Churches of Christ -- Sermons; Sermons, American -- 20th century
It is not right to put color, race, and creed all in the same class.
Certainly, you should not hold a man responsible for his color. You
should not hold him responsible for his race. He had no choice in the
matter and where there is no choice there is no responsibility. But a
man is responsible for what he believes. This the Bible abundantly
teaches. For example, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the
spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone
out into the world” (1 John 4:1).
4. The irony of the situation was that some colored men, who endeavored
to attend the meeting, which was to promote brotherhood of all the
races, all the creeds and all the colors, were turned away from the door
and not allowed to come in, because they were the wrong color. It is
right to make a distinction between a man’s color and his creed, but the
distinction ought to be made in favor of not holding him accountable for
his color, while holding him accountable for his creed. It seems that
the spirit of the occasion was just the opposite. “We won’t hold you
accountable for your creed, but if you are the wrong color you can’t
come in.” Well, that doesn’t quite make sense, does it?
We ought not oppose error by such illegitimate means as physical or
political force, embarrassment and ridicule, or making fun. Such weapons
are very powerful; but they are unlawful. We ought not try to get one to
be baptized by making fun or ridiculing him. If I caused him to be
baptized by physical or political force, or by the force of ridicule and
sarcasm, it wouldn’t do him any good. He would be prompted by the wrong
motive. One’s obedience to God must be of his own free will.
IV
Intolerance in Schools
1. While I am talking about the advantage which is sometimes taken of
people in school, I want to read something from Harry Emerson Fosdick.
He is a man that I wouldn’t ordinarily quote or refer to. He is a
liberal. There are a thousand things on which I disagree with him, but
he has said something in a recent article which I think is worth passing
on. I might not even agree with everything in this quotation, but you’ll
see the point.
He says: “I am a liberal; I am not pleading for sectarianism or
conventional orthodoxy or anything of that sort. What I want most of all
is that Roman Catholics, Jews, and Protestants should prepare together
some book or books by means of which the best elements in the spiritual
heritage of our race can be presented in our schools, objectively and
without offense, as a matter of information.” Whether or not that is
possible might be open to debate. But listen to what he says next.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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