The Politics of Religious Paranoia
A Seattle newspaper reflects on the rise of the A.P.A., a nativist political group threatening to turn neighbor against neighbor.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
It is a matter for regret that the curse of sectarianism in politics has received endorsement in Portland, Or., in the election of a school director who is reported to have been supported by the A.P.A. The A.P.A. by its lectures, its publications and its activity in politics is only repeating the 'Knownothing' blunder and crime of forty years ago, and is attempting to inaugurate a religious warfare between neighbors in every community. This attempt is in direct repudiation of the spirit of our institutions. No political party of consequence can afford to exhibit sympathy for a secret political society of any description, much less give it shelter, and the A.P.A. will be ultimately obliterated between the upper and nether millstone of the two great political parties of the country. Our public schools need no defense save the law, and these public schools enjoy the sympathy and support of all the progressive Roman Catholic clergy of the country. We have separated forever church and state in this country, and the leading bishops of the Roman Catholic church accept and acknowledge this principle.
“Prejudice begets prejudice, and bigotry always begets bigotry.”
The A.P.A. (American Protective Association) was an anti-Catholic secret society that peaked in the mid-1890s. Its rhetoric of 'protecting' public schools and 'Americanizing' immigrants echoes modern debates about the role of culture and religion in the civic sphere and the frequent use of school boards as battlegrounds for identity politics.
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