To the Editor of the
“Jewish Daily Bulletin”:
In the “Jewish Daily Bulletin” of January 16th appeared the article headed “Government Official Advocating Calendar Reform, Says U. S. Is Christian Nation; Change Does Not Infringe Religious Liberty.” Permit me to make the following comment.
The least that was expected was that Dr. Charles F. Marvin, Chief of the U. S. Weather Bureau and Vice-Chairman of the National Calendar Simplification Committee and speaking in a quasi official capacity knew the law of the land. It was very courageous for a local Washington Jewish spiritual leader, Rabbi Louis J. Schwefel, to cross swords in debate with the celebrated Dr. Marvin of international fame.
The fallacy underlying the argument of Dr. Marvin is in the ambiguous meaning of his categorical statement that “The United States is a Christian Nation.” If this is meant in the sense, that its predominating element is Christian and its main characteristical way of living is Christian or that Christian standards of conduct as a general rule are accepted and prevail, no exception may be taken to this characterization. But the context of Dr. Marvin’s statement completely negates such intended meaning, as this interpretation does not assume to place the Christian religion on a superior or better legal footing than any other religion, and in such case the very bottom would fall out from his argument.
This interpretation, however, is the correct statement of the law on this subject.
Evidently Dr. Marvin is laboring under a misconception of the law of the land, as the only interpretation that would give any logical support to his argument is, that it meant that the United States is a Christian nation in a legal sense and that the United States has a religion, namely, the Christian religion as the accepted State religion. If this were the case his argument would hold as an argument and, as a consequence, minority religions like the Jewish religions are only existing at sufferance and in making a calendar change only the Christian religion need be considered.
This view, of course is untenable. On the other hand, if Dr. Marvin wants us to understand that the decisive element in his argument is that because the interests and beliefs of the great majority of this nation are Christian the attitude taken by the Christians should be conclusive, this likewise, is untenable. The law is well settled that, however small a minority is whose constitutional right is contravened, such contravention is illegal.
Even in international law it was settled as early as the year 1813 that the United States is not a Christian nation. The question came up when Great Britain objected to the sale of three English East Indiamen that had been brought as war prizes into a harbor of Tunis by an American privateer and the American Consul had offered them for sale at auction.
Great Britain, by reason of her treaty rights with Algeria which also prohibited the sale in any port of Tunis of war prizes seized by a Christian power, sought to stop such sale. The United States through its consul contended that under proper interpretation of international law the United States could not be held to be a Christian nation within the meaning of the treaty and hence was excepted from the inhibition. The contention of the United States was sustained and the sale was allowed. The American consul at that time was our celebrated coreligionist, Mordecai Manuel Noah, who later was High Sheriff of New York and still later was appointed by President Jackson as surveyor of the Port of New York.
In addition, I venture to say, that I have some very grave doubts as to whether Dr. Marvin spoke authoritatiely for the Protestants and Catholics of the United States and that by doing so, he had finally committed them to accept the thirteen month plan involving the subversive device of a “Blank Day” fiction which by its interpolation will uproot their fixed Sabbath Day, as well as those of every established Faith, and send this religions landmark wandering irreverently through the misnamed unhallowed days of the shifting weeks in annual retrocession.
Very truly yours,
William Lieberman,
Chairman Executive Board,
League for Safeguarding the Fixity of the Sabbath.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
