Editor Christian Science Journal:— In the April number of your magazine which I received recently I notice, in an article entitled ''Another Victory," extracts from the Buffalo Courier about an effort made by the "physicians and clergy" of that city to get an ordinance passed by the city council ostensibly to prevent the spread of contagious diseases, but which was interpreted as really an effort to crush out the Christian Scientists.
Now I am a Baptist minister (though not at present in active service), ordained in Buffalo, and member of an influential church there. Baptist ministers do not greatly relish the term "clergy" being applied to them, since they do not emphasize the distinction between themselves and their brethren which the word implies. However, for the sake of convenience they are now usually included in that general term, and so they share with others the serious charge of seeking legislation to deprive their fellow citizens of what is clearly their right.
Liberty of conscience for the individual, and absolute separation of Church and State are principles which Baptists have contended for throughout the ages, and for which they have suffered many things. I do not know what attitude my Baptist brethren have taken to this recent affair in Buffalo, but they could only seek to deprive others of their God-given rights in this way by denying the principles for which many Baptist worthies of the past have suffered and died. Thus they would not only justify the persecutors of their fathers in the faith, but become allied to them in their work. Indeed for Baptists to preach tolerance in religious matters and practice intolerance towards any would be to class themselves among the hypocrites.
