Even before this official action had been taken, the necessity for completely secularizing Shintō had been fully recognized within its own circles. In 1899 the officials of the Great Shrine at Ise, in which are preserved the mirror, the sword, and the jewel, the three sacred treasures of Shintō, took the proper legal steps to become a secular organization. They asserted that Shintō is “merely a mechanism for keeping generations in touch with generations, and preserving the continuity of the nation’s veneration for its ancestors.” Shintō could never hope “to stand as a religion,” but it might stand “as the embodiment of a national sentiment.” According to the editor of the “Japan Mail,” the leaders of Shintō have “shown great astuteness” in taking that step; and others have even suggested that they have very shrewdly laid a most dangerous trap for Christians by attempting to deprive them of a valid reason for not participating in Shintō ceremonies. And there is no doubt that there still remains an element of embarrassment to Christians. Nominally and theoretically, Shintō is no longer a religion; it is “merely a cult embodying the principle of veneration for ancestors, and having for its chief function the performance of rites in memory of the [so-called] divine ancestors of the empire’s sovereigns.” But the common people will continue to regard Shintō in the light of a religion, and to worship and pray at the shrines. Until, therefore, the masses are educated up to a knowledge of the distinctions between “human” and “divine,” “secular” and “religious,” “reverence” and “worship,” they will continue to bow their heads, clap their hands, and mumble their prayers at Shintō shrines. Christians, of course, ought not to indulge in such practices; but, because such things are done by those who do not know better, should they refrain entirely from participating in national celebrations and patriotic ceremonies? Or should they, regardless of what others may be doing, take part in whatever way their consciences will allow? Is this a case in which Paul’s instructions about eating meat and things offered to idols would be applicable?