Present-Day Indulgences

Present-Day Indulgences By Albert R. Lyman IF OLD TETZEL should come today peddling his written in- indulgences to commit sin, he would perhaps find fewer gullible buyers than he found in Saxony four hundred years ago. Luther stood then quite alone in his knowledge of the fraud, but today a multitude would be equally ready to brand it a swindle. With that notorious cheat so widely known, it would really seem such humbug could not again find ready victims. But, according to Longfellow, "Things are not what they seem." That indulgence stunt was but a new twist to an old trick, a trick which Satan had used from the beginning. And the old trick has to find new form or ignorant victims. That form of it with which the old trickster sent Tetzel to cut a wide swath of sin through Europe would not be offered to those with whom it is already notorious. As chief engineer and efficiency expert in the primeval conflict, Satan is amply able to provide a new and novel appearance for this prize practice and he uses it still. Indulgences are held and relied upon today. Not only right now, but right here are people quoting the terms of their supposed franchise to commit sin. The indulgence has been carefully modern- ized, accommodating itself to the weakness and credulity of pro- fessing Latter-day Saints, exempting them from honoring the Sab- bath day, from paying tithing and offering prayer. It provides particular privilege for using the very things the Lord has named and condemned by special revelation. These people cling to and repeat the terms of their indulgence as if they really believe it relieves them of guilt. These modern indulgences are seldom written, their terms are accommodatingly elastic and vague, and they are generally kept, for greater safety, out of sight until called for by necessity. Often it is difficult to find out just what they are and where they come from, yet they are about as numerous as the human race. The substance of one popular indulgence is this: "The bishop and other ward authorities have discriminated unfairly against me, and the Lord will not for that reason hold me to the requirements of the Gospel as he would if I had been given a square deal." Another one, adapted to the blindness with which its holder is ready to receive it, declares, "Nobody knows who gets the tithing — somebody's surely getting fat on it, and besides, if the Lord really expected me to pay tithing he would give me more to pay."

■fa»«< 19i9 PRESENT-DAY INDULGENCES 665 One man in self-defense offers this: "Brother T smoked all his life and all who knew him speak well of him; I'll be satisfied with the kind of a reward he gets." (Notice the fraud of this implied promise of a man's salvation for having his weakness instead of having his strength.) Another indulgence says, "If the Lord expects me to rest on Sunday, why does he entrust me with this property which should be cared for every day to get the most out of it?" These peculiar franchises to do wrong are too commonly known to need much description — they can be recognized on every side even if they do not happen to be the main thing right at home. Satan's most winning inducement in preparing Cain to slay his brother was the offer of a crafty indulgence, and when God de- manded an accounting Cain offered it as the last shadow of his defense: "His offering thou didst accept and not mine." Every backslider and every apostate holds a cherished license, which he will display in self-defense the moment his inconsistencies are brought to view. Brother, are you depending on a secret indulgence? It is no more valid than the brand of indulgence which Tetzel sold; no more valid than that earlier brand which Cain accepted; they all come from the same evil headquarters and are intended for the same evil end. What a blighting surprise it will be at the great bar of justice when, in answer to the repeated indulgence by which men have been getting by in this world, the Father says, "You are your own witness as to whom you loved and accepted for your master." Blanding, Utah. Another Tobacco "Testimonial" Not long ago the president of one of our foreign missions had occasion to call on the managing director of a transatlantic steamship line. The director thought he saw an opportunity to secure some desirable business for his company and, following a very common practice, offered a cigar to his visitor. The offer was courteously rejected with the remark, "Thank you, I don't smoke." "What, never?" asked the surprised official. "No, our Church teaches that we should not use tobacco in any form." "Well, if your Church can keep its members from smoking, it has an excellent reason for existence. My health would have been a great deal better, and I would be a tidy sum of money ahead if I had never acquired the habit."