p. 13 | Appreciating American Principles by C. M. S.

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · May 12, 1910

Appreciating American Principles

By C. M. S.

When Mr. Roosevelt had definitely decided not to accept the conditions laid down by the officials of the Catholic Church at Rome, he at once cabled a message to the American people advising that they regard the incident as a personal one, and that there be no bitter controversial strife in this country over the matter. In that message occurs this significant statement:—

The more an American sees of other countries, the more profound must be his feelings of gratitude that in his own land there is not merely complete toleration, but the heartiest good will and sympathy between sincere and honest men of different faith.

He had seen the fruits of the other system, and it made him appreciate all the more the principles of this nation in the matter of religious freedom. The spirit of intolerance in matters of religious faith and practise—a spirit inseparably connected with the “religious state” idea—refused to permit the head of a religious system to grasp the proffered hands of two men whom one of the greatest nations in the world had seen fit to honor with the two highest offices within its power to bestow upon them, and whom the rulers of other nations had delighted to honor. The system which stands upon a union of religion and the state did that. And yet Jesus Christ never rebuffed any man who sought an audience with him. The difference between the course of the Vatican in this matter and the course of Jesus Christ makes painfully apparent the antichristian policy of the Papacy. It is a striking coincidence that but a very few days after Mr. Roosevelt’s message to the American people appeared in print, Mr. W. J. Bryan returned from a trip through Latin America. Soon after landing at New York, he said:—

I have come back with an increased gratitude that a kind Providence has cast my lot in this land.

It is certainly remarkable that two such prominent Americans, one from each of the great political parties, with their experiences and observations in Catholic lands distinctly in mind, should utter sentiments so nearly alike and so nearly at the same time. It ought to cause Americans to think and to ponder well. It ought to cause those in this country who are advocating a union of religion and the state here to reflect soberly upon the propositions they are advocating. Rome acted consistently with her premise; but her premise is un-American and wrong in itself. Any organization in this country which advocates a union of religion and the state is advocating the Roman premise, which must result in the conditions Mr. Roosevelt and Mr. Bryan found in other lands, which made them glad America was not founded upon that basis.

C. M. S.