Christian Scientists Conduct Anti-jewish Propaganda Through Radio and Mail

What virtually amounts to rabid anti-Semitic propaganda is being carried on by Augusta E. Stetson, Christian Science practitioner and director of the Radio Station WHAP. Mrs. Stetson, who was a disciple of Mary Baker Eddy, founder of the Christian Science Church represents a seceding wing of the Church.

Mrs. Stetson is carrying on an intensive anti-Jewish and anti-Catholic campaign with a view to the expulsion of the Jews and Catholics from America.

“The second appearing of Christ is very near, almost at the doors. Knowing this, I, Augusta E. Stetson, demand that the papal system and the anti-Christian element of Jewry, which seek to dominate and control the destiny of America, subvert its form of Christian government, and overthrow its sublime, Christian, Protestant idealism–I demand that these systems and all their adherents, be expelled from America forthwith, in order that America shall be governed by her Godordained form of Christian government, embodied in our American Constitution.”

This statement, made by Mrs. Stetson, who claims to be of Mayflower ancestry and of the Israelitish tribe of Mannasseh, is contained in a pamphlet circulated by her through the mails. The pamphlet is entitled “Correspondence with a Jewish Leader.”

The anti-Jewish and anti-Catholic addresses broadcast through station WHAP, of which Mrs. Stetson and Franklin Ford are the directors, gave rise to this correspondence. The Jewish leader, who is not named in the published correspondence, wrote to Mrs. Stetson on January 10, 1927 as follows:

“I am informed that Radio Station WHAP is conducted under your auspices, or those of the organization to which you belong. I have recently heard your readings from that station. It has become notorious that for some time past, addresses have been delivered from this station by one Ford and others, consisting of violent attacks upon Jews and Catholics. They are persistent, malignant and vicious. I would scarcely have believed the reports, as to the character of these attacks, had I not with my own ears listened to one of them some weeks ago. It seemed extraordinary to me that anybody would venture, in this free land, to indulge in such vituperation. What accentuates the evil of such an act is the fact, that the speaker was acting under the auspices of a religious body, a branch of the Christian Science Church. Judging from your readings, its fundamental idea seems to be that salvation is to be attained through the science of religion, which is to bring about mental and physical health. But how can that be accomplished, when the very air is poisoned and rendered mephitic by the emanations of hatred, prejudice and intolerance which proceed from the station which your organization is maintaining? It would seem to me that you would advance the cause of mental and moral hygiene, by abating this nuisance.”

To this letter, Mrs. Stetson replied:

MRS. STETSON’S LETTER

“Your letter in regard to Station WHAP was received. You are correct, in your estimate of the readings, which are given by me from the writings of Mary Baker Eddy, the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science, and my forever Leader and Teacher, as well as the readings from my books and those of my student-practitioners, given by my students. The purpose of these readings is, to bring healing to the world. This healing includes the three-fold work of the Messiah, or Christ, the eternal Son of God, namely, the healing or destruction of sin, sickness, and death.

“Your letter protests against certain denunciatory addresses, delivered from Station WHAP, which you say are directed against Roman Catholics and Jews. I have been taught, dear Mr. X–, by my Leader and Teacher, Mary Baker Eddy, from my earliest touch with her, that the healing of sin involves and requires the denunciation of sin and the sinner. There is no other way under heaven whereby sin can be destroyed; neither is the healing of sickness and so-called death possible, except through the destruction of sin. It is written in the Scripture: ‘Without holiness, no man shall see God’ Christ Jesus did not hesitate to denounce sin and sinners, in the strongest language, to the end that the sin and evil which hold the world in bondage, shall, and must be destroyed.

“However, these denunciations are never personal, but are directed against any system which teaches, encourages, or allows the committing of evil, in any form. The Roman Catholic system, under its pope and hierarchy, does teach, encourage and allow the committing of evil, in all its forms, and this system is designated in Holy Scripture as ‘anti-Christ’, ‘the great red dragon’, and similar names symbolic of its evil character. This system, in its practice and teaching, perpetuates the propagation of flesh and blood, which constitutes the belief of life in matter, which is the foundation of all evil since God is Spirit, and He is not the author of flesh and blood. There is no one on the earth who can successfully contradict this statement.

“Therefore, Station WHAP does denounce and condemn Roman Catholicism, its pope and hierarchy, its prelates, its ecclesiastical and lay militant orders, and its entire membership, as well as its practice; and this Station will continue so to denounce and condemn Roman Catholicism, until the entire system of popery is expelled from America. This is the command of Christ.

SEEKS TO JUSTIFY ATTACKS ON JEWS

“The case is somewhat different with Jewry. I have, among my body of Christian Science students, many Jews who are noble, good, true, pure men and women, and who are living lives in accordance with the highest ideals of Christ’s Christianity. I count them among my best students. There are many Jews in the outside world, also, who recognize the value of the pure Christian idealism for which America stands, and which is essentially involved in American citizenship, and fundamental thereto. Nevertheless, there is another class of Jews, unfortunately, who seek, for some unaccountable reason–perhaps from the common perversion of natural man–to break down American ideals of purity in morals, honesty in business, and refinement and culture in society. We have evidence a-plenty of this evil tendency on the part of these evil-minded Jews, in the growth of vile literature, including popular magazines, the increase of lewd plays and moving pictures, the corrupt practices in the business world, and the lowering of the American standards of social refinement and culture.

“Dear Mr. X–, as a follower of Christ Jesus and Mary Baker Eddy, I, as an American, whose ancestors were among the Pilgrim Fathers and Mothers, who came to America in the “Mayflower”, in 1620, to ‘find freedom to worship God’,–I may say, that I am descended from Captain Myles Standish, and also from John Alden and Priscilla Mullins–I have the right, as a Christian Scientist and an American citizen, to denounce evil and all evil-doers, and I shall not flinch from this imperative duty, until evil shall depart from America, and from the world. To those who earnestly desire the healing which comes through the beneficent ministrations of Christian Science, and who are willing to obey the loving command of Christ, who, when he healed, said, ‘Go, and sin no more’, I and my students stand ready to speak the word and give the healing, of which the world today stands in so great need. My books are a record of my work for forty years, and they attest, upon unimpeachable authority and evidence, that I and my student body have freely bestowed this healing work upon many thousands of people, which work we are today extending to millions, by means of the radio, through my Station WHAP.”

The unnamed Jewish leader, according to the pamphlet, replied to Mrs. Stetson on Jan. 15, 1927, as follows:

“I am in receipt of yours of the 13th instant, in answer to mine, regarding Station WHAP. I have likewise received various books explanatory of Christian Science, which I shall be very glad to keep for further study and future reference.

“I must confess that I am greatly surprised that you justify the denunciation and condemnation of Roman Catholicism and of Jews, who are not included in what you describe as your ‘body of Christian Science students’. All through the books which you have sent me there runs the thought of the Fatherhood of God and that God is Love. I think it is proper to quote your own words, from the book entitled ‘Greetings and a Message to the Dear Children’. There you say (PP. 9, 10):

“‘You know that you must love your little brothers and sisters and be unselfish and kind, and share with them the good things you have, if you wish to be happy, and make your earthly father and mother and home happy. As you grow older you will see, that if there is but one God, one Creator, and this God is Life and Love, that every one must be your brother or sister and you must love them, because God is Life and Love, and He made them like Himself,–good, and that they are His good children whom He made in His own image.’

“I also note that throughout your books, you quote Scripture, including not only the so-called New Testament, but also the Old Testament. I do not therefore imagine that you repudiate the words of Malachi, that have thundered down through the ages:

“Have we not all one father?

“Hath not one God created us?

“Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother.

“By profaning the covenant of our fathers?

DEFAMER’S PRACTICE DENOUNCED

“There seems to be a great gap between what you have preached and what you are now saying and doing. You seek to justify yourself, by saying that Mary Baker Eddy, the Founder of Christian Science, has declared that the healing of sin involves and requires the denunciation of sin and the sinner. What you are doing is not to denounce individual sinner or individual wrong doing. You are attacking the Roman Catholic Church, the Pope and the hierarchy, and its entire membership, and you calmly say that Station WHAP ‘will continue so to denounce and condemn Roman Catholicism, until the entire system of popery is expelled from America.’ You are thus permitting yourself to sit in judgment upon the opinions and convictions of your brothers and sisters of the Catholic Church. You characterize them as ‘anti-Christ’ and by other means, which you say are ‘symbolic of evil character.’

“Upon analysis, it would seem that the real ground of your attack is that the doctrines and teachings of Mrs. Eddy are not accepted by the Roman Catholics. But are they accepted by Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Baptists and Methodists?–to refer to only a few of the many Christian sects. And are they adopted by the hundreds of millions of human beings, who live in Asia and Africa and other parts of the world? Do you seriously believe that you and the members of the Christian Science Church, whose very existence dates back but a few decades, have the right to condemn and threaten with expulsion from America millions of other Christians, who do not see eye to eye with you? Have you any better right to regard them as “anti-Christ,” whatever that may mean, than they have to make the same charge against Christian Science? You are assuming a tremendous responsibility.

“You say that the case is somewhat different with Jewry. In what respect? We are not even Christians. We do not accept Christ. We have entertained these views for fifty centuries. We have given to the world the very Bible upon which you base your faith. You say that you have in your body of Christian Science students many Jews, “who are living lives in accordance with the highest ideals of Christ’s Christianity.” Of course you count them among your best students, and yet you still call them Jews and through your station are attacking them, as well as those who do not recognize Christian Science. You then proceed to say that there is another class of Jews, who “break down American ideals of purity in morals, honesty in business and refinement and culture in society.”

“Has it occurred to you that these people whom you call Jews, are merely individuals who have no regard for Judaism or for any other faith, just as there are millions of so-called Christians who have no regard for any form of Christianity? They are condemned by Jews, not only for their wrongdoing, but because of the stain which is placed upon the name of the Jew, in consequence of the perverted ideas of many non-Jews, who attribute the sins of an individual to the race or creed to which the ancestors of such may have been attached. You would at once rebel at the thought that, because there are some Christian Scientists who are evildoers, their sins should be laid at the door of Christian Science.

“I can assure you that, so far as purity in morals, honesty in business and refinement and culture in society are concerned, the Jews need not be ## of comparison with the descendants of the Pilgrim fathers and mothers, or with any other section of the American people.

“If you wish to denounce the sin and the sinner, do so, provided we really know what is meant by those terms; but in the name of all that is sacred, do not disregard the lesson that you yourself have taught to little children, in the passage which I have quoted from your book. It does not seem possible that you think it consistent to preach the doctrine of brotherhood and love to little children, and at the same time inculcate in them the thought that when they grow up they may turn their faces against that human doctrine.

“My mind is so constituted that I have no patience with metaphysics or ecclesiastical refinements. I believe that all of us have the right to seek salvation in our own way, without let or hindrance. So long as we observe the laws of the state and the rules of decency and morality, we should be free from wanton attacks and insults. That is my interpretation of the doctrine of the Fatherhood of God and the Brotherhood of Man. Your philosophy, led to its logical conclusion, would justify the extermination by Christian Scientists, if they were strong enough, of all Roman Catholics and all Jews who are unwilling to accept the revelation of Mary Baker Eddy.

PROTESTS AGAINST DANGEROUS PRACTICE

“Apparently it will do no good, but as an American citizen who believes in the sanctity of the Constitution, and as a human being who believes in the sanctity of humanity, I protest against the dangerous practice that you have adopted, of instilling in the public mind hatred and enmity against Roman Catholics and Jews, because their religious beliefs differ from yours. Such actions are to my mind the very acme of sin.”

The pamphlet then reproduces another letter of Mrs. Stetson in which she endeavors to define the term “anti-Christ” as applied by Station WHAP to Catholics and Jews. She says:

“It is not logic to assume, that the effect of Christ is the opposite of Christ, for Christ represents eternal Life, and that which sickens and dies is not from Christ, nor of God. That clement of Judaism which denies Christ, is not religion, since Christ is the center of all religion, setting forth the true concept of man in the image of God, his Father-Mother, who is eternal Life and Love. . . .

“The battle today is between Christ and the dragon–that which drags men down to perdition, death and the grave, the pernicious, false, and anti-Christian sophistry of the Roman Catholic system, and of the anti-Christian element of Jewry.”

Mrs. Stetson continues:

WOULD EXPEL JEWS AND CATHOLICS

“The second appearing of Christ is very near, almost at the doors. Knowing this, I, Augusta E. Etetson, demand that the papal system and the anti-Christian element of Jewry, which seek to dominate and control the destiny of America, subvert its form of Christian government, and overthrow its sublime, Christian, Protestant idealism–I demand that these systems, and all their adherents, be expelled from America forthwith, in order that America shall be governed by her God-ordained form of Christian government, embodied in our American Constitution.

“While I fully realize, Mr. X–, that this is a battle-the great Battle of Armageddon-and that the forces of the aliens, who are opposed to America and her ideals, will fight, I am entirely prepared for the conflict, knowing that Christ is my Leader. Yet, dear Mr. X–, there is no ill-will in my heart against any person. I will give no power to the carnal man, nor admit that he has any existence. I do not admit flesh, blood, and bones, as God’s man. I am reflecting my Father-Mother God, eternal Life, Truth, and Love, the only Creator of man and the universe. God, who is Life and Love, knows nothing of sin and death. That which is the opposite of God is carnal hypnotism, the mesmeric mental suggestions of the Jesuits, expressed in Roman Catholicism, combined with the resistance to Christ and his teaching, on the part of those Jews who hate Christ.

“Mark Twain, the astute American humorist, saw this issue clearly, when he declared, that the struggle in the near future, would be between Christian Science and Roman Catholicism. That hour has come, and we accept the issue; and we call upon all Jews, who are loyal to the teaching of Moses and of the prophets, to unite with us.

“This brings me to a point in your letter, brought up by your remark: ‘We do not accept Christ. We have entertained these views for fifty centuries.’

“Your use of the pronoun ‘We’ cannot include such Jews as Felix Mendelsohn, the Jewish composer, who was a Christian, and wrote an oratorio, ‘St Paul,’ based upon the New Testament; nor those Jews who follow Christ Jesus, and who threw palms in his path, and shouted, ‘Hosanna! to the Son of David.’ Your use of the term ‘fifty centuries’ is not quite clear, since the history of the Jews, who were only one of the twelve tribes of Israel, goes back only to Abraham, through Jacob (Israel) and Isaac.”

“You are doubtless aware, dear Mr. X–, that, despite the fact that some Jews use the term ‘Israel’ as referring to the Jews alone, this term applies to the entire twelve tribes. The term Israel symbolizes all the children of God, comprising the twelve tribes of Israel, of which the tribe of Judah was one; and the Anglo-Saxon peoples are the descendants of the ten tribes of Israel, of whom the leading tribe was that of Joseph, through Manasseh and Ephraim, his two sons Eventually, the entire twelve tribes will be re-united in a spiritual union, under one God, and His Messiah, or Christ, so that, whether or not you assert, at this hour, that you, as a Jew, do not accept Christ, yet the fact remains, that the people of Judah are essentially of the Children of Israel.

“Therefore, I am not in error in calling my Jewish students, who acknowledge the Messiah, or Christ, by their rightful name, that of Jew, since they are, with me, members of the congregation of Israel, I myself being of the tribe of Manasseh. According to the Holy Bible, both the Old and the New Testaments, God will overrule the unnatural subversion of the Jews, and, as Paul says, will graft them again into the tree of Israel.

“These observations do not apply to Roman Catholics, under their pagan and despotic ecclesiastical pope, who is the anti-Christ, the great red dragon, and whose entire system of popery must and shall be destroyed from the face of the earth. Yet the pope must awake, some day, to his reality, as the spiritual child of God, since God, Spirit, is the only Creator of man.

“I am fully aware, Mr. X–, that I have undertaken a mental colloquy with one of the outstanding leaders on your people, and one of the most noted of the public men of today, in America, While it may appear like presumption, in me, to engage in a philosophical and spiritual argument with you, yet I have set forth my reasons for being a follower of Christ, the Son of God, and for acknowledging Mary Baker Eddy as my Teacher and Leader. I am an earnest anticipator of the imminent reappearing of Christ, the Son of God, who will take upon his shoulder, the government of America, and of the whole earth, I shall continue to defend the pure teaching of Christ, and to acknowledge but one Creator, God, Spirit, eternal Life, Truth, and Love, who created man in His own image, until I behold the new heaven and new earth, wherein is no sin, sickness, nor death, but only life and harmony.”

No reply from the unnamed Jewish leader is given in the pamphlet.