So long as imagination creates a god to rule the destinies of men; so
long as ignorance can be made to believe that the preacher or priest
is in some way a go-between, or agent, between men and the powers in
the clouds--that he is a "sky-pilot," directly commissioned by deity
to attend to God's affairs on earth, and that the priest's person
and office are sacred--just so long will there be possible such a
profession as that of the modern priesthood.
And if these preachers as a whole are just as criminal as any
other class; if they are immoral without the excuse of want or
ignorance--without reason other than because of their often indolent
lives and the opportunities afforded them by the nature of their
calling--then their followers cannot learn that fact too soon.
The first edition of this book was printed in 1881, since which time
many thousands of copies have been scattered throughout the country;
but in no case to our knowledge has anyone successfully denied the
facts alleged against any "man of God" figuring in these pages. Its
substantial accuracy is therefore assured. The only charge that
can be maintained against it is its incompleteness. The publishers
do not claim to have discovered more than a small percentage of
clerical villainy. The churches endeavor to and do hide a great deal
of the immorality of their ministers. The preachers, who govern the
ecclesiastical tribunals, have a fellow feeling for one another. As
a general thing, it is only when the clergy are brought before the
secular courts that the public can learn the full facts. Comparatively
few Catholic priests figure in this record, for the reason that
that church is a close corporation which by political influence and
by control of its members' tongues can conceal the crimes of its
leaders. In all large cities of the country the Catholic church has a
large and dangerous political influence, and its priests have every
chance to go free of retribution for their vices and crimes. The
judges are Catholics, or owe their positions to Catholic power; the
court officers are Catholics; the policemen are Catholics. They all
shield the "fathers" and withhold their names from publication.
It is impossible, too, for the editor to read all the papers and
gather all the cases which do see the light of publicity. And, we are
sorry to say, some of the secular journals suppress the news. If the
country could be scanned closely the indications are that a hundred
times as many crimes could be found rightfully charged to the men who
set themselves up as teachers of morals. For use in future editions
we therefore urge all who read these pages to send us such accounts
of these cases as may come to their notice, giving facts, dates,
and localities, and, if clippings from newspapers are sent, name,
date, and place of publication of paper.
It has been objected by apologists for the system of religion in vogue
in this country that clerical delinquencies prove nothing against the
system. In this they are mistaken. Of course, if Christianity had a
foundation of fact, these records would not prove that the fact is
not there. What they do prove, however, is that the claim made for
Christianity, that it makes men moral, is not true. For if the system
is not sufficient to restrain its very teachers, how can we expect
their pupils to profit by it? The point this book emphasizes, as an
ex-Methodist minister, now a Rationalist, but always a moral man,
forcibly puts it, is that religion in and of itself, is not a moral
force; that it is not one with morality; that it may, and often does,
exist without morality, and that morality gains nothing by being
associated with it.
In proportion to their numbers, it is believed, more ministers than
members of any other profession are guilty of crimes and vices. A
large portion of the crimes are against women or with women. This,
perhaps, is not strange when one considers the institution of pastoral
visits. While men are away from home attending to their duties in
life, the minister is roving about, pretendedly looking after the
welfare of his flock, but really making calls upon the women who most
attract him. What the confessional is to the Roman Catholic church,
such is the "pastoral visit" to the Protestant church. Women should not
attend the one or receive the other except in the presence of their
fathers or husbands. Another institution of the church could also
be done away with to the gain of morality--to wit, the lone studies
for the minister annexed to the churches. These furnished rooms are
the scenes of many debaucheries. With them, too, should go the side
doors or choir entrances. The side door and study of a church in
San Francisco were used for assignation purposes, which culminated
in murder. A murdered woman was found at the confessional box of a
Romish church in New York city. In Omaha a minister was found in the
pastor's room of his own church asphyxiated in close embrace with a
woman missionary. These side doors, secluded "studies," and secret
confessional boxes are dangerous to virtue if not to life. Many a
woman and girl passes through them to her downfall.
In this short history of ministerial conduct, lack of complete identity
is sometimes unavoidable, for in the reports of these trials in the
secular journals it has been customary to drop the first names of the
defendant, and many a pious villain is recorded as "Rev. Mr. Smith,"
or "Rev. Mr. Jones." In some cases the place is not fully given where
the crime was committed. Again, in certain instances, the offense
receives the laconic name, applied by the ecclesiastical court which
tried the criminal, as "immoral conduct," "lascivious conduct," etc.;
definitions that hide the grossness of the offense, and so screen
the reverend culprit in the interest of the church and the cloth. In
many reports of trials by ecclesiastical gatherings the name of the
accused is entirely suppressed, as is supposed, out of respect for his
"sacred calling."
The denomination to which the "pious soul" belonged, is not always
given, consequently this record will not do to rely upon to enable
the reader to ascertain what branch of "the church of God" has shown
the most efficiency in pastoral criminality.
Letters will be found placed after a name, as P.E., for presiding
elder, Ev. for Evangelist; for instance: Carhart, Rev. J. W., P.E.,
and Bayliss, Rev. E. L., Ev. The D.D., PhD., LLD., and other addenda
purchased of colleges and theological seminaries have not been
preserved with any great care. If any reverend offender who has
been overlooked, and so left out of this "illustrious category,"
desires the distinction of having his name and title made famous,
he will please forward the facts.