UPON WHOM SHALL WE DEPEND?
By William N. Glenn
THE liberties of the people in this world hang on the brittle thread of frail human opinion. We may imagine that our governmental structure is an impregnable bulwark, in which is safely consigned all our so-called "inalienable" rights, civil and religious. But where these are brought to the test in the courts, "due process of law" may carry the issue to a point where all hangs on the opinion of a single individual. Despite the Constitution, one man's opinion on the supreme bench of a single State, yea, one man's prejudice, may sweep away a right theoretically guaranteed by that "fundamental law" which is supposed to carry with it all the physical power of the nation. So much may hang upon the judgment or prejudice of one fallible man, that entire classes of honest citizens may be deprived of the right to earn a livelihood because of a religious conviction. The rights of all the people, therefore, despite all theories to the contrary, depend upon who it is that sits in the chair of decision at the critical moment. If it happens to be a man with unbiased judgment and appreciation of constitutional intent, liberty wins; if a man lacking in ability to grasp the situation from the standpoint of the oppressed, then national guarantee goes for naught. Various decisions of noted cases have demonstrated that constitutional guarantee is not by any means an absolute safeguard, but that, put to the test of the courts, it may be no stronger than the individual desire of one man, and the whole issue, involving a fundamental principle of the government itself, may be subject to a petty prejudice. There is, there can be, no such thing as an absolute guarantee of right in human affairs so long as the control rests with frail and fallible humanity. Then why should Christians put their trust in human government? The highest court, even in such a republic as the United States, may decide one way to-day and reverse the decision to-morrow. One judge may construe the Constitution or the law in one way and a succeeding official take a different view; or the highest authority, executive or judicial, may pander to a popular clamor or a sentiment averse to the law. Christians cannot afford to depend upon the shifting sands of a political world or look to the conflicting sentiments of fallible lawmakers and judges to bring about lasting reformations. And especially in a time when God's word tells us that wicked men will "wax worse and worse," we cannot expect human governments to perfect the work of the Lord. If they cannot conduct human affairs in peace and equity, how can they take the place of God in directing the affairs of his church? "Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help." Ps. 146:3. "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else." Isa. 45:22. W. N. G.