deflated its tires. This complicated the situation, since there were no means of evacuating the 125 Witnesses from the Weaner home.

Finally, about 60 of them went out by the back yard in small groups and were taken in Witnesses’ ears to various places on the. main highway where they could board regular buses. A crowd of more than 300 persons had gathered at the bridge at the entrance to Chateauguay Basin to stop any cars or buses carrying sect members.

The last group, numbering about 40 Witnesses, was first taken to the pavilion al the public beach to wait until some means of taking them back to Montreal had been found. However, the mob soon discovered their hideout and began to move toward the beach. The police, however, got there first and it was decided that the group should march to Woodlands, about two miles away to take trains and buses there.

The Witnesses had covered about half the distance escorted by the five provincial and three Chateauguay policemen when they were all overtaken by ears carrying youngsters. The worst fight of the day occurred with the Witnesses suffering several minor casualties. The hoodlums seized all the literature carried by the Witnesses and burned it in a field. [Just what this literature was is shown by the account in the Montreal Daily Star, September 17, when it stated: '‘Pamphlets and Bibles were torn to shreds and littered the lawns of the summer homes facing Lake St. Louis.”]

Many Righteously Disposed in Quebec

The mobsters are not highly regarded by many of their fellow citizens in the province of Quebec. After the first splurge in mobocracy by Chateauguay-ans the Toronto Evening Telegram, Sep-\ tember .12, 1945, said editorially:

* “Tolerant” Quebeckers

Stone Religious Meeting

At Chateauguay Basin, in the Quebec constituency of Beauharnois-Laprairie, a meeting of Jehovah Witnesses has been broken up by violence. A Montreal dispatch reports that about 1,000 men, women and children pelted with vegetables and stones the 125 persons attending, The meeting was being held at a private home, use of the local park having been refused. Earlier, 12 members of the sect had been arrested on charges of distributing circulars without a license and admitted to nominal bail pending arraignment.

There is some sort of law in Quebec requiring police sanction for distribution of literature printed outside the province. By defense counsel for a girl accused of distributing literature of the International Bible Students’ Association, some time ago, it was pointed out' that the law permits free distribution of religious literature, but the learned judge held that the association was not a religious organization. ■

If the law respecting literature has been violated in the present instance, no doubt appropriate penalties will be imposed. But no mention is made of action against persons committing unprovoked assault upon a religious group holding a lawful assembly. Possibly that has police sanction.

As the United Church Observer said in comment upon the Bible Students’ case, it is a dangerous precedent for any judge to impose a penalty for distribution of the literature of any religious sect, “If the distribution of literature is a crime for one group in the community,” it suggested, “what is to prevent some other judge from condemning as criminal the distribution of'literature from another group ?” :

. As a matter of fact, Quebec persecution has not been confined to what may be termed minor sects, but is apt to be visited upon any other than the Roman communion which ventures to propagate its doctrines. The Baptists could give testimony in that respect. Recurrence of incidents such as that at Chateauguay Basin makes it impossible to take seriously the assurance so insistently pressed upon Ontario people that Quebec is a repository of vast tolerance and a model of fairness to minorities. [Italics added.]

Following the double-barreled mob action in Chateauguay and Laehine one week later, many other Canadians expressed their disapproval of this well-known brand of Fascist Catholic Action. The above editorial from the Toronto Evening Telegram refers to a protest made by the United Church Observer. Apparently after the second assault a week later United Church ministers felt spurred to even more positive action in behalf of religious liberty. An article appearing in the final edition of the Montreal Standard, September 22, discloses their vigorous action in the interest of freedom:

United Churchmen Rap

‘ Attacks on “Witnesses”

Protesting against “the infringement of religious liberty” as demonstrated by recent attacks made at Laehine and Chateauguay on the Jehovah witnesses, the Alumni Association of the United Theological College, consisting of United Church ministers who arc graduates of the present college and of the three uniting colleges before 1925, have sent a letter to Premier Maurice Duplessis, in his capacity as attorney general of the province urging him to “take whatever steps may' be necessary” to assure freedom of worship.

The text of the letter, drawn up at the Association’s annual conference, follows:

“The Alumni Association of the United Theological College, Montreal, meeting in annual conference, having learned through the press of the recent attack made upon groups of Jehovah’s witnesses while endeavor-, ing to hold meetings at Chateauguay and Laehine, desires to place on record an em-phatie and earnest protest against this infringement of religious liberty.

“While not endorsing either the teachings or the methods of work of Jehovah’s witnesses, this alumni views with grave concern the actions of those who sought to prevent the meetings of the members of this organization, and considers this action as being in direct opposition to the principles of freedom and a vital part of our religious liberty for which so many of our citizens gave their lives in the war just ended.

“We therefore would earnestly urge the government of this province to 'take whatever steps may be necessary to prevent a recurrence of this lawlessness and to assure for all our people freedom of worship and of lawful assembly.”

The following appeared in the September 19 issue of the Montreal Gazette:

Denouncing the attack on 66 Witnesses of Jehovah at Laehine over the week-end, R. J. Lamoureux, district director of the United Steelworkers of Canada, Monday night appealed to “all workers and citizens of the Provider of Quebec to uphold the right of freedom to worship whatever creed individual people may choose.”

Mr. Lamoureux commented on the disturbances at Laehine and expressed his regret that people after fighting for liberty and freedom of speech should be deprived of such democratic principles because of the action of others who, he said, “act like fascists and will not tolerate the belief of others.”

“We, the workers of this country, who have fought dearly for victory over these forces of evil, which in their selfish and dictatorial reign will not tolerate any other group, want to protest against the mobbing at Laehine and Chateauguay, which brought disgrace upon this Province and which certainly was most undemocratic and unchristian,” Mr. Lamoureux said.

“Although I hold no brief for the Jehovah’s Witnesses, we, the citizens of this country, cannot tolerate the mobbing of fellow citizens because of their religious conviction,” the labor leader concluded.

This liberty-championing editorial graced the pages of the Montreal Daily Star on September 21:

A Shocking Example

The numerous letters which this paper has received from people of various religious beliefs condemning the lawless behaviour of some people of Chateauguay and Laehine towards adherents of a certain religious group indicate quite clearly that public opinion is keenly aroused over the matter. There can be no justification for such brutal treatment as was meted out to a group of Jehovah’s Witnesses who thought fit to hold meetings at Chateauguay and Laehine. They were committing no offence against the law, and whatever opinions people, may have as to their beliefs, they have just as much right to assemble or to hold demonstrations of their faith within the law as any other religious group in the Dominion,

To persecute them, as has been repeatedly done at Chateauguay, is intolerable, the direct negation of that freedom of religion which is one of the ideals for which the world of free men has been fighting for five long and bitter years. Those who profess to be Christians should behave like Christians, not take the law into their own hands and express their disapproval of any religious groups’ particular tenets by the employment of physical violence against them. The law exists for the protection of all Canadian citizens, but in this particular instance the guardians of law appear to have failed badly in the execution of their duty. Those guilty of attacks on the group of Jehovah’s Witnesses at Chateauguay and La-chine set a shocking example of intolerance which cannot but reflect on the people of Quebec.

This editorial attests the fact that the paper had received numerous letters from those of various religious beliefs; and doubtless some of these letters were from honest Catholics. All were unanimous in condemning the lawless mobsters of Chateauguay and Laehine. At least, the offenders were not cast in the light of public heroes, as similar offenders have been painted in the public press of the United States at times. But

newspapers other than the Daily Star received letters denouncing the robbers of freedom. One that was virtually packed with power was published by the Montreal Gazette, September 22. It follows in its entirety;

X Persecution of Witnesses of Jehovah * Sir,—I wonder how many thoughtful citizens, who last week read in our daily newspapers about the mob of rowdy citizens who stoned and, through other organized methods, broke up an .open-air religious service recently at Chateauguay, realize that this is just one more phase of a very persistent religious persecution against the Witnesses of Jehovah which has been going on in this province of ours for some years.

If the newspapers’ reports are accurate, no member of the unruly mob which injured people, damaged property and, in an organized manner, interfered with and finally broke up an open-air religious service on Sunday W'as arrested, yet 12 members of the group holding the religious service were arrested on a petty legal technicality.

If news items report accurately, the law was broken by authorities of the town in permitting "No Parking” signs to be placed in position after the cars of this religious group had been parked where ordinarily parking is permitted. Also, the law was broken by others who arranged for high-powered motor sirens to be brought up and blown to disturb the meeting. Those who did this must be known to local police. Why was no action taken against those lawbreakers by police whose duty it is to maintain law and order?

I wonder if thoughtful citizens of Montreal are aware:

That some time ago firearms were actually used against members of this same religious group to prevent them landing from a passenger steamer on the St. Lawrence to carry on their work at certain places on the river between Montreal and Quebec, and that as far as one knows no attempt was made to arrest those who carried out these murderous and illegal acts;

That during the war uniformed police raided a communion service being carried on in

a church hall in Montreal used by members of this same group. While members were attending this communion service quietly inside the church hall, the police entered, stopped the solemn service and called upon those present to produce their national registration certificates, and several who did not have the certificates with them were arrested and taken away by the police. Was that ever done in this province in any other church?

That innocent, refined, young girls, in their teens or early twenties, and other members of a legal religious body have been arrested in and around Montreal solely because they were endeavoring to preach the Word of God in the manner in which they think it should' be preached, and that in some eases they have been kept in Montreal’s most undesirable jails because they were unable or, because of their principles, unwilling to put up, the bail demanded ;

That an unreasonably high bail is at times demanded from these people, demanded by a police officer before trial as his method of arranging punishment;

That there are many of such cases now pending in the Court of one of the largest cities in the Province of Quebec and that long delays occur sometimes in carrying on the hearings, and that unless bail, sometimes unreasonably high in amount, is put up by the individuals themselves or by some friend, the person charged is kept in jail. I have been informed that individuals found in the streets of that municipality carrying Bibles have been accosted by the police and arrested on sight if they admitted being members of that particular religious order. Some of these have been placed behind the bars before trial.

A municipal by-law specially enforced only to carry on this religious persecution is, in my opinion, illegally enforced; first, because it should not in ahy case be applied against a religious group and, secondly, because the municipal authorities concerned would not dare to enforce the by-law consistently and apply it with equal force against a priest or a nun of the Boman Catholic Church, a member of the Salvation Army, the Boy Scouts or the Girl Guides, who repeatedly in the same way could be charged with breaking the same by

CONSOLATION law whenever they call at any house to speak of their work or distribute tickets, literature, etc., without first taking out and paying for a permit. Laws are not made to be enforced only against those who hold different religious beliefs to others. We have been fighting for six years to do away with that kind of law enforcement, but it is going on right now in this province and has been for some years.

I hold no brief for the Witnesses of Jehovah nor am I discussing their form of religious belief or practices and, prior to a few days ago, did not know personally any member of the order. A few days ago, however, on reading in the Montreal papers that a young lady from Westmount had been placed behind the bars after her arrest because she had called at some homes and expressed the wish to discuss with the lady who answered each door her form of religious belief, I did personally put up an unreasonably high amount of bail in order to prevent that young lady from going to the Fullum street jail and perhaps staying there for weeks or months until her case was finally dealt with by the Recorder's Court of one of the largest municipalities in the Province of Quebec.

Christ and his apostles were mobbed, interfered kith, stoned and beaten and cast into prison and some of them put to death by unruly, ignorant people who thought they had a right to interfere with the practice by others of a religion different from their own. Apparently it takes some people more than two thousand years to learn that this is an unChristian act.

Irving P. Rexford. Westmount, September 18.

Jehovah’s witnesses themselves report that now in the territories surrounding Chateauguay and Lachine many people speak kindly to them as they exhibit on public streets magazines expounding Bible truths. Honest, fair, freedom-loving persons want them to know that not all are in favor of mob action. Religion’s mobster tactics have failed again. The work is not stopped; it is advertised. Persecution leveled at Jehovah’s witnesses merely identifies them’as Christians. Did not Christ say His followers would be persecuted? Did He not also say that the persecutors would be religionists who claimed to served God? and that they would be so blinded by their religious leaders that in doing this persecution they would think they were doing God service? “The time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service,” Jesus said.—John 16:2.

Why More Tolerable for Sodom

But even persons strongly opposed to such cowardly mobbings may question the position taken that Giese cities are worse than Sodom. These cities do outnumber Sodom in the count of righteously disposed ones. Moral conditions may not be any worse; doubtless the vile sin of sodomy is not so prevalent. But Christ Jesus clearly showed, in the text quoted in the second paragraph of this article, why it will be more tolerable for depraved Sodom. An organized witness work concerning Jehovah and His kingdom had not been conducted in Sodom. The Sodomites were indecent and repulsive in their moral degeneracy, it is true. It is also true that they assaulted in a mob action Godly people and His messengers. But the Sodomites made no claims of serving God, had received no witness concerning Him, and had never possessed His Word nor studied His purposes. They did not sin against the light that comes with some knowledge of Jehovah. Therein lies the difference.

The Sodomites did not mob Lot’s household group because that group were servants of God declaring God’s message, but did it in pursuit of their depraved lust. The Catholic Quebeckers, on the other hand, launched their gang attacks with the explicit motive of halting the work of witnessing to God’s kingdom. They attacked because they opposed the carrying out of Jesus’ command that the gospel be preached. When Jesus sent out His gospel-preachers He said they would be so assaulted in some

cities, and He declared that because of such assaults against. Kis followers and against the Bible-preaching work the offending cities would be counted more intolerable than ancient Sodom and Gomorrah.

VRy Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them” * Determination as to who was right and who was wrong, who was serving God and who was serving Satan, in this controversy is not difficult. It is simple, apparent on the very surface. Personal or religious prejudice or opinion plays no part in the determination. Weigh the undisputed facts in the light of the simple, down-to-earth principle expounded by Christ Jesus : “Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Rather which is in heaven?’—Matthew 7:16-18, 20, 21.

Unquestionably the Catholic mobsters of Chateauguay and Lachine say “Lord, Lord” repeatedly; Jesus brushed such lip-service aside as immaterial. He focused attention on the all-important things, the doing of God’s will, the fruits brought forth. Reflect on the fruits or works of the religious mobocrats: In Lachine they besieged the witnesses in a private store, stoned them, beat an elderly man, injured women, wantonly destroyed property, and blocked the freedoms of assembly and worship and speech. Have you ever read of Christ or the apostles or other early Christians as bringing forth those fruits ? But you . have read in the Scriptures of rabid religionists bringing forth such corrupt and evil fruits against the early Christians, haven’t you?

' Chateauguay’s fruits of identification came in a bumper crop. The Witnesses were arrested for inviting people to a Bible lecture. The officials and people did not want the invitations passed out; yet they came to the meeting. The mobsters came armed with clubs and brought in a truckload of fruit to throw, to wThich they added stones. Sirens were operated to drown out the speaker’s voice. “No parking” signs were illegally put up where the Witnesses had legally parked their cars. When the Witnesses then tried to move their cars they were set upon by overwhelming numbers and cruelly beaten. They were trailed across the countryside by the howling mobsters running in wolf-pack style. Bibles were torn to bits and burned. A Christian act? Not even a fool would so argue. But it is. a centuries-old practice of the Bible-hating Hierarchy. Any mobsters arrested? Were any of those who mobbed Jesus or the apostles ot other early followers ever arrested? No; Christ and His followers were always the ones arrested and haled into court. Chateauguay’s police follow’ed that evil precedent. They arrested no mobsters, but ensnared first fifteen and later seventeen of Jehovah’s witnesses in their police net. Evil and corrupt fruits, indeed!

Evil Fruits Unjustified

The chorus will swell from the throats of the Catholic anti-Christians, now, that Jehovah’s witnesses brought it on themselves, that they ‘asked for it’, and ‘got what-they deserved’. Such arguments are childish. Granted that the truth of the Bible is offensive to blind religionists and stirs their wrath mightily. Did not the straightforward message of Christ Jesus inflame the hatred of religionists, and even result in His murder? Did not Tic brand the religionists as show-offs, hypocrites, preventers of others entering the Kingdom, coveters of such un-scriptural titles as “Father”, blind guides, blind fools, whited sepulchers full of dead men’s hones, serpents, a generation of vipers, liars, sons of the Devil, and so on? His conclusion was that the religious hypocrites could not escape the damnation of destruction. (Matthew, chapter 23; John 8:43-45) Jehovah’s witnesses have never matched the scathing denunciations Christ Jesus leveled against religion, but the telling truths they utter cut deep. The religious response is always violence and mob action and persecution, often aided by a puppet police force; never is it in the form of logical and reasoning rebuttal of the statements made. How can they rebut the truth of God’s Word? They seize today the only weapon their prototypes could seize in Jesus’ day—violence!

There is lawful recourse in the event of libel or slander; but the Hierarchy knows the truths declared by Jehovah’s witnesses cannot be proved libel and slander. But for sake of argument, suppose the Witnesses were spreading false reports concerning religion. Would not the religionists, if they were Christians, be <fharmless as doves”, accept it as part of the persecution Christ Jesus foretold for His followers, and be content to let vengeance rest with God ? They can never justify their evil fruits. of mobocracy by the standards of Christianity. Vile abuse and slander and libel have been heaped upon Jehovah’s witnesses by the Hierarchy and her agents. It is of small consequence. What is done unto God’s witnesses is as though it were done to Jehovah and His King Christ Jesus. These supreme “higher powers” can and will settle the account in Their due time.

The Witnesses neither will nor desire to dip into such devilish tactics as mobbings and stonings to combat persecution. The Witnesses rest faithfully and confidently in the Lord and His power; the Hierarchy has only ritual and form of godliness, but has no faith and denies the power of the Almighty.—2 Timothy 3: 5.

Lachine and Chateauguay,

Whom Do You Serve?

You are religious towns. You are located in an avowedly democratic land. You claim to serve God; you claim to be for freedom. Yet if freedom is exercised by those who disagree with you, you don’t use the freedom you claim to love to combat their utterances. Your remedy is storm-trooper methods of violence and suppression; your remedy is to stop the other fellow’s freedom. Though your words are, your actions are not in harmony with that for which democracies have just finished fighting a long and bloody global war. Your claims of serving God are hollow, empty; as much so as are your claims for freedom. You lipserve God and freedom; actually you lend yourselves as servants of just the opposite of them. The apostle Paul laid down the rule, “Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” (Romans 6:16) It is the fruits brought forth that count. How long will yours be evil?

Canada Waives Compulsory Flag Salute

MAN without God is a futile creature.

He is lost and emptied and casts about him for some substitute, something that will enable him to express, without the cost of true worship, the hunger of his heart for an object of devotion. Detached from the true author of his existence, God, he has worshiped every conceivable thing and creature within the range of his vision and imagination, and done so since the dawn of history.

Certain demagogues, conscious of the power of man’s devotion, have sought to control and direct it to their own advantage. “The cross and the flag” have elicited their panegyrics, not so much for the significance of these emblems as

for the power of their appeal to the people. The propagandists have overlooked in this strategy the star of David and the crescent of Islam, not to mention other religious symbols which to their respective devotees are just as sacred as . the religious cross is to a supposed mat jority.

* It is remarkable that millions who would not bow down or render other obeisance to the cross readily enough give ceremonial recognition to the national emblem. Nor does that fact reflect any outright opposition to Christ Jesus who died upon the tree. It is simply a failure to realize that ceremonial gestures to symbols and images of all kinds are in the nature of idolatry, whether that gesture be a bow, a salute, or other gesture addressed to an inanimate object. Some, however, do believe that such expressions of veneration or devotion conflict with the undivided worship to be directed to (lod alone. They insist on their right to refrain from such gestures. Among these are Jehovah’s witnesses. Their attitude is considered "peculiar”, not because it is contrary to reason or Scripture but because it is a departure from custom. But the flag saliite issue cannot be lightly dismissed. It has been fought out in the courts of the United States to the point of victory for freedom in the highest court, the Supreme Court at Washington. (See Consolation No. 622.)

Other lands, too, have had their “flag salute cases”, Canada among them. There, too, the absolute right of the individual to render obeisance to God . alone, and to refuse giving recognition to symbols, had to be acknowledged, however reluctantly. The case in point was that of the two sons of one of Jehovah’s witnesses, Robert and Graham Donald. They had come to the conviction that the flag salute ceremony was a species of image worship, and declined to continue it, even though the school regulations made it a daily practice, and their stand brought them undesired publicity. The continual ceremonial singing of the national anthem likewise became objectionable to them. They discontinued that also, standing at respectful attention while the class as a whole engaged in these devotions. They caused no disturbance, created no scene.

Suspended for Conscientiousness

It did not take long for the teachers and the principal to take note of the course of these boys, and to take action in the matter. The boys were suspended because they did not choose to take part in a ceremonial that involved adulation of men and obeisance to inanimate symbols, such as the flag. Other children of Jehovah’s witnesses were similarly affected at different times, so that in the course of time there were as many as forty suspended from the schools in Hamilton and in other cities of Canada. A Kingdom school was provided by the parents, so that the children might receive private instruction while unable to attend the public schools. The accompanying photograph shows 26 pupils and the teacher of the Kingdom school.

The question had to be settled as to whether children, well-behaved and intelligent, should be deprived of their rights to an unhindered education in the public schools simply because of conscientious scruples against participating in a ceremony. The case was taken to court, action being brought by the father of Robert and Graham Donald, A decision against them was handed down. They had to salute and sing or else no education, although the parents paid taxes and all were law-abiding citizens in every respect.

But the matter did not end there. The case was taken to a court of appeals, which thought more impartially and judged differently. While the court professed that it could-not understand why anyone should not want to salute the beautiful Canadian flag, it did admit the right of the defendants to refrain from so doing, if they conscientiously believed

Pupils of the Hamilton, Ontario, Kingdom school and their teacher. They were expelled from the public school because they declined to do obeisance to the flag on conscientious and Scriptural grounds.

it to be wrong. And as for the national anthem, why should anybody object to singing it every day? True, it was in the nature of a poetic prayer, and some people, somehow, do not care to have anybody dictate what they shall pray for or put words into their mouths, but that was not the point. The conscience of the individual must not be overridden.

The court unanimously agreed and ruled that the appellants had certain liberties of conscience and of worship which must be respected. They might have the “peculiar” idea that gestures of obeisance and expressions of worship were to be given to God only, but if that was their conviction they had a right to it. It was pointed out, too, that the statute provided that

No pupil in a public school shall be required to read or study in or from any re

NOVEMBER ?, 1945 ligious book, or to join in any exercise of devotion or religion, objected to by his parent or guardian.

If the ceremonials of saluting the flag and singing the national anthem were not religious (though they were such to the appellants) there could be no doubt that they were an exercise of devotion.

The Court of Appeals accordingly ruled that Robert and Graham are entitled to attend the public school of Hamilton and to refrain, on conscientious grounds, from joining in the school exercises of saluting the flag and singing the national anthem.

The court further allowed the father a refund of $378 to cover expenses incurred in educating his sons privately during the time the school authorities were depriving them of public education on the mistaken notion that they must

wave their hands at a flag and sing a prayer-song each day in order to enjoy that for which their father was being taxed.

The Crux of the Matter

The Court of Appeals very effectively j put its finger on the crux of the matter, ilt is the individual’s conscience, not the courts, that must determine his actions. The judgment stated: .

There are many acts which are not acts of worship apd which for most men have no religious significance and are entirely unrelated to the practice of any religious principle or tenet but which may involve a violation of an obligation which other men may think is imposed upon them by divine command or religious authority. To use a homely illustration, partaking of food is ordinarily in no sense “any approach to a religious - observance”. It is purely mundane, with no religious significance, and yet ordinances establishing fast days or prohibiting the use of certain kinds of food are part of the religion of many people.

That certain acts, exercises and symbols at certain times, or to certain people, connote a significance or meaning which, at other times or to other people, is completely absent is a fact so obvious from history, and from observation, that it needs no elaboration.

The fact that the appellants conscientiously believe the views which they assert is not here in question.

Or, otherwise expressed, one man’s conscience cannot be governed by another man’s judgment. As one of the young defendants succinctly stated the matter, “It is my conscience!” He had to do what he believed was acceptable to God, and to refrain f’romyioing what he believed to be wrong.

But the school board, apparently so eager to comply’' with the law as to deprive children of an education, were less eager when the law was shown to mean that they must admit the children and respect their conscientious objections to ceremonial acts of devotion, including the flag salute. The board carried the case to the Canadian Supreme Court. This court, however, waived the flag salute aside, dismissing with costs the application of the Hamilton board for a hearing, and allowing the judgment of the Court of Appeals to stand.

Where Are the $26,000,000,000?

IT IS calculated that when the Nazi gangsters were overrunning Europe they extorted in occupation costs and unpaid-for goods not less than $26,000,000,000. Things like locomotives and machine tools can be readily identified, but when it gets to cash it is not too easy.

Switzerland has been for generations a place where stolen money can be hidden. In a copyrighted article Barron’s, of 40 New street, New York city, tells how it is done. A man walks into a Swiss bank and opens an account with a number and a key word, gets a receipt for his money, and ten years later he or one of his friends or children can get the money by returning the original receipt and giving the password.

Barron’s estimate that the German assets in Swiss banks may be as much as $350,000,000, exclusive of the contents of safe deposit boxes. They think similar funds invested in Argentina may run to as much as $500,000,000; those in Sweden less than $150,000,000, and Spain $30,000,000. The bulk of the $26,000,000,000 are in Germany. Barron’s explains:

Since 1935 the /Nazi Party has used the system of political blackmail with virtuosity. All over Germany every town and village had its local “fuehrer” who levied taxes not only on big and small business and corporations, but also on farmers, employees, and even school children. Money thus collected went directly into the accounts of the party. No one dared refuse to support the party. •,

I’TiiyWoRD IS Tr.UTH”

“Johnl7:17

Why Any “All Souls’ Day”?

T N THE fifth century before Christ the -*■ pagan Grecian philosopher Socrates taught the pagans that the human soul is immortal and imperishable. In the first century after Christ the Christian apostle Paul wrote to his fellow Christian Timothy these words: "But is now made manifest by the illumination of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath destroyed death, and hath brought to light life and incorruption by the gospel,” (2 Timothy 1:10, Catholic Douay Version) “The Blessed and only Mighty, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, and inhabiteth light inaccessible, whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and empire everlasting.”-! Timothy 6:15,16, Douay Version,

The apostle Paul therefore contradicts the pagan Socrates and his disciple Plato. Either Socrates and Plato were right in teaching their pre-Christian doctrine that the human soul cannot and does not die or else the Christian apostle is right that the human soul dies and never had immortality, but that Christ Jesus is the first one to open up the way whereby creatures may gain the reward of incorruption and immortality with Him in heaven/ All the rest of the Holy Bible supports the apostle Paul as being right and the pagan teacher Socrates as being absolutely wrong. It is on Socrates’ un-Christian religious teaching of the immortality of the human soul that the so-called “All Souls’ Day” was observed on November 2 by offering prayers for the souls of the dead, as if such human souls were yet alive in some invisible, spiritual place.

The false religious doctrine that has grown out of so-called "inherent human immortality” is that of the torment of the human soul after death in a fiery “purgatory” or “hell”. For such torment to be either temporary or perpetual, the life of the soul must be continuous after man dies; hence the two doctrines of the soul and of soul torment after death must stand or fall together. Such doctrines being both un-Biblical, un-Scrip-tural, un-apostolic, and hence un-Chrjs-tion and false, they must fall. The Word of God in The Holy Bible is truth, and in due time must prevail.

God’s inspired prophet wrote concerning man: “Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels.” (Psalm 8:5) This being true, it disproves the doctrine of so-called “evolution” and the doctrine of “inherent human immortality”. If man were inherently immortal, and since the angels are higher than man, then it would follow that angels are immortal. The Holy Scriptures show that the angels are not immortal. Many of the angels followed the cherub Lucifer in his rebellion against Jehovah God and became demons, very wicked. God imprisoned such fallen angels until judgment day for execution. (Genesis 6:2; Jude 6; 2 Peter 2:4) God has declared that in His own due time “all the wicked will he destroy”. (Psalm 145:20) The chief among these wicked ones is the Devil, that one-time angel of great light and power. The fact that these wicked angels will be wiped out is conclusive proof that they are not immortal. The Devil, the chief among them, will be destroyed by God, according to Hebrews 2:14 and Ezekiel 28: 19. Hence the fact that man is lower than such lofty angels is another proof that man is not immortal.

If man were a creature of evolution, then the loftier angels must also be creatures of evolution, because the Scriptures compare the creation of angels and man and Mate that man is on the lower plane of life. Besides, the Holy Scripturns say that God made the angels and also man, so that the fact that God made them both is proof that neither the angels nor men were evolved.

.Human observation shows us that man walks about, breathes, and performs his usual functions. If axi accident befalls Glim his breath is taken away completely, ithe body no longer functions, and the man is dead. This experience, well known to be common to all men, is exactly in harmony with the Word of God: At Genesis 2: 7 the Scriptures declare that God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and a living human soul resulted. Take away the breath of life and the blood ceases to circulate, the action of the heart stops, and the man is dead. It was God's holy power that made man and gave him the breath of life. The power of God exercised takes away the breath of life and therefore death ensues. Upon this point note the words of men of God,' namely: “The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.” (Job 33 : 4) “Thou takest away their breath, they die, and return to their dust.’-Psalm 104:29.

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