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SepUMBU
1.
1903
ZION'S
WATCH
TOWER
(351-355)
were
worshipers
of
the
goddess
Ashtaroth,
and
as
a.
memorial
of
their
victory
Saul's
armor
was
hung
in
one
of
her
temples.
The
bodies
of
Saul
and
his
sons
were
fastened
to
the
outside
wall
of
the
city
of
Bethshan
as
a
mark
of
special
indignity,
but
they
were
soon
recovered
by
men
from
t.he
tribe
of
Manas
seh,
who,
probably
to
prevent
further
desecration
to
the
bodies,
burned
them,
and
subsequently
buried
the
ashes,
un
consumed
bones,
etc.
The
Golden
Text
is
worthy
of
being
committed
to
memory
by
all.
Its
lesson
is
that
we
are
not
competent
to
guide
and
direct
our
own
affairs;
that
we
need
divine
counsel.
Human
judgment
would
be
unreliable
even
if
supported
by
absolute
knowledge;
but
in
view
of
our
deficiency
in
knowledge
as
well
as
in
judgment,
very
evidently
to
man
many
ways
seem
right.
and
wise
and
advantageous
and
desirable
which,
pursued,
lead
to
disappointment
and
chagrin
and
ultimately
would
lead
to
death-second
death.
The
wise,
proper
course
for
all,
there
fore,
is
to
realize
and
acknowledge
our
own
insufficiency,
un
wisdom,
and
to
look
to
our
great
Creator
for
guidance.
Happy
are
those
who
heed
the
Scriptural
injunction,
"Remember
now
thy
Creator
in
the
days
of
thy
youth."
The
earlier
this
right
course
is
begun
the
better
will
be
the
results
every
way,
the
easier
will
it
for
us
to
bend
our
wills
to
the
will
of
the
Lord;
and
the
lessons
and
satisfaction
and
peace
coming
to
us
through
the
Lord's
guidance
will
be
the
more
precious.
A
full
consecration
of
the
heart
and
life
and
all
our
interests
to
the
Lord,
that
his
will
may
be
done
in
us
in
all
things,
is
the
consecration
necessary
to
the
bringing
of
every
justified
believer
into
fellowship
in
the
body
of
Christ,
which
is
the
church.
VOL.
XXIV
ALLEGHENY,
PA.,
SEPTEMBER
15,
1903
VIEWS
FROM
THE
WATCH
TOWER
No.
18
LYNOmNGB
PREOURSORY
TO
ANAROHY
remember
that
the
criminal
not
merely
sins
against
humanity
The
prevalence
of
an
anarchous
spirit
has
for
some
time
in
inexpiable
and
unpardonable
fashion,
but
sins
particularly
past
been
manifesting
itself
in
the
lynching
of
reputed
against
his
own
race,
and
does
them
a
wrong
far
greater
than
criminals.
The
law-supporting
and
law-defying
elements
seem
any
white
man
can
possibly
do
them
.
.
.
.
to
clash
in
some
men's
minds,
and
the
lynchers
merely
try
to
Moreover,
every
effort
should
be
made
under
the
law
to
gratify
both
at
one
time.
They
gratify
their
desire
to
violate
expedite
the
proceedings
of
justice
in
the
case
of
such
an
awful
law
and
still
their
consciences
with
the
thought
that
they
crime.
But
it
cannot
be
necessary
in
order
to
accomplish
this
are
meting
out
justice.
Doubtless
the
same
mixture
of
senti-
to
deprive
any
citizen
of
those
fundamental
rights
to
be
heard
ment
accompanied
the
religious
stake-burnings
and
rackings
in
his
own
defense
which
are
so
dear
to
us
all
and
lie
at
the
root
of
the
past:
the
victims
were
declared
by
high
church
digni-
of
our
liberty.
It
certainly
ought
to
be
possible
by
the
proper
taries
to
be
"heretics,"
propagators
of
"monstrous
doctrines,"
administration
of
the
laws
to
secure
swift
vengeance
upon
"injurious
to
the
church
and
the
state."
To
the
ignorant
the
criminal;
and
the
best
and
immediate
efforts
of
all
these
charges
justified
any
and
every
torture
in
their
destruc-
legislators,
judges
and
citizens
should
be
addressed
to
securing
tion.
Doubtless
there
would
again
be
danger
to
those
dubbed
such
reforms
in
our
legal
procedure
as
to
leave
no
vestige
of
"unorthodox"
were
it
not
for
the
Babel
of
doctrine
now
pre-
excuse
for
those
misguided
men
who
undertake
to
reap
ven
vailing,
which
renders
it
difficult
to
determine
where
the
lines
geance
through
violent
measures
.
.
.
.
of
"orthodoxy"
could
be
drawn
to
the
satisfaction
of
a
great
But
even
where
the
real
criminal
is
reached,
the
wrong
done
majority.
Who
knows
that
in
the
near
future,
under
the
pro-
by
the
mob
to
the
community
itself
is
well
nigh
as
great.
posed
consolidation
of
Christian
religions
(which
we
have
for
Especially
is
this
true
where
the
lynching
is
accompanied
the
past
twenty
years
predicted
from
the
Scriptures,
and
which
with
torture.
There
are
certain
hideous
sights
which
when
comes
closer
yearly),
this
condition
may
not
be
reached-
once
seen
can
never
be
wholly
erased
from
the
mental
retina.
that
mobs
may
not
burn
"heretics"
T
The
Scriptures
lead
us
The
mere
fact
of
having
seen
them
implies
degradation.
This
to
expect
some
such
anarchistic
conditions
now,-preceding
the
is
a
thousand
fold
stronger
when
instead
of
merely
seeing
establishment
of
the
kingdom.
the
deed
the
man
has
participated
in
it.
Whoever
in
any
THE
PRESIDENT'S
VIEWS
ON
MOB
VIOLENOE
part
of
our
country
has
ever
taken
part
in
lawlessly
putting
to
death
a
criminal
by
the
dreadful
torture
of
fire
must
Governor
Durbin
of
Indiana
not
only
called
out
the
state
forever
after
have
the
awful
spectacle
of
his
own
handiwork
militia
to
suppress
a
lynchin~,
but
under
his
commands
the
seared
into
his
brain
and
soul.
He
can
never
again
be
the
mob
was
scattered
with
conSiderable
loss
of
life.
The
Presi-
same
man.
dent
of
the
United
States,
in
an
open
letter,
thanked
him
for
This
matter
of
lynching
would
be
a
terrible
thing
even
his
vindication
of
the
law.
We
make
liberal
extracts
from
his
if
it
stopped
with
the
lynching
of
men
guilty
of
the
inhuman
letter
as
follows:-
and
hideous
crime
of
rape;
but
as
a
matter
of
fact
lawless-
My
Dear
Governor
Durbin:-
ness
of
this
type
never
does
stop
and
never
can
stop
in
Permit
me
to
thank
you
as
an
American
citizen
for
the
such
fashion.
Every
violent
man
in
the
community
is
encour
admirable
way
in
which
you
have
vindicated
the
majesty
of
the
aged
by
every
case
of
lynching
in
which
the
lynchers
go
law
by
your
recent
action
in
reference
to
lynching.
I
feel,
my
unpunished
to
himself
take
the
law
into
his
own
hands
when
dear
sir,
that
you
have
made
all
men
your
debtors
who
believe,
ever
it
suits
his
own
convenience.
as
far-seeing
men
must,
that
the
well-being,
indeed
the
very
In
the
same
way
the
use
of
torture
by
the
mob
in
certain
existence,
of
the
republic
depends
upon
that
spirit
of
orderly
cases
is
sure
to
spread
until
it
is
applied
more
or
less
indis
liberty
under
the
law
which
is
as
incompatible
with
mob
criminately
in
other
cases.
The
spirit
of
lawlessness
grows
violence
as
with
any
form
of
despotism.
Of
course
mob
with
what
it
feeds
on,
and
when
mobs
with
impunity
lynch
violence
is
simply
one
form
of
anarchy;
and
anarchy
is
now,
criminals
for
one
crime,
they
are
certain
to
begin
to
lynch
as
it
always
has
been,
the
handmaid
and
forerunner
of
tyranny.
real
or
alleged
criminals
for
other
causes
.
.
.
.
I
feel
that
you
have
not
only
refiected
honor
upon
the
The
nation,
like
the
individual,
cannot
commit
a
crime
state
which
for
its
good
fortune
has
you
for
its
chief
exec-
with
impunity.
If
we
are
guilty
of
lawlessness
and
brutal
utive,
but
upon
the
whole
nation.
It
is
incumbent
upon
every
violence,
whether
our
guilt
consists
in
active
participation
man
throughout
this
country
not
only
to
hold
up
your
hands
therein
or
in
mere
connivance
and
encouragement,
we
shall
in
the
course
you
have
been
following,
but
to
show
his
reali-
assuredly
suffer
later
on
because
of
what
we
have
done.
The
zation
that
the
matter
is
one
of
vital
concern
to
us
all.
corner
stonp
of
this.
republic,
as
of
all
free
governments,
is
All
thoughtful
men
must
feel
the
gravest
alarm
over
respect
for
and
obedience
to
the
law.
Where
we
permit
the
the
growth
of
lynching
in
this
country,
and
especially
over
law
to
be
defied
or
evaded,
whether
bY'
rich
man
or
poor
man,
the
peculiarly
hideous
forms
so
often
taken
by
mob
vio-
by
black
man
or
white,
we
are
by
Just
so
much
weakening
lence
when
colored
men
llre
the
victims-on
which
occa-
the
bonds
of
our
civilization
and
increasing
the
chances
of
its
sion
the
mob
seems
to
lay
most
weight,
not
on
the
crime
overthrow,
and
of
the
substitution
therefor
of
a
system
in
but
on
the
color
of
the
criminal.
In
a
certain
proportion
which
there
shall
be
violent
alternations
of
anarchy
and
of
these
cases
the
man
lynched
has
been
guilty
of
a
crime
tyranny.
Sincerely
yours,
horrible
beyond
description;
a
crime
so
horrible
that
as
THEODORE
ROOSEVELT.
far
as
he
himself
is
concerned
he
has
forfeited
the
right
to
LAWLESSNESS
ON
THE
INCREASE
any
kind
of
sympathy
whatsoever.
On
this
subject
the
Jewish
Exponent
says:-
The
feeling
of
all
good
citizens
that
such
a
hideous
crime
'''The
earth
was
filled
with
violence.'
(Gen.
6:
11
)
Are
shall
not
be
hideously
punished
by
mob
violence
is
due
not
these
words
less
true
today
than
they
were
in
the
days
of
in
the
least
to
sympathy
for
the
criminal,
but
to
a
very
which
the
Bible
speaks?
Mob
violence,
race
hatred,
the
sub
lively
sense
of
the
train
of
dreadful
consequences
which
follow
jugation
of
weaker
nations-these
things
are
accepted
almost
thl;
course
taken
by
the
mob
in
exacting
inhuman
vengeance
as
matters
of
course
by
a
large
section
of
humanity.
Each
for
an
inhuman
wrong.
In
such
cases,
moreover,
it
is
well
to
outbreak
of
lawless
violence
furnishes
the
fuel
to
kindle
anew
[324:1]
Serrgempgre 1, 1903 were worshipers of the goddess Ashtaroth, and as a memorial of their victory Saul’s armor was hung in one of her temples. The bodies of Saul and his sons were fastened to the outside wall of the city of Bethshan as a mark of special indignity, but they were soon recovered by men from the tribe of Manasseh, who, probably to prevent further desecration to the bodies, burned them, and subsequently buried the ashes, unconsumed bones, ete. The Golden Text is worthy of being committed to memory by all. Its lesson is that we are not competent to guide and direct our own affairs; that we need divine counsel. Human judgment would be unreliable even if supported by absolute knowledge; but in view of our deficiency in knowledge as well as in judgment, very evidently to man many ways seem right and wise and advantageous and desirable which, pursued, lead ZION’S WATCH TOWER (351-355) to disappointment and chagrin and ultimately would lead to death—second death. The wise, proper course for all, therefore, is to realize and acknowledge our own insufficiency, unwisdom, and to look to our great Creator for guidance. Happy are those who heed the Scriptural injunction, “Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth.” The earlier this right course is begun the better will be the results every way, the easier will it for us to bend our wills to the will of the Lord; and the lessons and satisfaction and peace coming to us through the Lord’s guidance will be the more precious. A full consecration of the heart and life and all our interests to the Lord, that his will may be done in us in all things, is the consecration necessary to the bringing of every justified believer into fellowship in the body of Christ, which is the church. Vou. XXIV ALLEGHENY, PA., SEPTEMBER 15, 1903 No. 18 VIEWS FROM THE WATCH TOWER LYNCHINGS PRECURSORY TO ANARCHY The prevalence of an anarchous spirit has for some time past been manifesting itself in the lynching of reputed criminals. The law-supporting and law-defying elements seem to clash in some men’s minds, and the lynchers merely try to gratify both at one time. They gratify their desire to violate law and still their consciences with the thought that they are meting out justice. Doubtless the same mixture of sentiment accompanied the religious stake-burnings and rackings of the past: the victims were declared by high church dignitaries to be “heretics,” propagators of “monstrous doctrines,” “injurious to the church and the state.” To the ignorant these charges justified any and every torture in their destruction. Doubtless there would again be danger to those dubbed “unorthodox” were it not for the Babel of doctrine now prevailing, which renders it difficult to determine where the lines of “orthodoxy” could be drawn to the satisfaction of a great majority. Who knows that in the near future, under the proposed consolidation of Christian religions (which we have for the past twenty years predicted from the Scriptures, and which comes closer yearly), this condition may not be reached— that mobs may not burn “heretics”? The Scriptures lead us to expect some such anarchistic conditions now,—preceding the establishment of the kingdom. THE PRESIDENT’S VIEWS ON MOB VIOLENCE Governor Durbin of Indiana not only called out the state militia to suppress a lynching, but under his commands the mob was scattered with considerable loss of life. ‘The Fresident of the United States, in an open letter, thanked him for his vindication of the law. We make liberal extracts from his letter as follows:— My Dear Governor Durbin :— Permit me to thank you as an American citizen for the admirable way in which you have vindicated the majesty of the law by your recent action in reference to lynching. I feel, my dear sir, that you have made all men your debtors who believe, as far-seeing men must, that the well-being, indeed the very existence, of the republic depends upon that spirit of orderly liberty under the law which is as incompatible with mob violence as with any form of despotism. Of course mob violence is simply one form of anarchy; and anarchy is now, as it always has been, the handmaid and forerunner of tyranny. I feel that you have not only reflected honor upon the state which for its good fortune has you for its chief executive, but upon the whole nation. It is incumbent upon every man throughout this country not only to hold up your hands in the course you have been following, but to show his realization that the matter is one of vital concern to us all. All thoughtful men must feel the gravest alarm over the growth of lynching in this country, and especially over the peculiarly hideous forms so often taken by mob violence when colored men are the victims—on which occasion the mob seems to lay most weight, not on the crime but on the color of the criminal. In a certain proportion of these cases the man lynched has been guilty of « crime horrible beyond description; a crime so horrible that as far as he himself is concerned he has forfeited the right to any kind of sympathy whatsoever. The feeling of all good citizens that such a hideous crime shall not be hideously punished by mob violence is due not in the least to sympathy for the criminal, but to a very lively sense of the train of dreadful consequences which follow the course taken by the mob in exacting inhuman vengeance for an inhuman wrong. In such cases, moreover, it is well to remember that the criminal not merely sins against humanity in inexpiable and unpardonable fashion, but sins particularly against his own race, and does them a wrong far greater than any white man can possibly do them... . Moreover, every effort should be made under the law to expedite the proceedings of justice in the case of such an awful crime. But it cannot be necessary in order to accomplish this to deprive any citizen of those fundamental rights to be heard in his own defense which are so dear to us all and lie at the root of our liberty. It certainly ought to be possible by the proper administration of the laws to secure swift vengeance upon the criminal; and the best and immediate efforts of all legislators, judges and citizens should be addressed to securing such reforms in our legal procedure as to leave no vestige of excuse for those misguided men who undertake to reap vengeance through violent measures. .. . But even where the real criminal is reached, the wrong done by the mob to the community itself is well nigh as great. Especially is this true where the lynching is accompanied with torture. There are certain hideous sights which when once seen can never be wholly erased from the mental retina. The mere fact of having seen them implies degradation. This is a thousand fold stronger when instead of merely seeing the deed the man has participated in it. Whoever in any part of our country has ever taken part in lawlessly putting to death a criminal by the dreadful torture of fire must forever after have the awful spectacle of his own handiwork seared into his brain and soul. He can never again be the same man. This matter of lynching would be a terrible thing even if it stopped with the lynching of men guilty of the inhuman and hideous crime of rape; but as a matter of fact lawlessness of this type never does stop and never can stop in such fashion. Every violent man in the community is encouraged by every case of lynching in which the lynchers go unpunished to himself take the law into his own hands whenever it suits his own convenience. In the same way the use of torture by the mob in certain cases is sure to spread until it is applied more or less indiscriminately in other cases. The spirit of lawlessness grows with what it feeds on, and when mobs with impunity lynch criminals for one crime, they are certain to begin to lynch real or alleged criminals for other causes. . The nation, like the individual, cannot commit a crime with impunity. If we are guilty of lawlessness and brutal violence, whether our guilt consists in active participation therein or in mere connivance and encouragement, we shall assuredly suffer later on because of what we have done. The corner stone of this republic, as of all free governments, is respect for and obedience to the law. Where we permit the law to be defied or evaded, whether by rich man or poor man, by black man or white, we are by just so much weakening the bonds of our civilization and increasing the chances of its overthrow, and of the substitution therefor of a system in which there shall be violent alternations of anarchy and tyranny. Sincerely yours, THEODORE ROOSEVELT. LAWLESSNESS ON THE INCREASE On this subject the Jewish Exponent says :— “*The earth was filled with violence.’ (Gen. 6:11) Are these words less true today than they were in the days of which the Bible speaks? Mob violence, race hatred, the subjugation of weaker nations—-these things are accepted almost ag matters of course by a large section of humanity. Each outbreak of lawless violence furnishes the fuel to kindle anew (3241)
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