Ethics of Secretism
“A tale-bearer revealeth secrets, but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.” Proverbs xi: 13.
“Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick,
and it giveth light to all that are in the house. Thus let your light shine
before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your
Father which is in heaven.” Matthew v: 15-16.
/^VUR first text gives the basis for a secret society, ^-^ the purpose of which would be to suppress scandel-mongering and gossiping. Some young women in Brooklyn organized such a society. It did not last long, but it did some good wrhile it lasted. There are other kinds of secrecy which the Bible commands: “When thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth, that thine alms may be in secret; and thy Father, which seeth in secret himself, shall reward thee openly.” Sounding the trumpet in praise of one’s own gifts is not Christian.
We are also commanded to pray in secret, and the Father, who heareth in secret, will reward us openly. We may also fast in secret. Jesus declared that our fasting should not be for men, but for God. We are not to disfigure our faces, as the hypocrites do, that they may be seen of men, but we are to deny ourselves of those things which God disapproves.
The Psalmist tells us that the secret of the Lord is with them that fear Him. Christians have secrets which they could not tell to others if they would, for only those with spiritual discernment can understand them. There is a u secret place of the Most High” in which we are invited to dwell. And yet if we should try to organize a society for secret giving, praying or fasting, we A GOOD kind would make these things public by the very OF secrecy act Qf organization. The word “secret” here is used in the sense of private. The giving, praying and fasting is to be a transaction between the individual and God, but he is not commanded to deny the fact that he gives, prays or fasts.
The home is a private place, but not secret in the sense that what goes on in the home must be of such a nature that you feel constrained to deny its existence. A home may have great privacy without secrecy. Neither husband, wife or child is sworn not to divulge what is said or done within the sacred home circle.
A secret society is an organization that not only holds private meetings, but swears its members not to divulge anything that is revealed to them. And without designating any special society, I am constrained to say:
(i) Any society which keeps from the world that which would bless mankind if it were revealed is not a good institution. Christ said, “Ye are the light of the make the world,” and it is the nature of light to reveal. good public Every Christian is a lamp on the lamp-stand, giving out light into his sphere of influence. He must not put his lamp under a bushel of secrecy. If he knows truth which has done him good, he is under pressing obligation to pass that truth on to others. He has no right to place it under lock and key or to sell it to the highest bidder. If he knows things which the world would be holier and happier for knowing, he must, if he would do his duty, proclaim it so far as possible to all mankind.
(2) The society that displaces and opposes the church of Jesus Christ is not to be commended. A gentleman some time ago asked me to preach a sermon under the auspices of a secret society which he represented. I learned from him that twenty-five years ago he was a some opposed member of a Christian church, but now to the church foe ad nothing but criticism for the church. He insisted that secret societies were doing the work of the church, and doing it better. I attempted to impress upon him the fact that he was trying to use the Ruggles Street Church as an advertising pole for the society, which, according to his own claim, displaced and opposed the church. He was asking for the privilege of stabbing us in our own home. Jesus Christ said: u Upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” And the church of Christ is the most important organization in this world. Jesus built it himself, and He means that it shall stand. The individual or the society that opposes and would displace the church of Jesus is doing the work of the devil.
Another friend in Boston informed me that she belonged to seven secret societies, while her husband was a member of nine. They were not wealthy, though helping to support, between them, sixteen secret societies. She would not even admit that the church occupied a place of equal importance with these secret societies. She quoted from an orator who said that the church was not needed because the society was doing its work. Now, I am sure that there are members of secret societies who believe in the church of Christ, but they need to watch the trend of things and protest against any sentiment which would displace the church of the Living God.
The society that places itself before the church is an evil. I have known church members who, when there was a conflict between the meeting of the lodge and of
The Ethics of Secretism
the church, always went to the lodge. They believed in the church, but they gave the society the preference. This sort of thing is honeycombing the church of Jesus.
(3) The society that administers murderous or disloyal oaths is an evil institution. I have read that certain secret societies swear their members to stand by each other in murderous everything, u murder and treason excepted,” oaths an(j jn one degree they are sworn to protect
each other, “murder and treason not excepted.” If that is true, such a society is a menace to government and to the community. Its oath conflicts with the oath of the court, and makes it impossible to administer justice. I have also read the oath of a secret society which swears its members not to divulge its secrets on pain of having the offender’s tongue torn out by the roots and his body buried in the sands of the sea at low-water mark. Another society makes its members swear that, if they divulge its secrets, they will submit to the penalty of having their breasts torn open, their hearts plucked out and exposed to be devoured by vultures of the air. Now, if these oaths are serious things, some one must execute the penalty. Some one must cut the heart out and expose the body, as the oath requires, and that is a savage proceeding which the civilization, much less the Christianity, of this day will not tolerate. If, as some claim, the oaths are meaningless and the penalties are never to be executed, then the taking of such an oath is a blasphemous proceeding. Whether the oaths are to be executed or not, such swearing is anti-christian and immoral.
(4) The society that sends men to heaven just because they are members of it, regardless of character, is a power for evil in this world. I learn that some secret societies teach that every one of their members will go to heaven. Their funeral services certainly assert this. I remember that, when a boy, a secret society, including about one-half the men in my native village, was presided over by the most notorious drunkard in
FALSE CLAIM
the community; and when a funeral occurred he read the prayers and went through the ceremonies in a most pious sort of way. My boyish impression was that such a society must be evil in its influence, and for it to make the impression that bad men who died in its membership would go straight to the heavenly lodge could do only harm.
(5) The society that claims to be a philanthropic institution, when it really receives more from dues than it expends on charity, deceives the public. So far as I
have been able to gather statistics, all secret
NOT CHARITY. /
societies receive more from initiation fees and regular dues than they expend in philanthropic work. It is all right for them to do this as a matter of insurance, but it should not be claimed as charity. The church of Jesus Christ helps its members, whether they are able to contribute or not, but the secret society expects that its members pay into its treasury all that is to be expended upon them. We have no objection to this as a business arrangement, but we do contend that a society of this kind has no right to label itself charitable.
(6) The society that has coarse and brutal methods of initiation should not be encouraged. More than one man has been killed while being initiated into a secret coarse order, and, if half that we hear is true, men initiations subrnit to shameful indignities while being initiated into certain secret societies. Such coarseness and brutality do not tend to elevate the moral tone of a community. Indeed, I can see nothing but debasement as the result.
(7) The society that gives limitations to the Ten Commandments is not of God. Is it true that certain secret orders swear their members not to steal from or commit law applies adultery with the members of their order or TO all those related to them? This implies that such sins may be committed outside the circle of the secret society; such an implication does not tend to good morals.
(8) That society is bad which indulges in things under cover of secrecy which the members are ashamed to bring into the light. While in Brooklyn I joined a mutual the bad insurance society which I did not know was UNDER cover a secret order, and after an initiation which was more elaborate and nonsensical than instructive, I learned that entertainments were being held which a Christian man could not conscientiously attend. Among the first things I received was an invitation to a progressive euchre party which was held for the benefit of the order. Then came an invitation to what they were pleased to call a “stag party,” and I learned that it was nothing more or less than a vaudeville entertainment. Women in undress danced and sang for the delectation of husbands who had left their wives at home. I felt compelled to withdraw, that I might not be associated with such abominations.
(9) The society, secret or public, which expels Jesus Christ, no Christian can afford to join. I learn that in some secret orders Christ is excluded from certain decrees must NOT in order that Jews and infidels may become expel jesus members. “Be not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.” It seems to me that this is a flat denial of our Lord. “We would see Jesus” is the desire of every Christian, and we should keep out of any organization that refuses to entertain him in all of its departments.
Every secret society that has a worthy purpose would be more useful without the feature of secrecy. Truth and virtue need no secrecy, while the evils which secrecy how to make engenders are numerous. Let the memsecret societies bers of every secret society resolve to
MORE USEFUL.;. ...
begin an agitation for the elimination of the feature of secrecy, make it private but not secret. Begin with the secret oaths. If the society is worthy it will live on its own merit and be more useful through the publicity of its good features. And if it is so worthless or evil that it can be sustained only by the bond of horrible secret oaths, for the sake of its members and the world about them let it be dissolved. Jesus said u Every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds be may made manifest that they are wrought in God.”