The Reverend Earl Benton, pastor of the Methodist Church of Wilford
Springs, took an active interest in the Klan. He made several speeches
on Americanism and had publicly stated that he was a member of the Klan.
One day when he had called at the office of Charles Wilson to get an
insurance policy Patrick McBryan was present.
"Reverend Benton, are you acquainted with Mr. McBryan?" Wilson asked as
the minister entered.
"Yes, I know Mr. McBryan. How are you?"
"Very well, Reverend. How are you and the Ku Kluxers?" McBryan asked.
"I am all right and the Klan is getting along fine."
"If you have no objections I'd like to ask you a few questions about
this organization."
"None whatever, unless you want to know who the members are. I don't
object to telling you that I am a member but farther than that I cannot
reveal the membership roll."
"I'd like to know if you think that it is American for the Klan to
fight other churches?"
"The Klan does not fight any church nor does it persecute anyone for
their religious opinions. Quite the contrary. Members of the Klan are
obligated to uphold the Constitution of the United States, not part
of the Constitution, but every article and clause. As you know, one
of the fundamental principles of Americanism is religious toleration.
The first amendment to the Constitution provides that Congress shall
make no law respecting the establishment of religion or prohibiting
the free exercise thereof. The last clause of the sixth article of the
Constitution provides that no religious test shall ever be required as
a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.
The members of the Klan are obligated to support the Constitution of
the United States and believe in the principle of religious toleration.
If any person or any group should interfere with the Catholics of
Wilford Springs meeting in their cathedral to worship God as they
please the Klan would be the first to protest against such action."
"You have stated that the Constitution provides that no religious
test shall be required for office holding, but the Klan is everywhere
opposing Catholics who are candidates and doing all it can to keep them
out of office, and yet you say that the Klan supports the Constitution."
The minister smiled. He was amused at the absurd statement of the Irish
politician.
"I am afraid," he said, "that you wouldn't have made much of a lawyer.
The Constitution says that no religious test shall be required for
office holding. That certainly does not mean that one may not vote
against a man because of a religious opinion if he so desires. If
Congress were to pass a law requiring all office holders to be
Baptists, that would be a religious test for office holding."
Wilson, who was a Baptist, reached over and slapped the minister on the
leg and laughingly said, "That would be fine."
"Why do you not permit Catholics to join the Klan?"
"I might ask you why the Knights of Columbus do not permit Protestants
to join that organization."
"If you did, the answer would be easy. I would tell you that the
Knights of Columbus is a Catholic organization," declared McBryan.
"I can frankly say that the Ku Klux Klan is a Protestant
organization--but to give you a little more definite information,
I will inform you that in order to become a member of the Klan the
applicant must be able to declare allegiance to the United States,
which many good Catholics can do, and disown any allegiance to any
foreign government, prince or potentate, civil or ecclesiastical, which
no Catholic can do."
"Do you mean to say that Catholics are not patriotic?" shouted McBryan,
springing to his feet.
"Sit down, Mac, and take it easy," said Wilson. "You remember you are
just having a friendly discussion, and the preacher is only answering
your questions." McBryan resumed his seat.
Reverend Benton continued to speak with the greatest self-control. "I
do not say anything of the kind. Many of them have demonstrated that
they are patriotic and good citizens, but the fact remains that as
Roman Catholics they owe allegiance to the Pope of Rome. Isn't that
true?"
"Yes, he is the head of the Roman Catholic Church."
"Do you not believe that it would be better to have your church
organization complete in this country and have no foreign allegiance?"
"I would think so if the pope were an ordinary man."
"Mr. McBryan, will you please explain to me in what sense the pope is
not an ordinary man?"
"The pope is the vicar of Christ, and as such is infallible."
"How did the pope get to be vicar of Christ?"
"He is the lawful successor of St. Peter."
"I deny that St. Peter was a pope. He never claimed to have any
authority of an ecclesiastical nature not possessed by the other
apostles. The other apostles did not recognize any such authority
vested in him. Paul, in referring to a disagreement with him, said, 'I
withstood him to his face.' If there were any power vested in him that
was not shared by the other apostles the Bible makes no provision for a
successor."
"That's the way you Protestants interpret the Bible, but you are
fallible and we have an infallible interpreter."
"If we were to grant for the sake of argument that the pope is the
successor of Peter, what makes him infallible?"
"Why, I suppose that God makes him infallible just as he made St. Peter
infallible."
"Cardinal Gibbons says that the pope, as successor of St. Peter, by
virtue of the promises of Jesus Christ, is preserved from error of
judgment when he renders decisions on faith and morals," the minister
quoted.
"Isn't the cardinal right?"
"On page 117 of 'The Faith of Our Fathers,' Cardinal Gibbons says, 'The
infallibility of the popes does not signify that they are inspired. The
apostles were endowed with the gift of inspiration, and we accept their
writings as the revered Word of God. No Catholic, on the contrary,
claims that the pope is inspired or endowed with Divine revelation
properly so called.' Now if they are not inspired I would like to know
just how they are infallible in judgment. The experience of humanity
goes to show that the human mind is fallible and prone to error and
that the election to an office, be it political or ecclesiastical, does
not change the nature of his judgments."
"I can't explain it but I believe it." McBryan spoke with positiveness.
"All Roman Catholics believe that the pope is infallible, don't they,
McBryan?" asked Wilson.
"Sure they do. They wouldn't be Catholics unless they did."
"For my part," said the minister, "I do not see how any fair-minded
man can have any faith in the infallibility of the pope or think that
he is the lawful successor of Peter when he considers the history of
the popes, especially when he considers their morals and decisions. I
never could understand how men could believe this doctrine when one
infallible pope reverses the decision of a predecessor who was also
infallible."
"You spoke of their morals. What did you mean by that?" Wilson asked.
"I meant that when we consider the immoral acts of some of these
men who claimed to be the vicar of Christ, that is, His personal
representative on earth, any man whose mind was not stultified by
prejudice and superstition would rebel against the doctrine of the
pope's being the vicar of Christ."
"Just what immorality do you refer to?" McBryan asked.
"Constantine (also known as St. Paul I) was one of the popes.
Stephen IV was elected to supplant him. Stephen put out the eyes
of Constantine. This pope also amputated the tongue of the Bishop
Theodorus. Formosus, who had been excommunicated as a conspirator
for the murder of Pope John, was elected pope in 891. Stephen VII
had the dead body of Formosus taken from the grave, clothed in papal
habiliments, propped up in a chair and tried before a council. The
corpse was found guilty, three fingers were cut off and the body cast
into the Tiber. In----"
McBryan jumped to his feet, his face livid with anger. "Them's lies,"
he shouted, "damnable Protestant lies."
"Sit down, McBryan, and keep still until the Reverend is through and
then you can have your say. One speaker at a time, you know, and
Reverend Benton has the floor." Wilson rapped on the table and spoke
with the authoritative voice of a judge.
"Very well, go on," said McBryan as he took his seat.
The minister, unperturbed, continued: "In less than two months after
Leo V became pope he was cast into prison by Christopher, one of his
chaplains. This Christopher usurped his place and was afterwards
expelled from Rome by Sergius III, who became pope. This pope lived in
criminal intercourse with the celebrated Theodora. The love of Theodora
was shared by John X. Through her influence John X was made archbishop
and later pope.
"John XII was only nineteen years of age when he became pope. His reign
was characterized by the most shocking immoralities. He was given to
drunkenness and gambling; he put out the eyes of one ecclesiastic and
maimed another. He was charged with incest and many adulteries. He was
at last deposed, and Leo VII was elected in his stead. Subsequently
John XII got the upper hand and maimed and mutilated his antagonists.
His life was finally brought to an end by a man whose wife he had
seduced. Boniface VII imprisoned Benedict VII and starved him to death.
"Benedict IX, a boy of less than twelve years, was raised to the
apostolic throne. One of his successors, Victor III, declared that
the life of Benedict was so shameful, so foul, so execrable, that
he shuddered to describe it. The people, unable longer to bear his
adulteries, homicides and abominations, rose against him, and in
despair of maintaining his position, he put up the papacy at auction
and it was bought by a presbyter named John, who became Gregory the VI.
These are but a part of the crimes and irregularities of which some of
the popes were guilty."
"I don't believe all that. I never heard of it before. Where's your
proof?" demanded McBryan.
"My dear sir, these things are a matter of history. Everything I have
said of these popes and much more is recorded in Draper's 'History of
the Intellectual Development of Europe' and can be substantiated by
other historians."
"Aren't there a lot of Protestant ministers who are guilty of
immorality?" McBryan asked.
"There are some Protestant ministers who are guilty of immorality, but
when it is discovered that a Protestant minister has gone wrong he
is expelled from the ministry. A big difference between the relation
of a Protestant minister and his congregation and the pope and the
Catholic church is that Protestants do not hold their ministers or any
ecclesiastic to be infallible, while the Catholics do hold the pope to
be infallible. I do not doubt that many of the popes were good men,
and I do not claim that because some of them were bad that all of them
are to be condemned, but the point I am making is that one must be
very credulous to believe that Christ would recognize as His direct
representatives men who had committed such gross immoralities and
outraged every human right--men who were among the greatest reprobates
and degenerates the world has ever produced. I cannot understand how
men who are not controlled by superstitious fear can believe that these
men were the successors of St. Peter and that through them Christ
passed down the office of pontiff, including all of the prerogatives of
his vicarage, to the present incumbent."
"I believe He did," said McBryan.
"I suppose you believe that Christ authorized the sale of the papacy at
auction by Benedict IX. Well, I don't believe it."
"It don't make any difference to Catholics what damn Protestants think
of their pope."
"Mr. McBryan, I have no objections to your believing in the
infallibility of the popes if you want to. The Klan does not object
to any religious belief. It stands for the worship of God according
to the dictates of conscience, and will protect Catholics as well as
Protestants in such worship. What the Klan does oppose, and what every
American should oppose, is the exercise of civil power by the Church.
Whenever any church, Catholic or Protestant, attempts to gain control
of the affairs of state they will find solid opposition from the Klan.
One of the principles of this organization is the separation of church
and state."
"I would oppose even the Baptist church's doing that," said Wilson.
"Catholics don't believe in the church controlling the state," said
McBryan.
"I hope not, but the history of the Catholic church is largely the
history of a church directly controlling, or dominating, civil powers;
and when such powers have been wrested from it, struggling to regain
them.
"The time was when the Catholic church controlled the political
affairs of all Europe. In 754 Pippin, king of the Franks, recognized
the temporal authority of the pope. In 774 Charlemagne confirmed this
power and enlarged the dominion of the pope. For many years contentions
between the church and the rulers of Europe were common. France, under
Philip the Fair, was the first power to successfully resist papal
authority. The rise of Protestantism under Luther caused the pope to
lose fully one-half of Europe. This power was never regained. After the
treaty of Westphalia in 1648 conditions were brought about that made a
rapid decline of the pope's temporal power.
"Napoleon III was forced to withdraw the French troops from Italy
during the Franco-German war, Victor Emmanuel took advantage of
this circumstance and on September 20, 1870, entered Rome and took
possession of the palace. The pope was stripped of all direct temporal
power. His influence in church matters was in no wise interfered with.
Since then he has exercised much indirect political power."
"I am not in favor of the pope's exercising temporal power, and
Catholics as a whole are not in favor of it. You see we only believe in
the infallibility of the pope in religious matters," said McBryan.
"Well, if it is true that the Roman Catholics are not in favor of the
pope's exercising temporal power certainly they should not object to
the Klan's insisting on the continued separation of church and state.
And while there may be some Catholics like yourself who would oppose
the re-establishment of the direct temporal control of the pope, there
are many who would welcome it and assist in bringing it about."
"You are mistaken. You see that we don't believe in the pope's
infallibility in political affairs."
"While it is true that your church teaches that the pope is infallible
only in spiritual matters, yet Catholics believe in his right and
ability to rule in temporal affairs."
"How do you know they do?"
"Cardinal Manning, in his debate with Robert Ingersoll, declared,
'The greatest statesmen and rulers that the world has ever seen are
the popes of Rome.' Cardinal Gibbons, in his book, 'The Faith of Our
Fathers,' in the chapter headed 'Temporal Power of the Popes,' says:
"'The Papacy,' they say, 'is gone. Its glory vanished. Its sun is set.
It is sunk below the horizon never to rise again.' Illboding prophet,
will you never profit by the lessons of history? Have not numbers of
popes before Pius IX been forcibly ejected from their See, and have
they not been reinstated in their temporal authority? What has happened
so often before may and will happen again.
"For our part we have every confidence that ere long the clouds
which now overshadow the civil throne of the pope will be removed by
the breath of a righteous God, and that his temporal power will be
re-established on a more permanent basis than ever."
"Well, I guess everybody has a right to his own opinion," said McBryan.
"Yes, freedom of speech and freedom of the press is another of the Klan
principles," replied Reverend Benton, as he rose from his chair. "If
you will give me my insurance policy, Mr. Wilson, I will go."
"The premium is nine dollars and forty cents," Wilson stated, as he
handed the policy to the minister.
"Will it be all right to let that go until the first of the month? I am
short of funds now."
"Yes, that's all right, but I didn't know that preachers ever got
short," remarked the real estate and insurance agent, laughing.
When Reverend Benton had gone out Wilson turned to McBryan. "I will
appreciate it if you will give Harold King a chance at the city
building, he is a fine fellow."
"He has already spoken to us, and we have asked him to submit a
perspective drawing. There are several other applicants."
"He's a fine young fellow and a home man, and I'd like very much to see
him get it."
"He'll be given careful consideration," McBryan replied. "Other things
being equal, I would prefer to hire a home man."