Against State-Appointed Religious Observances
GOVERNOR JORDAN, of New Hampshire, appointed April 17 to be “a day of fasting, meditation, and prayer, to the end that there may be a strengthening of the faith, the hope, and the charity which have long made New Hampshire fathers strong and New Hampshire mothers noble.” The governor had in view a very worthy end, but it is one which can be secured only by some higher and more potent means than a proclamation from the head of the State government. Civil government officials are not put in office to deal with matters of faith and prescribe religious observances. God has his agencies for awakening and strengthening faith in the human heart, and it is not the prerogative of a State governor to act as the agent of him who is lord of the conscience, by appointing days of public fasting and prayer. In such matters, where any good is to result, the individual conscience must be quickened by a spiritual influence coming from no earthly source. Religious proclamations by officials of the State tend rather to retard the work of Christianity than to hasten it.