New York, 1895
It happens now and then that presumptuous people have to he punished for the benefit of mankind. The Rev. Mr. Wightman, a Baptist preacher at Oyster Bay, is an instance. He was last week fined $50 for a violation of the health laws of the town, and it is a good sign that the town officers had the moral courage to inflict the penalty. So many people stand in awe of a clergyman that they of the cloth are wont to presume upon this diffidence and go a length that is unreasonable. When a clergyman does wrong he merits just the treatment that would be measured out to a layman in the same circumstances. The glossing over and condoning of clerical misdeeds has worked great injury to the church and always will.
The Rev. Mr. Wightman deliberately defied the lawful authorities of his town, and broke the law with premeditation. That took him out of the ranks of holy minded, peace loving ministers, and set him down in the byway with transgressors. A man cannot be a pious clergyman and a bad citizen at the same time. There was an epidemic of scarlet fever in the town, and to confine it and save life, the health board, by legal right, ordered the schools closed, and forbade the opening of the Sunday schools and churches, and the clergymen of every denomination complied with the order except Mr. Wightman, who held both a prayer meeting and Sunday services. His great offense was in doing this after he had been twice cautioned not to do it by an officer of the law. He argues in justification of his defiance of the law of the state of New York, that the constitution of the United States guarantees him the right of freedom of worship. So it does, but always subject to reasonable restrictions which the law of the state may impose, and the health board was acting entirely with the scope of the constitution.
Mr. Wightman is incapable of interpreting the meaning of the term "freedom of worship." His only right is to worship God as his conscience may direct. That right was not interfered with in the least. He has no right to so worship as to spread contagion and imperil life. The four walls of a church are not inseparable from worship. All church goers are not given to worship. A prayer from the heart would avail as much on a mountain top as within the walls of a sanctuary. It is not the man who prays, but the man who prays right, that is cherished of God. Human laws are made for the well being of the people, and in the main they are founded on divine tradition. Closing a church to preserve life and health is as essentially Christian as legal, and we do not believe that the prayers of the Rev. Mr. Wightman, with the malice of defiance in his heart, were acceptable to his Master on this particular Sunday. We are taught that God is a just God, and therefore an unjust servant cannot be his delight. Mr. Wightman merited his punishment.
—The Long Island Farmer, Jamaica, NY, Jan. 25, 1895, p. 4.
Showing posts with label worship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label worship. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Thursday, May 31, 2007
She Goes to Church Alone
1902
Quakeress at Woodstown, N. J., Worships in Solitude to Keep Possession of Building
The little orthodox Friends' meeting-house at Woodstown, N. J., has only one surviving worshiper, Miss Priscilla Lippincott, an old woman, who, twice a week, carefully arrayed in the garb of that sect, goes alone to the building and frequently sits an hour on "First day" in the cushioned pew which she has occupied for 50 years.
Sometimes she sits in silence; at others, when the spirit moves, she speaks, with the long since emptied benches as her only earthly audience. The orthodox Quakers, once so numerous, built the meeting-house, but all save Miss Lippincott have died, joined other meetings, or united with the Hicksites. If Miss Lippincott should fail to hold services in the little meeting-house it would revert to the heirs of the original owner of the land, but so long as services continue to be held there it cannot be disturbed, and, therefore, she never fails to be at the door, with the big brass key, at the hour for service on "First" and "Fifth" days.
Quakeress at Woodstown, N. J., Worships in Solitude to Keep Possession of Building
The little orthodox Friends' meeting-house at Woodstown, N. J., has only one surviving worshiper, Miss Priscilla Lippincott, an old woman, who, twice a week, carefully arrayed in the garb of that sect, goes alone to the building and frequently sits an hour on "First day" in the cushioned pew which she has occupied for 50 years.
Sometimes she sits in silence; at others, when the spirit moves, she speaks, with the long since emptied benches as her only earthly audience. The orthodox Quakers, once so numerous, built the meeting-house, but all save Miss Lippincott have died, joined other meetings, or united with the Hicksites. If Miss Lippincott should fail to hold services in the little meeting-house it would revert to the heirs of the original owner of the land, but so long as services continue to be held there it cannot be disturbed, and, therefore, she never fails to be at the door, with the big brass key, at the hour for service on "First" and "Fifth" days.
Monday, May 28, 2007
That Awful Day Will Surely Come
1907
The Congregation Smiled
Two country clergymen had agreed to exchange pulpits on a certain date. One of them made the following solemn announcement to his congregation on the Sabbath previous to the event:
"My dear brethren and sisters, I have the pleasure of stating that on next Sunday morning the Rev. Zachariah B. Day will preach for you. Let us now sing two verses of hymn No. 489, 'That Awful Day Will Surely Come.'"
And it took him some time to discover why the congregation smiled.
A Queer Custom
Curious Basket Ceremony of Siamese Ancestral Worship
If the "basket supper" of worthy tradition is a feature of New England church sociability, the orient has a fashion of its own connected with baskets, and religious ceremony. Mary Cost, in her book on Siam, tells of a custom which forms a mysterious part of Siamese ancestral worship.
The ceremony is called krachat, which means basket. When the time for observing it is at hand, the king commands the princess to make large baskets and to buy articles with which to fill them. Around the palace booths are built, covered with red and white cloth, and here the baskets are displayed. The king himself goes out to inspect them.
The baskets are filled with all sorts of things, from rice, sweetmeats, sugar, cakes and onions to articles of a more lasting nature. The baskets are woven in all sorts of curious shapes. One may be in the form of a cart hauled by two buffaloes covered with tobacco instead of hair and with many useful things in the cart. Tree baskets have all sorts of articles hanging to the branches, such as saws, knives, handkerchiefs, and so forth. Bushel baskets are pierced with doors, in and out of which run automatic dolls covered with coins. Some of the baskets are immense, being sixteen feet long.
The show lasts a week, at the end of which the priests draw lots for the spoil.
The Congregation Smiled
Two country clergymen had agreed to exchange pulpits on a certain date. One of them made the following solemn announcement to his congregation on the Sabbath previous to the event:
"My dear brethren and sisters, I have the pleasure of stating that on next Sunday morning the Rev. Zachariah B. Day will preach for you. Let us now sing two verses of hymn No. 489, 'That Awful Day Will Surely Come.'"
And it took him some time to discover why the congregation smiled.
A Queer Custom
Curious Basket Ceremony of Siamese Ancestral Worship
If the "basket supper" of worthy tradition is a feature of New England church sociability, the orient has a fashion of its own connected with baskets, and religious ceremony. Mary Cost, in her book on Siam, tells of a custom which forms a mysterious part of Siamese ancestral worship.
The ceremony is called krachat, which means basket. When the time for observing it is at hand, the king commands the princess to make large baskets and to buy articles with which to fill them. Around the palace booths are built, covered with red and white cloth, and here the baskets are displayed. The king himself goes out to inspect them.
The baskets are filled with all sorts of things, from rice, sweetmeats, sugar, cakes and onions to articles of a more lasting nature. The baskets are woven in all sorts of curious shapes. One may be in the form of a cart hauled by two buffaloes covered with tobacco instead of hair and with many useful things in the cart. Tree baskets have all sorts of articles hanging to the branches, such as saws, knives, handkerchiefs, and so forth. Bushel baskets are pierced with doors, in and out of which run automatic dolls covered with coins. Some of the baskets are immense, being sixteen feet long.
The show lasts a week, at the end of which the priests draw lots for the spoil.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Tricks of the Medicine Men
1910
Secrets Are Revealed to Them In Dreams
A young Indian, who is ambitious to become a doctor, and finally a prophet, learns from his father or other members of his tribe, the name and medicinal properties of some herb, says a writer in the Denver Field and Farm. He can also, by presenting a sufficient number of ponies to a medicine man, prevail upon the doctor to impart the secret of the herbs to him. Frequently Indians allege that the secret is revealed to them in a dream, or by a bird or an animal. After procuring it, the novice is prepared to begin the practice of medicine. Success in their opinion is only possible with the aid of the Great Spirit, and in order to invoke the help of the supernatural they resort to various sacrifices.
For instance, there is the practice of ascending a butte or other elevation and lying with the face to the ground for several days without food or until they are completely exhausted. During this period they profess to have been taught some song or the Great Spirit conversed with them through a bird, wild animal or reptile. They frequently allege that wolves come to them and howl and that they understand what the animals say. While treating a patient they place tobacco in little pouches which they tie with sinew. These are painted brilliant colors and fastened to willow sticks about the size of the shaft of an arrow, but somewhat longer.
The Earliest Religion
Religion was at first purely dogmatic, an affair of the family, pure and simple. The gods were the dead ancestors, and the worship consisted of the perpetual care of the hearth fire and the graves of the departed relatives. It was the ancient belief (the most ancient, so far as we know) that the departed ancestors continued to live in or about the tomb, and that their peace and happiness depended absolutely upon the care with which their posterity looked after their worship. If the hearth fire was allowed to die down, or the tomb was neglected, or the food and drink were not faithfully taken to the tomb, their existence became a wretched one; whereas, if these things were carefully attended to, all was serene with them. There is much to show that this domestic belief obtained for a long time before the belief in God and a future life came in. — Chicago American.
Secrets Are Revealed to Them In Dreams
A young Indian, who is ambitious to become a doctor, and finally a prophet, learns from his father or other members of his tribe, the name and medicinal properties of some herb, says a writer in the Denver Field and Farm. He can also, by presenting a sufficient number of ponies to a medicine man, prevail upon the doctor to impart the secret of the herbs to him. Frequently Indians allege that the secret is revealed to them in a dream, or by a bird or an animal. After procuring it, the novice is prepared to begin the practice of medicine. Success in their opinion is only possible with the aid of the Great Spirit, and in order to invoke the help of the supernatural they resort to various sacrifices.
For instance, there is the practice of ascending a butte or other elevation and lying with the face to the ground for several days without food or until they are completely exhausted. During this period they profess to have been taught some song or the Great Spirit conversed with them through a bird, wild animal or reptile. They frequently allege that wolves come to them and howl and that they understand what the animals say. While treating a patient they place tobacco in little pouches which they tie with sinew. These are painted brilliant colors and fastened to willow sticks about the size of the shaft of an arrow, but somewhat longer.
The Earliest Religion
Religion was at first purely dogmatic, an affair of the family, pure and simple. The gods were the dead ancestors, and the worship consisted of the perpetual care of the hearth fire and the graves of the departed relatives. It was the ancient belief (the most ancient, so far as we know) that the departed ancestors continued to live in or about the tomb, and that their peace and happiness depended absolutely upon the care with which their posterity looked after their worship. If the hearth fire was allowed to die down, or the tomb was neglected, or the food and drink were not faithfully taken to the tomb, their existence became a wretched one; whereas, if these things were carefully attended to, all was serene with them. There is much to show that this domestic belief obtained for a long time before the belief in God and a future life came in. — Chicago American.
Monday, April 30, 2007
The Real Sheikhs — They Trace Their Descent From Heaven
1926
CATTLE MEN REAL SHEIKS
MEMBERS OF YAZIDIES TRIBE CLAIM THEY CAN TRACE THEIR DESCENT FROM HEAVEN
Aleppo, Syria.—Taous Malak, the "fallen angel" whom God expelled from heaven, is the patron saint of the sheikhs — not those whose handsome profiles thrown against the American screen have made flappers' hearts flutter.
The tribe of the Yazidies, worshippers of Satan, from which the original sheikhs sprang, are nomads living from cattle raising. They number about 12,000 and their habitat is north of Aleppo near the Djebel Soumann. Another branch is to be found at Khaltar, a small town in the vicinity of Diarkebir.
Trace Ancestry From Heaven
Sheikhs claim they can trace their ancestry from heaven, being direct descendents of Sheik Charaf-Eddin or "the moon." Another early sheikh was Amadin, which means "pillar supporting heaven," while a third one was directly related to the sun.
Some of the present day sheikhs claim to have the power of miracle in rendering inoffensive the bites of snakes and scorpions.
Why Devil Is Worshiped
"Why do you worship the devil," asked an American who had been bitten by a poisonous insect, and desirous of ascertaining the miraculous power of the sheikhs, had sent for one.
"Satan is the source of all evil and if we ignore him we cannot avoid his wrath. God on the contrary is the essence of kindness and therefore we have nothing to fear from him," was the way the reply was translated.
No Divorce Among Sheikhs
There is no divorce among the real sheikhs, in which they differ somewhat from the American species.
Sheikhs marry only the daughters of other sheikhs. The marriage ceremony is very simple. It is a question of mutual consent between the bride and the bridegroom, expressed before one of the older sheikhs. Both newlyweds are then branded with red ink on the shoulders and forehead.
The sheikh performing the ceremony then takes a branch of a tree and breaking it in two, says: "Remain united until death parts you as force has broken this branch."
—Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, Wisconsin Rapids, WI, Aug. 12, 1926, p. 4.
CATTLE MEN REAL SHEIKS
MEMBERS OF YAZIDIES TRIBE CLAIM THEY CAN TRACE THEIR DESCENT FROM HEAVEN
Aleppo, Syria.—Taous Malak, the "fallen angel" whom God expelled from heaven, is the patron saint of the sheikhs — not those whose handsome profiles thrown against the American screen have made flappers' hearts flutter.
The tribe of the Yazidies, worshippers of Satan, from which the original sheikhs sprang, are nomads living from cattle raising. They number about 12,000 and their habitat is north of Aleppo near the Djebel Soumann. Another branch is to be found at Khaltar, a small town in the vicinity of Diarkebir.
Trace Ancestry From Heaven
Sheikhs claim they can trace their ancestry from heaven, being direct descendents of Sheik Charaf-Eddin or "the moon." Another early sheikh was Amadin, which means "pillar supporting heaven," while a third one was directly related to the sun.
Some of the present day sheikhs claim to have the power of miracle in rendering inoffensive the bites of snakes and scorpions.
Why Devil Is Worshiped
"Why do you worship the devil," asked an American who had been bitten by a poisonous insect, and desirous of ascertaining the miraculous power of the sheikhs, had sent for one.
"Satan is the source of all evil and if we ignore him we cannot avoid his wrath. God on the contrary is the essence of kindness and therefore we have nothing to fear from him," was the way the reply was translated.
No Divorce Among Sheikhs
There is no divorce among the real sheikhs, in which they differ somewhat from the American species.
Sheikhs marry only the daughters of other sheikhs. The marriage ceremony is very simple. It is a question of mutual consent between the bride and the bridegroom, expressed before one of the older sheikhs. Both newlyweds are then branded with red ink on the shoulders and forehead.
The sheikh performing the ceremony then takes a branch of a tree and breaking it in two, says: "Remain united until death parts you as force has broken this branch."
—Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune, Wisconsin Rapids, WI, Aug. 12, 1926, p. 4.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Women Seeking to Prohibit Peyote Use
NEW INDIAN DRUG
Colorado Women Seek to Prohibit Use of "Peyote"
Denver, Colo., Jan. 29. — Peyote prohibition has made its appearance in Colorado. It is being urged by a group of socially prominent women in Denver under the leadership of Mrs. S. A. R. Brown, and is an effort to stop the traffic among the Indians in "peyote," the dried leaf of the cactus, which in similar in its effect to opium or cocaine. A bill has been introduced in the legislature which absolutely prohibits the sale or gift of peyote in Colorado. A similar bill is now before the legislature in Utah.
To get a better hold on their victims, the peyote peddlers have lent a religious tone to the ceremony of eating the drug, so that the peyote is worshiped in a semi-barbaric festival before an orgy is held.
—The Van Wert Daily Bulletin, Van Wert, Ohio, January 29, 1917, page 1.
Colorado Women Seek to Prohibit Use of "Peyote"
Denver, Colo., Jan. 29. — Peyote prohibition has made its appearance in Colorado. It is being urged by a group of socially prominent women in Denver under the leadership of Mrs. S. A. R. Brown, and is an effort to stop the traffic among the Indians in "peyote," the dried leaf of the cactus, which in similar in its effect to opium or cocaine. A bill has been introduced in the legislature which absolutely prohibits the sale or gift of peyote in Colorado. A similar bill is now before the legislature in Utah.
To get a better hold on their victims, the peyote peddlers have lent a religious tone to the ceremony of eating the drug, so that the peyote is worshiped in a semi-barbaric festival before an orgy is held.
—The Van Wert Daily Bulletin, Van Wert, Ohio, January 29, 1917, page 1.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
Ship's Boy Gets Sacred Black Cat from Hindu Temple
1912
SHIP'S BOY GETS SACRED BLACK CAT
Strays Into Hindoo Temple at Bombay and Escapes with Life and Feline.
SOMETHING HIT HIM
Daring Apprentice of Tramp Steamer Who Went in Search of Adventure at an Indian Port Had Plenty of Excitement
Philadelphia.—A daring apprentice who had the audacity to steal into a Hindoo temple and kidnap a sacred cat is the tale that a tramp steamer brings to this port.
The apprentice, Albert Berrige, passed behind the veil of one of the most sacred temples of the Hindoos in Bombay, saw with his Caucasian eyes the great idols and returned to the outer world with the sacred cat. The cat once bore, no doubt, a strange Indian name, but since joining the tramp ship the sacred feline has been dubbed Tommy. Tommy is as black as the conscience of a bigamist and is not very different from other cats. Black cats bring good luck to ships that plough the seven seas, so Tommy is held in great esteem. While Berrige's ship swung at her anchor off "The City of the Dreadful Night," as Kipling has called Bombay, the towering domes of the Hindoo temples kindled Albert's imagination, and he chafed at the bit until he had obtained shore leave.
"Be back by sundown, young man," ordered the captain as the apprentice went over the side about midday. There was so much to interest Albert that he forgot altogether the captain's injunction to be back by sundown. Darkness had enveloped the city when Albert reached one of the Hindoo temples, probably the most sacred in all Bombay.
"It was all dark and scary in that temple," said the apprentice in telling of his adventure. "There were big pillars all round with the most scary looking carvings you ever saw. I got behind one of these pillars all by myself and tried to see what was going on. Away off in the distance I saw some lights burning in front of a row of big idols that looked like huge monkeys. The Hindoos who were coming into the temple were making their way toward those idols, bowing and sort of sing-songing. They were so busy in their worship of the big gilded monkeys and things that they would not have seen me if I had been on fire.
"I was so encouraged by my success in getting to the front, near the big show, that I kept on the move through the dark. Suddenly, as I tiptoed along, I put my foot down on something soft. The next thing I knew there came a yowl and screech that made my backbone feel as though a bolt of lightning was running up and down it. The sing-song and the moaning had ceased. There was absolute silence for a moment.
"Suddenly I felt something hit me in the middle of the back. Then I felt sharp claws digging into my hide. The next instant I was traveling like a meteor toward the temple entrance and every manjack of these Hindoos in pursuit.
"When I reached the door two husky Hindoos jumped in front of me. I lowered my head and struck one of them amidships. He went down with a gulp like a man swallowing his adam's apple. I dodged the other fellow and jumped and half tumbled down the steps from the temple doorway. When I hit the street I kept up my running. The Hindoos were soon distanced. I must have run for a mile with that cat clawing at my spinal column. Then when I got up a dark street I stopped and tried to dislodge the cat. I finally had to take off my coat to get the beast to release his claws.
"When I got Mr. Cat into my arms he was as docile as you please and purred in real cat fashion. So I says to myself, 'It's a black cat and that means good luck, so I'll take him on board.' I had some explaining why I was so late, but I had the cat to prove my adventure in the temple and the old man let it go at that."
—Stevens Point Daily Journal, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, October 21, 1912, page 3.
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