WHEN the Apostle Paul came to Rome, certain of the Jews came to him and said: “We desire to hear of thee what thou thinkest: for as concerning this sect, we know that everywhere it is spoken against.” Acts 28:22.
No one will question the application of the words “this sect” to the Christians. Now, if Christians were a sect in Paul’s day, at what time did they cease to be a sect? Obviously, they are as much a sect now as they ever were.
This being so, the term “non-sectarian” cannot apply to anything that is Christian; and the very common use that is made of it to designate some religious movement or undertaking that is backed by several or all the churches together, is without any warrant of fact.
It is nothing against Christianity that its adherents constitute a sect. But it is something against Christians when they try to get state aid for a religious enterprise, on the ground of its being “non-sectarian.”