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Obedience to Civil Government—Is Amer-SB' iican Slavery a Divine Institution ?| F State Sentinel Having manifested a dispo-ftition to'draw us into a discussion of the duty of%gobd citiaeris” to obey the Fugtiive Slave Law,propounded to him as preliminary to the dis-^;^UMion, the following questions :K.-:jft- 'Mr. Brown, do you believe in the existencea*Supreme being, to whom human beings arerikwnsibWiortheir actions ?’-isSd. Iftso, do you believe that any number of men,; whether members of Congress or not, can abrogate, or suspend the operation, of the laws of ihht'Supreme Being, dr any one of them, go as to relieve’themselves or any one else from responsi- bility to Deity t. ^3ct. Do;you beUeve that Slavery as it exists in the United States, is in accordanee with the laws of*Ood ? i: ■: 4th. If called upon by the United States Mar-shal, or his Deputies, to assist in catching a Fugitive Slave, would you do it ?•i The Sentinel’s answers are copied into another column^ and we trust the reader will examine them carefuliy tts embracing the grounds on which it is (; attempted1 to justify the Fugitive Slave Law.In Jhecexamination of this subject the reader will please to bear in mind the admissions of Mr. Brownt ‘ .He admits the existence of a Supreme Being,'to whom human beings are responsible for their actions;, he admits that this responsibility duihot be-annulled or suspended, by any man, or nnmbear of men, whether members of Congress orr:not.A.-.*—.___*— ,_J, we repeat, we wish thein accordance with the opinions [and practice of the Apostles themselves. When the Jewish authorities commanded Peter and John not to teach in the name of Jesus, they answered :“Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.“For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”On another similar occasion—“ Peter and the other Apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than man.”Peter and John and the “other Apostles” thought it not wrong, when called upon to obey magistrates, to consider “what was right in the sight of God”—they took the liberty to “decide for themselves ” what was “ obligatory and binding,” upon them, “ so far as law was concerned,” they esteemed it duty sometimes to disobey Civil Government. Mr. Brown, of course, thinks they were in an error—that they were traitors to their coimtiy and to their God, but we have been so accustomed to respect the opinions of these Apostles, that our neighbor really must pardon us for attaching more weight to their decisions than to the decisions of the editor of the State Sentinel. Indeed we incline to the belief that their opinions are entitled to as much credit as the opinions of “ Judges Grier, Nelson and Curtis.”The visit of the Angel to Hagar and his direction to her to return to Sarah, is esteemed by the Sentinel evidence of the Divine approbation of American Slaveiy. If so, the visit of the Angel of »the Lord to Peter, when cast into prison by com-
Newspaper Details
Indianapolis Indiana Free Democrat
Indianapolis, Indiana, US
Thu, May 05, 1853
Page 1
Full Page
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Anonymous
USA 27 Oct 2023
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