National Reform in Kansas
By B. E. FULLMER
NOVEMBER 27 and 28 the Kansas State Conference of the National Reform Association was held in the city of Wichita. Included among the representative speakers from the State were one university president, two college professors, two lawyers, and numerous ministers. The well-known sentiments of the National Reformers prevailed, as the convention was held under the auspices of the national organization, which was represented by its secretary, Rev. J. M. Wylie. Congress was memorialized to submit to the State legislatures, which in turn were urged to support, the following amended preamble to the Constitution of the United States:— “We, the people of the United States, reposing our trust in Almighty God as the author of all power and authority, and recognizing Jesus Christ as the rightful and only ruler of nations, and the Bible as the standard by which to decide moral issues in national life, in order to establish a more perfect union,” etc. Resolutions were also passed “favoring the adoption of the Bible as a text-book in all schools;” demanding that “the government should require in its State and public schools the teaching of Christian principles as necessary to its life and perpetuity;” and “that the oath of allegiance require loyalty to our Christian institutions;” “that the law as given by Christ, should be made the standard of legislation concerning marriage and divorce,” and others of similar import. In view of these resolutions the following statements by leading speakers have a significant ring: “Church and state must be kept separate, but religion and the state must be inseparable—a union forever.” The speaker, an attorney, following the preceding quotation used almost verbatim the words of the National W. C. T. U. president at Nashville in 1887: “Christ must be this world’s king, in its realm of cause and effect,—king of its courts, its camps, its commerce,—king of its colleges and cloisters,—king of its customs and constitutions.” He also cited the “Supreme Court decision making this a Christian nation, and judge Hammond’s decision in the King case, and upheld them both, referring slightly to the “Seventh-day Adventist [Brother King] who had made himself a nuisance by working on Sunday.” Another statement received with applause was that the change in the preamble “would obligate executives to enforce its provisions.” Polygamy and the liquor traffic were given place in the discussions, but nothing received more attention than Sunday legislation and its enforcement. The air of confidence and determination manifested throughout the convention were significant of the time when life shall be given to the image of the beast, and we shall hear the dragon voice. The following editorial from the Wichita Eagle gives hope that all are not blind to the possibilities of this movement:— “Whether any laws of the state can aid the church in the conversion of the world is a debatable question. It is claimed that the primitive church made its most miraculous growth at the most corrupt time in the whole history of the Roman empire, and nobody will claim that the state rendered the church any aid when its members numbered few. One of the objects of this party is said to be to get God into the Constitution. It certainly could not hurt the Constitution, and it might have no more effect than placing the name of the Creator on the side of a thorn. In this country the people are the government, and the way to get God into the government is to get him into the hearts of the people. It should not be forgotten, however, that kings claim to rule by divine right, and that the people of this country repudiated that doctrine, and declared that the consent of the governed is the highest authority in government. ‘There is but one God, and Mohammed is his prophet,’ may be a fine thing in politics for the fellows who are conceded to be the vice-regents of Mohammed, but bad for the people who are governed.” The convention was declared a great success, and it certainly showed that progress is being made in the fulfilment of prophecy.
B. E. FULLMER.