3. That organizations whose whole object and general method are well
understood, and are known to be laudable and moral--such as
associations for purely literary or reformatory purposes--are not to
be sweepingly condemned by reason of a thin veil of secrecy covering
their precise methods of procedure; yet we deem that outer veil of
secrecy to be unwise and undesirable, inasmuch as it holds out
needless temptations to deeds of darkness, and gives unnecessary
countenance to other and unlawful combinations; and, whenever the
act of membership involves an _unconditional_ oath or promise of
submission, adhesion, and concealment, under all circumstnces [sic],
that compact is a grave moral wrong.

4. That there are certain other wide-spread organizations--such as
Freemasonry--which, we suppose, are in their nature hostile to good
citizenship and true religion, because they exact initiatory oaths
of blind compliance and concealment incompatible with the claims of
equal justice toward man and a good conscience toward God; because
they may easily, and sometimes have actually, become combinations
against the due process of law and government; because, while
claiming a religious character, they, in their rituals, deliberately
withhold all recognition of Christ as their only Savior, and of
Christianity as the only true religion; because, while they are, in
fact, nothing but restricted partnerships or companies for mutual
insurance and protection, they ostentatiously parade this
characterless engagement as a substitute for brotherly love and true
benevolence; because they bring good men in confidential relations
to bad men; and because, while in theory, they supplant the church
of Christ, they do also, in fact, largely tend to withdraw the
sympathy and active zeal of professing Christians from their
respective churches. Against all connections with such associations
we earnestly advise the members of our churches, and exhort them,
"Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers."

***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SECRET SOCIETIES***

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