L. A. S by L. A. S.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Washington, D. C. · Apr 13, 1905

L. A. S

By L. A. S.

THE editor of the Christian Statesman, organ of the party which advocates state religion in this country, says:—

In that theater on which the gaze of the world is riveted to-day, we believe that a righteous God is smiting Russia for her sins, and is saying to other nations of the world, “Except ’ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.” We believe that he has raised up Japan for this purpose, as an instrument of his will, and if she, in turn, should be lifted up with pride and refuse to acknowledge the Ruler of nations, she also will be punished.

The Statesman should remember that Russia does acknowledge the Ruler of nations, and is a “Christian nation” in the fullest sense in which the practise of state religion can make her such. If God is smiting Russia, it is certainly not for any failure on Russia’s part to recognize him in her laws and official utterances. The Statesman should also remember that the greater part of the injustice and oppression of which Russia is guilty before the world to-day comes directly from the union of the state with religion in that country. For years the “procurator of the holy synod” has been the most influential man at the Russian court, and it is well known that it is the church which, more than any other agency, has inspired and directed the policy of Russian conquest. Without an alliance of these two, there could have been no religious despotism in the empire of the czar. Certainly it is not because Russia has failed to be as religious as it is possible for any civil government to be, that she is now, as the Statesman affirms, beneath the rod of the Almighty.