Three Phases of the Church-and-State Movement in the United States
By L. A. S.
In the thirteenth chapter of Revelation there is a prophecy which has not yet reached its fulfillment, but which is to be fulfilled in our day, in connection with the proclamation of the message giving a world-wide warning against the worship of the beast and his image. This belief Seventh-day Adventists have long held, and it has moved them in the past to a commendable activity in the prosecution of their appointed work. The beginning of the fulfillment of this prophecy was seen in the rise and work of the National Reform Party, which was organized by the Reformed Presbyterian Church. The avowed purpose of this organization was so to “reform” the government that God should be recognized in the national Constitution, and Christian observances in this country placed on a legal basis in the fundamental law. This meant nothing else than a union of church and state. By means of the pulpit and the press, the doctrines of this new party were widely disseminated, and many religious and educational leaders were enlisted in the movement. It was denied that just government rests upon the consent of the governed, and the Constitution was held up as a godless document, which it was necessary so to amend that the government would be bound by it to execute the will of God. To observers of the Bible Sabbath, the progress of this movement was of great significance. They saw it gaining adherents among men of national reputation. They beheld it laying siege to Congress, and making demands upon State legislatures, while from it an influence went out which put life into legal relics of the Dark Ages, and made men offenders for conscience sake. And as they saw powerful allies coming to its support—the W. C. T. U., the American Sabbath Union, the Christian Endeavor Society, and other organizations—and saw the fires of religious persecution kindling in various sections, bringing imprisonment and confiscation of goods upon many for their allegiance to God's Sabbath law, it seemed to them that the expected crisis was upon them, and that the climax of the struggle which the prophecy foretold, was at hand. But this activity in religious circles was not all that was necessary to the end in view. That alone could not bring about the situation which the prophecy describes. It was one phase of the movement which was to accomplish this work, and there have been two other phases since, each no less significant than the first, though not so directly connected with religion. The state must join with the church before the latter could have power to enforce a false worship upon the people, and in this country the state was fundamentally opposed to any interference with religious freedom. The rights of conscience were protected by the principles upon which the government was established. A change in the national policy was to be looked for, and the change came. The essence of that change was expressed by the assertion made and maintained on the floor of the United States Senate, that governments derive their just powers from the consent of “some of the governed.” This statement was substituted for that one in the Declaration of Independence which recognizes all men as possessing the same inalienable rights, which it is the true purpose of civil government to preserve. The vital part of the Declaration was repudiated, and this sentiment was echoed and defended by representatives of the government from the president down, by leading clergymen and educators also, and was approved by a majority of the people. It has become a part of the political creed of the nation. Who are “some” of the governed? This is a question that must be settled. From what portion or class of the governed is the government to derive its authority? What class of the people, in other words, is to control it and exercise authority over the rest? Will it be a large class? or will it be only a few? Does “some of the governed” mean men of a certain race only—the Caucasian race? Does it mean the millionaires? Does it mean the members of the labor unions? Does it mean the adherents of a certain church, or of a church combine? The Constitution is no longer a guarantee of the rights of all the people, with the power of all for their protection. There is now left only a struggle between the different classes for the mastery; and the sounds of that struggle are already in the air. The third phase of the church-and-state movement began with the rise of the labor unions, in the gigantic contest between labor and capital. The labor unions have become a great power, and their power is steadily increasing. In many places the will of the labor unions stands for law. It sets aside the law, and steps into the place of the government. Unionized labor has two weapons which all men dread—intimidation and the boycott. The first is chiefly exercised in connection with strikes, and the second is in perpetual use, silent but deadly. Not all the authority of the law can so quickly or so fully bring an individual to terms as does the dread of ruin which the menace of these weapons inspires. The contest of unionized labor with capital is developing a new and revolutionary form of government in this country. In the settlement of the great coal strike it was found that there was no power in the State or national government that would avail anything—that republican government in this country, so far as this strike was concerned, had vanished—and it was necessary to resort to a new procedure outside of all constitutional provisions to restore peace. This new procedure took the place of the law, and in the place of popular government there was instituted government by arbitration. But under this form of government there must be an arbitrator, some third party not identified with either of the contesting parties. It must naturally be some body of persons or some organization outside of the ranks of labor, outside of the trusts, and distinct from the civil power. There is one such organization, and that is the church. But when the church steps into this position, the church becomes the government, and in all matters where its arbitration is invoked, there is a union of church and state, full and complete. To this it need only be added that the question of which church shall be selected remains to be settled, and that the Catholic Church, by reason of its control of the leaders of the labor unions and of those elements within the unions which are most active in fomenting strikes and disorders, is the one that must naturally be chosen. And when this is done, Rome becomes the government and dominates the nation, and there is a union of church and state which is a perfect “image6to the beast,” such as the prophecy brings to view. The prophecy will be fulfilled. Its fulfillment has been steadily coming upon us all these years; it has never ceased its progress for a day. And now, indeed, it is near at hand, the forces in the religious, political, and industrial worlds are marshaled and almost ready. And the work of warning that we would do before these unite to enforce the worship of the beast and of his image, must be done quickly. L. A. S.