Value of Christianity in Petitions.
It is astonishing, in a government in which Church and State are popularly supposed to be separate, to see so many petitions pouring in upon Congress in the names of religious bodies and the representatives of religious bodies. Why do not these petitioners make known their wants in their own names, as plain citizens? Evidently it is because they think a petition in the name of religion, especially the Christian religion, is entitled to more consideration at the hands of the people’s representatives than requests of citizens simply in their own names. It is this delusion that has led to the “Christian Citizenship” movement, through which professed Christians hope to gain an ascendancy in political affairs. This class of citizens hope to gain temporal advantage over their fellow-citizens by virtue of a profession of Christianity, and this is the basest prostitution of the Christian name. The principle announced in the Declaration of Independence is that “all men are created equal.” This is the true principle to be recognized in all civil government. Christianity adds no additional prerogative to the citizen. The objects for which petition is made may be good, but Congress is no more under obligation to enact the legislation requested because the petitions therefor have come in the name of some religious body. Such petitions virtually say, “We are better and of more consequence than ordinary citizens; therefore you must heed our requests because we are Christians.” Such an air of assumed superiority is anything but Christian.