Indianapolis Recorder: Hell Can Rejoice – Annotation

“Hell Can Rejoice – “No” to Christianity,” Indianapolis Recorder, October 29, 1955, p. 10 – Transcript || Annotation || Archive || Back


Atheists and those humanists who fear Christianity might receive encouragement from an article which appeared on last week’s front page – an article which helped emphasize that Christianity is not going to be given too much of a chance these days.

The People’s Temple Church, organized about seven months ago by some Christians who oppose discrimination in churches, has incurred the wrath of some people in the all-white neighborhood around 15th and New Jersey streets, where the church is located.

On Thursday of last week, two officials of the church were warned in an anonymous telephone call that “we’re going to burn your church down and get you out of this neighborhood, you nigger-lovers.” This threat came about a month after one of the officials, Jess Parson, chairman of the deacon board, had been warned that the neighborhood would not stand for a church composed of white and colored members.
Ironically, the front-page article appeared in the same issue carrying a friendly account of the church’s activities by one of The Recorder’s guest columnists, Betty Taft.

Well, white and Negro children can now go to school together, people of different races have discovered they can eat together, attend theaters together, ride together; but, by golly, there’ll be no worshipping God together.
There must be much rejoicing in Hell over this latest bit of blasphemy.