WASHINGTON’S MEMORIAL by W. N. G.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Mar 3, 1898

WASHINGTON’S MEMORIAL.

By W. N. G.

Apropos of the recurrence of Washington’s birthday, which was celebrated last week throughout the country with much demonstration, it is well to bear in mind that a prominent issue in the events which implanted his memory in the hearts of all true lovers of freedom, was religious liberty. True, the point of political independence was the direct issue of the Revolutionary War, in which Washington was the leading spirit; but it must be borne in mind that there never can be political independence for the people at large without religious liberty—entire freedom of conscience in religious matters. A government may not be under the control of another nation, yet its people may for all that be deprived of political liberty by an illiberal system of government. And history has demonstrated that political freedom is impossible in conjunction with religious thraldom. Where there is any restriction of conscience there can not be freedom of action. In this connection, while the people of this nation are giving vent to just laudations of Washington’s services in behalf of independence, his attitude in regard to religious liberty should not be overlooked. The following is a specimen utterance of his on this subject:—

“If I had the least idea of any difficulty resulting from the constitution adopted by the convention of which I had the honor to be president when it was formed, so as to endanger the rights of any religious denomination, then I never should have attached my name to that instrument. If I had any idea that the general government was so administered that liberty of conscience was endangered, I pray you be assured that no man would be more willing than myself to revise and alter that part of it, so as to avoid all religious persecution. You can without doubt remember that I have often expressed my opinion that every man who conducts himself as a good citizen is accountable alone to God for his religious faith, and should be protected in worshiping God according to the dictates of his conscience.”

There is one feature of government which the great statesman evidently did not contemplate, namely, the possibility of the Constitution’s being so construed by the courts as to threaten its original purpose. However, this is just what has been done, and is therefore liable to be done again. The idea of the framers of the Constitution was the complete separation of the State from the Church. Why was this, when the war for independence was ostensibly for political independence only? (The Declaration of Independence had made no reference to religion or religious rights.) It is evident that experience had taught the people that there could be no permanent political freedom without religious freedom also. This idea of Church-and-State separation was emphasized by the very first Congress that convened under the Constitution, when the First Amendment was adopted, providing that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.”

This Church-and-State-separation idea was further emphasized while Washington was still President, by a treaty with Tripoli in which it was stated that “the Government of the United States is not in any sense founded upon the Christian religion.” As before stated, Washington evidently did not contemplate the frustration of these constitutional ideas by mere judicial dictum. But that is just what happened in 1892, when the U. S. Supreme Court declared that “this is a Christian nation.” And those elements of our population who are desirous of having the government swayed by religious dictation have not been slow to emphasize the logical advantage which inures to their claims and intentions by this judicial declaration. If the people of the United States are still desirous of profiting by the principles so clearly enunciated and so ably defended by Washington, they would do well to remember that “eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.” W. N. G.