Testimonies for the Church Vol 1 - Lansing SDA Church

656 Testimonies for the Church Volume 1[717]the same Spirit explains that the Scriptures speak of it as the caseappeared. See Testimony No. 33, vol. 5, 696-698.Page 355, “The Rebellion”—At the time that this testimony waswritten, early in 1863, Seventh-day Adventists were faced with a seriousproblem. The nation was at war. Although at heart noncombatants,the sympathies of the church members were, almost without exception,entirely with the government in its opposition to slavery. As the conflictprogressed, more and more men were called to the army. At eachcall every district was under obligation to furnish a certain number ofrecruits, and when the voluntary enlistments fell below that number,names were drawn to make up the lack. For a time it was possible bythe payment of money to buy a substitute and thus release one whosename had been drawn. As there was no provision made for assigningSeventh-day Adventists to noncombatant service, and no allowancefor Sabbath observance, Sabbathkeepers, when drafted, usually in thisway purchased their exemption. If the individual was unable to raisethe money himself, he was helped by a fund raised for that purpose.Now, as more men were needed, and a national conscription lawwithout such exemption privileges was impending, our brethren werein perplexity regarding their response to such a draft, where they mightbe compelled to take up arms or to work on the Sabbath.A few months prior to the appearance of this testimony, ElderWhite had published an editorial in the Review and Herald entitled“The Nation,” to which reference is made on page 356. He believedthe government to be the best on earth and fighting for a righteouscause. His best counsel at that time was that in the event of drafting“it would be madness to resist,” and added:“He who would resist until, in the administration of military law,he was shot down, goes too far, we think, in taking the responsibilityof suicide.”—The Review and Herald, August 12, 1862.The nature of some of the correspondence that followed this article,as pointed out by Mrs. White, had been such as to lead Elder Whiteto protest against a virtual charge of “Sabbathbreaking and murder”which had been brought against him. Such extremists were reprovedby Mrs. White on the one hand, and on the other hand a note ofwarning was sounded to those who were inclined to enlist.In July, 1864, the national conscription law was so amended as torevoke the $300 exemption clause. Steps were immediately taken to