William Booth Quotes
I consider that the chief dangers which confront the coming century will be religion without the Holy Ghost, Christianity without Christ, forgiveness without repentance, salvation without regeneration, politics without God, and heaven without hell.
Booth, William. The War Cry. Salvation Army, 1899.
This oath was even in force after the American Constitution was ratified and in effect. At the time, the Bill of Rights was not believed to be binding on the States—only on the Federal Government. Throughout American history there were many practices that were unconstitutional but were simply never litigated in the courts. Local community pressure often inhibited individuals from asserting their rights in the Federal Courts as did the expense. So, for most of American history local communities forced stores to close on Sunday. When the issue was finally taken to the Supreme Court, it was clear that such a practice was in violation of the First Amendment. Even in 2011, in Atlanta, it is “illegal” to buy beer on Sunday. When someone decides to litigate that, it will likely also be declared unconstitutional. The law not only discriminates against non Christians, but there are a few Christian sects which believe that Saturday is the Sabbath.
A century later, it would be very difficult if not impossible for anyone with these religious beliefs to obtain the Republican Presidential Nomination, as the Republican Party was controlled by conservatives and fundamentalist and evangelical Christians. However, in 1899, the fundamentalist Christians were aligned with the Democratic Party, and they referred to the Republicans as “Godless Republicans”. Taft belonged to the Unitarian Church and did attend church unlike the later President Eisenhower. See {626401}.
William Booth was an English Methodist preacher who, along with his wife, Catherine, founded the Salvation Army and became its first "General" (1878–1912). The Christian movement with a quasi-military structure and government founded in 1865 has spread from London, England, to many parts of the world and is known for being one of the largest distributors of humanitarian aid. In 2002, Booth was named among the 100 Greatest Britons in a BBC poll.
