Our attitude on the war, Red Cross, Liberty Bonds, etc., has .been misunderstood by many people. Few persons do much thinking in war time and What little they do is mostly in line with their natural emotions. We cannot therefore expect much calm and dispassionate thinking now from the worldly. Therefore in our honest effort to render our proper dues to the Government under which we are privileged to live we should be doubly careful not to "speak evil of dignitaries" nor to do anything which would avoidably embarrass them in the solution of their weighty problems. See Matthew 17:25- 27; Luke 20:22-25; Romans 13:7; 1 Peter 2:13-17.
OUR STATEMENT TO THE PRESS Statements have been recently made to several newspapers which requested an expression from us. But the statements, if printed at all, have been so garbled as to be well nigh incoherent. We therefore print below in full a statement prepared by the President of our Association for the Brooklyn Eagle at its request:
"On my return to Brooklyn I learned of the unpleasant occurrence at the Brooklyn Tabernacle last Sunday, April 28th. Mr. W. T. Baker was in the pulpit and at the conclusion of his discourse a request was brought to the platform that the congregation hear a speech by some one on the Liberty Bonds. Mr. Baker put the matter to a vote and the majority voted in the negative.
"I am sure this action was not intended as any reflection on the Government, nor to be taken as against the Liberty Loan. Those who worship at the Tabernacle believe in worshipping the Lord in spirit and in truth. To them a religious service is the most sacred; and while at religious service they always refrain from discussing temporal matters. This congregation at no time ever held a social tea, a grab-bag party, a bazaar, or anything of that kind in the church. The Tabernacle auditorium is used exclusively for religious matters, especially on Sunday. 1~o previous request had been made to use the Tabernacle by any one in the interest of the Liberty Loan campaign. The worshipers had just listened to a helpful spiritual lesson on the Bible. They desired to withdraw from the building with these sacred thoughts in mind and therefore deemed it inappropriate to discuss any temporal matters whatsoever, or to hear them discussed by any one else. We are pleased to grant the use of the Tabernacle for a meeting in the interest of the public when the same does not interfere with our religious services.
"The people of our Association are not against the Government, nor against the Liberty Loan. Our thought is that the Liberty Loan is not a religious question, but purely one pertaining to the affairs of the Government; and that each person should ,be left to the free exercise of his individual conscience as to whether he will or will not purchase Liberty Bonds. Our views are very well expressed in a statement given to the public press some weeks ago, as follows:
"The International Bible Students? Association is not against the Liberty Loan. Many of its members have bought and hold Liberty Bonds. Some have not money with which to buy.
"The Liberty Loan is not a religious question. It has solely to do with the Government. Every person who mails a letter supports the Government to that extent by paying the additional postage on account of the war.
"The International Bible Students? Association is composed of Christians. Every Christian gladly obeys the law. The United States has always stood for religious liberty and freedom of speech. Every Christian appreciates the privilege of living in such a country and gladly meets his obligations in the payment of taxes. When the Government asks to borrow his money and gives its promise to pay in the nature of a .bond, if he can do so he should buy the bond.
"The Association has no power to direct members thereof with reference to buying Liberty Bonds. It certainly will not and has not advised any one to refuse to buy bonds. That is an individual matter which each person must determine for himself according to his ability. The Association believes in supporting the Government in every way it can and each one should do so according to his ability and his conscience.'
"Some members of .the Brooklyn Tabernacle congregation had previously purchased Liberty Bonds. Doubtless all had .been personally solicited before that time. They are surrounded on all hands by opportunities to purchase, and to them it seemed inappropriate to transact business in the church on Sunday. There are six days in the week for the transaction of business and Sunday is regarded by them as a day for sacred worship of the Lord.
"It is to be regretted that one representing the public press should so disgrace himself as publicly to encourage mob violence against inoffensive people. It seems that any one wearing the uniform of the United States Army would have more respect for that uniform and for law and order than to disturb the peace by loud and uncouth language and in encouraging mob violence. We cannot believe that any responsible person in the Government would approve of such action.
"As to the members of the Bethel Home, it is well known that those who labor there receive merely their food and lodging and a small allowance for incidental expenses. This was thoroughly aired in the Brooklyn Eagle libel case, as the record shows. At that time the amount received was only $10.00 per month, which since, on account of increased cost of necessities, is now $15.00 per month. At the opening of the Third Liberty Loan campaign, a very elegant gentleman of the Borough of Brooklyn called on me with reference to soliciting the members of the Bethel Home to buy bonds. I invited him to see each one of them personally. He questioned me as to their ability to buy; and when I told him of the amount they received monthly he said, ?Then they cannot buy on that amount and it is useless for me to see them. I am sure you must be doing much good here in your own way when men and women sacrifice their time for such a small allowance. It is a well known fact that there are other institutions that are not asked or even expected to buy Liberty Bonds because of their financial inability.
'Members of our Association who have some personal means have bought Liberty Bonds, including Tabernacle workers who are paying 25 per cent. of their monthly allowance to purchase a bond. We do not believe the Government would expect any one to purchase bonds who receives barely enough for his daily expenses.
"The picketing of the Bethel Home on last Sunday morning and accosting every one who passed out and demanding that they buy Liberty Bonds seems to be a very uncalled-for and unusual thing, when any one authorized to solicit for bonds can have tree access to the Bethel Home to interview any .person there at any reasonable hour during the day or evening. As above stated, a gentleman had called for that purpose some days ago. The action of the men on Sunday morning seemed not only wholly uncalled for, but was taken designedly for the purpose of placing the members of the Bethel Home at a disadvantage. We cannot believe that order-loving, law-abiding people of Brooklyn at all approve such action or conduct."
The Watch Tower May 15, 1918 p. 152-153
WAR BONDS - - - Who Wanted the quote? Here it is!
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