Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Nov 13, 1893
The Golden Rule
The Golden Rule thus reads: "All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them." Matt. 7 : 12.
This means the putting of our neighbor in our place and putting ourselves in his place. It is not a rule for a single relation in life, but for all relations. It does not cover one phase but all phases.
If all men would follow the Golden Rule there would never be a crime committed on the face of the earth. There is no man who desires his neighbor to steal from him, to destroy his property, or slander his good name. He therefore, if he followed the above rule, would not steal from his neighbor, nor destroy his neighbor's property, nor slander his good name. Neither would he violate the chastity of his neighbor's wife or daughter or take his neighbor's life, because he would not desire his neighbor to do these things by him.
If all professed Christians had ever followed the Golden Rule there never would have been the persecutions of the Dark Ages; there would not be the clamor for laws relating to religious institutions or dogmas. The Christian if he had the power would not debar the heathen from the same privileges which he himself enjoyed, because if the positions were reversed, he would not wish the heathen to deprive him of his privileges and rights. And this is just as true as regards all religious laws in all countries. The Sunday keeper, if he believed in the teachings of Christ, though he had the power would not compel any man to observe Sunday, because he would not desire an observer of any other day to compel him to keep that day. No man who believed in the Golden Rule could or would support, promote, or enforce a Sunday law, or any other "civil" sabbath law. No religious legislation can exist under the teaching of Christ.
Principles are greater than facts. It is important to know a fact of the great system of gospel truth, but it is more important to understand the principles upon which it is founded. Men may be deceived as to seeming facts; and the fact known may seem to be set aside by what seemed to be a bigger fact; but he who has eternal principles of truth, and knows them to be such, has that by which he may correlate and judge all things. Study to know not only truth, but the greatest underlying principles of the truth.
TWO PRINCIPLES—TWO MANIFESTATIONS.
IN our last issue we spoke of the two great opposing forces in the universe—God and Satan—actuated by two opposing principles—love, or unselfishness, and hatred, or selfishness.
God is love, and whatever he does is actuated by love. God's love is exercised for the greatest good of all his creatures, yet in the wondrous wisdom of his plan its exercise is also for God's glory. This is not so by reason of any arbitrary enactment, but in the very nature of the case. The exercise of infinite love must bring glory to the Infinite Being who thus exercised it. And this love must also work for the highest good and purest happiness of all God's creatures; for it is exercised in harmony with infinite wisdom, and made capable by infinite power. Its purpose is the highest good and greatest happiness of all, but its results, which are only good, all return with increased blessing to the Giver. This is the very nature of love; and it is always the working of infinite love. These results may not always be seen in the exercise of love by the human; for exercised in harmony with human wisdom, its object will be only that discernible by human sense. But God's love is always exercised in infinite wisdom; while the events of to-day may seem to deny it, the unrolling eternity will demonstrate the truth, "that all things work together for good to them that love God."
That is right, therefore, which the result—the final result—demonstrates to be best. Of course, we may not, cannot, wait till the dawn of eternity to determine what is best by results. Our limited knowledge even then could not decide. But we may do what is infinitely better, trust God, who knows the end from the beginning, who sees the results of all things, who has proved his love to us by withholding not his Son to die that we might live, and who teaches us by demonstration, in the shorter lessons of nature and experience, that what is of love is eternal, and will never die; that love ever works for our best and highest good.
Love is therefore righteousness, or right doing. It lives and must act. It finds its very highest pleasure in action. Says our Saviour, "If ye love me, ye will keep my commandments." John 14:15, R. V. And again: "For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments; and his commandments are not grievous." 1 John 5:3. And such was God's love for his creatures. He loved them, sinners though they were; and because he loved them, he gave his Son, and Christ gave himself, to die for them. "Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1 John 4:10. Love is God's glory, and in its exercise he was simply acting out his character, which is righteous. John 17:25. And he who in love to God keeps his commandments does righteousness. Ps. 119:176.
Selfishness, on the other hand, seeks only the good of the one individual. Its object is the ego, the great I. Its language is: "How may I be made happy? How may I be exalted? How may I be profited? How may I win honor and homage from others?" He who is ruled by self sees no world beyond his own little sphere, knows no interests but what are subservient to his own interests, recognizes no standard but his own standard, and desires others to recognize him too. Such principles may seem to be successful for a time, so far as the one is concerned; but in the end it will ever work for the greatest evil and misery of all concerned, and will eventually prove the destruction of him who persistently cherishes it.
He who is selfish cares not for others, but for self; and if he cares for others at all, it is for the purpose of self-aggrandizement, or because he can do it just as well as not without interfering with his own interests. It is easily seen just what results would arise if all in a community possessed such a spirit uncontrolled by love. Envy, pride, hatred, evil surmising, debate, malignity, slander, murder, would run riot till all save one would be destroyed, or the weaker would be slaves to a cruel tyrant, who would reign till death, or till overthrown by a selfish one stronger. Thus, if selfishness ruled in a community, it would prove the destruction of those over whom it ruled. Selfishness would, therefore, be the opposite of righteousness, or sin. Sin is missing the mark; the mark is God's glory, and God's glory is his character, his righteousness, his love.
But not so with love. If every soul in a community thought only of doing good to every other soul, every soul would be built up and supported by the mutual efforts of all the others. Such a community could never be destroyed. Its strength would be not in any one, but in all.18These two principles of love, or righteousness, and selfishness, or sin, are clearly set forth in the word of God. They are manifested in two opposite characters which control the universe, in one way or the other, to-day. We print them in opposite columns:—
LOVE, OR UNSELFISHNESS.
"Have this mind in you, which was also in Christ Jesus; who, being originally in the form of God, thought it not a thing to be grasped to be on an equality with God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, becoming obedient even unto death, yea, the death of the cross. Wherefore also God highly exalted him." Phil. 2:5-9, R. V., margin.
SELFISHNESS, OR SIN.
"How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer [margin, 'daystar'], son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! for thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God; I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High, yet shalt thou be brought down to hell." Isa. 14:12-15.
THE MIND OF CHRIST.
Christ was in the form of God. He proceeded and came forth from God. John 8:42. He was of one nature and substance with his Father. Heb. 1:3; John 1:1-3. His angel, or messenger name, Michael ("who is like God"), shows the same thing. Certainly, if any being in all this universe had any right to be ambitious to be like God, it was he "who is like God." If anyone among that glorious throng had a right to aspire to the throne of universal dominion, it was the Son of God.
But did he?—No; this was not his mind. He emptied himself. But of what? Was he not good in every respect?—Most certainly. In himself he possessed all power and wisdom, and dwelt in the presence of ineffable glory. But Love, Infinite Love, could not be happy while his creatures were in misery, without doing all that omniscience and omnipotence could do to save them. Christ "emptied himself." Of what? Of what only can anyone empty himself?—Manifestly of himself. And this Christ did; he emptied himself of himself. He laid the foundation of the great scheme of salvation, in which nothing of self should find place. He stepped down from his position in glory; he laid aside his royal majesty; he took upon himself the form of a servant and became the messenger of the covenant from Jehovah to his people; he was made in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he came at last to the climax of his sacrifice, and died upon the cross. His self-denial, his sacrifice, was not made at the cross; it was there that the climax of all was reached. The whole sacrifice was made in purpose in the very beginning; the sacrifice on the cross was but the carrying out of the mind which formed the purpose.
Christ emptied himself, and God came in by his Spirit and filled him with his fullness. And so we read that "God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him." John 3:34. And, again, "For it pleased the Father that in him [Christ] should all fullness dwell." Col. 1:19. Christ having emptied himself, he left room for God to come in; and by this very means God could and did manifest himself—his infinite love, wisdom, and power—to the world. For it was not self which Christ came to manifest, but God; and he emptied himself that he might reveal God's love to the world. It could be said before Christ came, "God loves the world, God loves sinners," but when Christ came and toiled and suffered and died, he said to the world, "See how much God loves you." It was with this in view that the apostle thus wrote:—
"And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." 2 Cor. 5:18, 19.
And all through the teaching of Christ the same great truth is presented again and again, that Christ did not represent himself, but that self was wholly eliminated, and the Father's character was manifested. In seeing Christ, the love, mercy, and wisdom manifested by him, they saw the Father; in seeing his works of power and compassion, in listening to his wondrous teaching, men were listening to the Father. All this is abundantly proved by the following:—
"Philip saith unto him, Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself; but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." John 14:8-10.
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do." John 5:19.
"My doctrine [teaching] is not mine, but his that sent me." John 7:16.
"I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught me, I speak these things." John 8:28.
In his teachings, his works, his character, Christ showed forth the Father, and he showed forth the Father only because he had emptied himself and the Father filled him. In fact, Christ was the only one who could reveal God; for "no man knoweth the Son, but the Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal him." Matt. 11:27.
All the blessed fruits of Christ's teachings spring from the unselfishness which was in him. But in the case of Lucifer what a different picture is presented. However, a consideration of this we must defer till next week.
"1. Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him.
"2. That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.
"3. Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition;
"4. Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
"5. Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these things?
"6. And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time.
"7. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work; only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way.
"8. And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming."
From the above we note briefly the more prominent points, and pass on to notice the subject indicated at the head of this article.
1. The apostle shows that he did not believe that the coming of Christ was, as has been stated by so many, then impending, or to occur in his day. He also shows indirectly, in connection with the preceding epistle, and other teachings, that he wrote, not alone for the people in his day, but for all time,—for the last generation as well as the generation in which he lived.
2. He declares that before the coming of Christ takes place there must come a "falling away first," among those who were once God's people. It could not be said that the world had fallen away, or could fall away, because it was never united with Christ.
3. Because of this "falling away" is revealed "the man of sin," "the son of perdition," called in the seventh verse "the mystery of iniquity."
4. This "man of sin," or "mystery of iniquity," was to be manifest in the church of God; for "he opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." The temple of God is first of all the individual who yields all to God (1 Cor. 6:19, 20), and then the aggregate of such individuals (1 Cor. 3:16). God designed that his life should dwell in his body, the church, by dwelling in each individual member by faith (Eph. 3:17; Gal. 2:20), and this is the mystery of God, "Christ in you, the hope of glory" (Col. 1:27).
This union of the individual with Christ rests wholly with the choice of the individual. "Whosoever will may come." God pleads, but he will not compel. Those only who "receive him" (Christ) become sons of God (John 1:13); and the authority to choose him who was to be the all in all of the church, is also the power to reject him, or turn from him, if they so elect. But just as long as Christ is held in the heart by faith (Eph. 3:17), by the free choice of the individual, there is no power in the universe which can overthrow that soul; and just as long as those who compose the church in the aggregate hold Christ by faith, hold his word as their guide, their light, their daily food, there is no power on earth that can turn that church away. If built upon the rock Christ Jesus, the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
5. But the Spirit of God declares that the mystery of iniquity, the man of sin, shall enthrone himself in the church of God, claiming himself to be God. This worked in Paul's day even, but not as a controlling power. In Acts 20:29, 30 the apostle warns of the rise of this very power:—
"For I know this, that after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them."
This is the "falling away" referred to. But this power could not exalt itself in Paul's day. Why?—Because, as the apostle declares: "He who now letteth [hindereth] will let [hinder] until he be taken out of the way." The Revised Version reads, "And now ye know that which restraineth." Who only19hinders, who alone can hinder, the work of iniquity in the church? There is only One, and that One is Christ, in the heart, in the church, by faith. But when the church made friends with the world, she became the enemy of God (James 4:4); and when she became united with the world, she committed spiritual fornication, and the fruit of that fornication was the mystery of iniquity. The church of God first cast Christ off before she allied herself to the world. Just as long as she held to Christ, just so long the mystery of iniquity was impossible; but as soon as she turned from the one to whom she was married (Rom. 7:4; Gal. 3:27; 2 Cor. 11:2), and turned to the enemy of God, she became an adulteress and a harlot (James 4:4; Rev. 14:8), and the mystery of iniquity, that Wicked, stood revealed before the world. The fruit of that accursed union marked twelve hundred years of this world's history by a trail of blood.
The whole history of that bloody period should forever stand as a beacon warning to the church. But the sad fact is that the church of to-day is traveling again in the same evil path, flower bordered at first, but leading down to hell. The last manifestation of the evil mystery will be the worst, for it will be against the light of eighteen hundred years that the step is taken. Its culmination will not be the deadly wound of the Papacy, it will be the destruction of that Wicked by the shining forth of God's presence.
Just now God wants his presence to come into the heart of everyone by faith, the mystery of God within, that sin and iniquity may be forever banished, and everyone be saved; but those who will not invite his presence for that purpose, those who choose to identify themselves with sin, will perish with the sin when Christ comes. Reader, will you not let Christ hinder, yea, forever prevent, the exaltation of the mystery of iniquity in your heart? If so, deny self, choose Christ, lift him up.
DANGER OF SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS.
By Ellen G. White
BY MRS. E. G. WHITE.
THE Jewish nation stood forth among the nations of the earth as a proud, haughty people, who claimed to have great knowledge and to manifest great piety. The Jews looked down upon the Gentiles as upon those who were far beneath them, because of darkness and error. Yet the pretentious fig tree bore not fruit, but leaves only. If they had had spiritual understanding, they would have seen and understood the mission of Christ. The light dimly seen at first would have increased in brightness, expanding unto the perfect day. If they had followed on to know the Lord, they would have known that his goings forth are prepared as the morning. Oh, what a light would have shone upon Judah and Jerusalem had they but welcomed the light that was sent them of heaven! What a transforming power would have been manifest in life and character! They would have been just what Jesus longed to have them be,—a living, shining light in the darkness. They would have borne the noblest credentials that any one of the followers of Christ can bear. They would have been representatives of Christ, monuments of the power of the Spirit of God upon human hearts. The Spirit of God would have worked a miracle upon the heart, changing it from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh. They would have known what is meant by the regeneration of the Spirit, for the whole moral taste would have been changed, and they would have loved the things they once hated, and hated the things they once delighted in.
The words of Christ to the Pharisees come home with power to every living soul to whom the light of the Sun of Righteousness has been revealed. To those who have caught a glimpse of celestial truth, to whom have come some rays of enlightenment, is the warning given. For your souls' sake do not turn away and be disobedient to the heavenly vision. You may have seen something in regard to the righteousness of Christ, but there is truth yet to be seen clearly, and that should be estimated by you as precious as rare jewels. You will see the law of God and interpret it to the people in an entirely different light from what you have done in the past, for the law of God will be seen by you as revealing a God of mercy and righteousness. The atonement, made by the stupendous sacrifice of Jesus Christ, will be seen by you in an altogether different light. You will see sin in its heinous character. But this the Jews did not desire to see. Jesus said to them, "Ye will not come unto me that ye might have life." "For everyone that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved." "Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness of the truth. But I receive not testimony from man; but these things I say, that ye might be saved." He appeals to them to recall the deep conviction that was upon them under the messages of John. He said: "He was a burning and a shining light; and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. But I have a greater witness than that of John; for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape. And ye have not his word abiding in you; for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not." The witness of the Father had been given. "And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water; and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him; and lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
Although the men whom he was then personally addressing had not heard the voice, yet they had heard the report, and knew that the testimony of John was not borne in a corner. John's testimony had been positive, had been given in the demonstration of the Spirit and with power. He had testified of what his eyes had seen, of what his ears had heard, of what his hands had handled, of the word of life. Jesus said, "There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnessed of me is true." The scribes and Pharisees had believed the words of John at the time, but pride and unbelief worked in their hearts after Satan's order, and envy, jealousy, and downright hatred of Christ were revealed.4Jesus said to his disciples: "If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin; . . . but now they have both seen and hated both me and my Father. But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause. But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me; and ye also shall bear witness, because ye have been with me from the beginning."
CO-OPERATION.
By Fannie Bolton
BY FANNIE BOLTON.
If you're reaching up to the throne,
With hands outstretched to the Father,
God's reaching down to his own,
And the angels in sympathy gather,
Hovering about your path,
In pity and tenderness thronging,
Their wings about you they waft,
They come in response to your longing.
See the frail flower of the field
Struggling up through the mold as it's riven.
Lo, how the light is revealed,
Pouring down in high tide from heaven!
Up to the day, little flower,
Slowly, through long hours of sorrow;
Love's lifting up every hour,
And the light will break on you to-morrow.
Oh, see all over the hills
How the life breaks up through the shadows!
See how the rain turns to rills,
And the rills into streams in the meadows,
And the rivers flash on to the sea,
And leap into joy in the ocean.
Soul, here's a lesson for thee,—
God shall meet all thy heavenward emotion.
Sometime, yes, now, now it waits,
A great flood of love waits your longing.
Somewhere, yes, here at thy gates,
The agents of heaven are thronging.
If we're reaching up in the dark,
With eyes sealed, there's One stands just o'er us
To touch off the scales, and, oh, hark,
The love's here, and life's here victorious!
If you're reaching up, God in you
Is working his will. He has given
The love for the holy and true,
The heart panting prayer after heaven.
And will he not answer thy prayer
For life pure, for love full, for star crown?
If you're reaching up, oh, be sure,
God's reaching down, aye, and far down!
Protecting Men, Not Days
SOME of our prohibition papers we see are still deceived with that thousand times exploded fallacy that to protect men in their right to observe a day of rest it is necessary to have a law to protect the day. Protecting men and the rights of men is one thing. This is just what governments are instituted for,—to protect men in their rights. And this does not apply to one class, but to every class. In fact, the government should know no class among its citizens. All are on an equality there. But protecting a day or an institution by law is another thing. That always means favoring the class which hold to that day or that institution. If the Sunday institution be the thing around which the government shall throw protecting and fostering arms, then the class of people exalted above all others are those who hold to Sunday, while those who oppose Sunday as a religious institution are really placed by such laws in antagonism to the government, while those who are merely indifferent to the so-called sacredness of the day are by the same government placed in an inferior position to those who observe the day. Legislation to favor a religious institution of any kind is class legislation, and should not for a moment be tolerated in a government.
PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION
By Prof. P. T. Magan
**A REVIEW OF SUNDAY LEGISLATION IN CENTURY NINETEEN. NO. 2.**
BY PROF. P. T. MAGAN.
PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTION.
FOR many years after the attempt to prohibit the handling of the United States mails on the first day of the week in 1829-30, the matter, as far as the national Congress was concerned, was allowed to sleep. That is, as far as we know, there was no ostensible pressure brought to bear upon members of the House of Representatives by the religious fraternities in their constituencies.
But in the year 1888 it was destined to spring to life again in two separate measures, the one of which, although it was introduced into the U. S. Senate four days later than the other, was in truth, as will afterwards appear, pretended to be its precursor.
On the 25th day of May, Senator Henry W. Blair introduced a resolution into the U. S. Senate, of which the following is an exact copy:—
50th CONGRESS, 1st SESSION. S. R. 86.
Joint Resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States respecting establishments of religion and free public schools.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled (two-thirds of the House concurring therein), That the following amendment to the Constitution of the United States, be, and hereby is, proposed to the States, to become valid when ratified by the Legislatures of three-fourths of the States, as provided in the Constitution:—
ARTICLE.
SECTION 1. No State shall make or maintain any law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.
SEC. 2. Each State in this Union shall establish and maintain a system of free public schools adequate for the education of all the children living therein, between the ages of six and sixteen years, inclusive, in the common branches of knowledge, and in virtue, morality, and the principles of the Christian religion. But no money raised by taxation imposed by law, or any money or other property or credit belonging to any municipal organization, or to any State, or to the United States, shall ever be appropriated, applied, or given to the use or purposes of any school, institution, corporation, or person, whereby instruction or training shall be given in the doctrines, tenets, belief, ceremonials, or observances peculiar to any sect, denomination, organization, or society, being or claiming to be religious in their character; nor shall such peculiar doctrines, tenets, belief, ceremonials, or observances be taught or inculcated in the free public schools.
SEC. 3. To the end that each State, the United States, and all the people thereof, may have and preserve governments republican in form and in substance, the United States shall guaranty to every State, and to the people of every State and of the United States, the support and the maintenance of such a system of free public schools as is herein provided.
SEC. 4. That Congress shall enforce this article by legislation when necessary.
Now for Congress to enforce this amendment would be logically for Congress to enforce a national religion, of which the observance of Sunday as a sacred day would be an integral part. In order to show that this is so it will be necessary to enter into a somewhat extended line of argument.
Prima facie sections one and two of the above proposed amendment appear to be direct contradictions the one of the other. The first emphatically declares that "no State shall ever make or maintain any law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof;" while the opening words of section two expressly stipulate that:—
Each State in the Union shall establish and maintain a system of free public schools, adequate for the education of all the children living therein, between the ages of six and sixteen years, inclusive, in the common branches of knowledge, and in virtue, morality, and the principles of the Christian religion.
The logic of such an amendment is briefly this, that no State shall ever make or maintain a law respecting the establishment of religion; but every State in this Union shall make and maintain laws establishing the principles of the Christian religion.
It will be very manifest that a minute study and discussion of this proposed amendment would lead into the many ramifications of the questions of "centralization," "State rights," etc., which are without the province of this paper; but this one point is apparent, that such an amendment would empower Congress to legislate upon the subject of the Christian religion, and to enforce by legislation the teaching of that religion in all the public schools of the nation.
Mr. Blair evidently conceives the business of the Legislature to be, not merely to see that the persons and property of the people are secure from attack, but that it ought to be a jack-of-all-trades, architect, engineer, theologian, a Lady Bountiful in every township, "a Paul Pry in every home, spying, eavesdropping, relieving, admonishing, spending our money for us, and choosing our opinions for us." His amendment virtually provides that the national government shall prescribe the religion of the people.
Read again section 3, and let us consider it a moment. It would appear from the wording that Senator H. W. Blair and the framers of his amendment entertain an idea that "governments republican in form and in substance," cannot be had or preserved unless they guarantee to the people a system of free public schools, teaching "virtue, morality, and the principles of the Christian religion." Or, to express the same thing in a more concise form, that it is from religion that republican forms of government derive the power they possess to command obedience. We would like to ask in the name of common sense from what religion the United States derives its power to exclude the Chinese from this country, and to enforce the Geary Act. There is nothing more patent in the annals of history than that governments have existed, have received some obedience, and have afforded some protection, in times in which they derived no support from religion. True, the popular forms of government which once existed in Greece and Sparta were governments under which Church and State were united; but the religion in all these cases derived its power from the State, not the State its power from the religion. Did not the government of the Colony, afterwards State, of Rhode Island, exist for over two hundred years, "republican in form and substance," without enforcing things spiritual in any shape, way, or manner? And has not the government of Rhode Island been respected, and have not the life and property of her citizens been as safe as in any other State?
Every people as soon as they have emerged from the state of absolute savagery have found out their need of civil government and instituted it accordingly. The fact of the matter is that civil government is as universal as the practice of cookery. And who in the world do we find talking about Christian cookery and heathen cookery, or of Mohammedan pies and Presbyterian cakes. Stomachs are the same the world over, and what is good for the Methodist is good for the Parsee, and vice versa.
The maxim that governments ought to train people in the way they should go, sounds well. But is there any reason for believing that the government is more likely to lead the people in the right way, than the people to fall into the right way themselves? Have there not been governments which were blind leaders of the blind? Have not the governments of the world always been in the wrong on religious subjects? "If, therefore, it be true that every ruler is bound in conscience to use his power for the propagation of his own religion; it will follow that, for one ruler that has been bound to use his conscience for the propagation of truth, a thousand have been bound in conscience to use their power for falsehood." It is true, and no rational being will deny it, that the Christian religion sanctions civil government, and it sanctions every other thing in this world which promotes the happiness and virtue of the human family; but it is impossible for us "to conceive in what sense religion can be said to be the basis of the government, in which religion is not also the basis of the practices of eating, drinking, and lighting fires in cold weather."
On two successive occasions did the Government of England undertake to train the people of England in things religious. The fruit of the work of the experiments presents a fearful warning to the United States as her statesmen steer her so cautiously into the same channel. Says Macaulay:—
When the people whom Charles [I, king of England] had so assiduously trained in the good way, had rewarded his paternal care by cutting off his head, a new kind of training came into fashion. Another government arose, which, like the former, considered religion as its surest basis, and the religious discipline of the people as its first duty. Sanguinary laws were enacted against libertinism; profane pictures were burned; drapery was put on indecorous statues; the theaters were shut up; fast days were numerous; and the Parliament resolved that no person should be admitted into any public employment, unless the House should first be satisfied of his vital godliness. We know what was the end of this training. We know that it ended in impiety, in filthy and heartless sensuality, in the dissolution of all ties of honor and morality. We know that at this very day scriptural phrases, scriptural names, perhaps some scriptural doctrines, excite disgust and ridicule, solely because they are associated with the austerity of that period.21
Thus has the experiment of training the people in established forms of religion been twice tried in England on a large scale, once by Charles and Laud, and once by the Puritans. The High Tories of our time still entertain many of the feelings and opinions of Charles and Laud, though in a mitigated form; nor is it difficult to see that the heirs of the Puritans are still amongst us. It would be desirable that each of these parties should remember how little advantage or honor it formerly derived from the closest alliance with power, that it fell by the support of rulers and rose by their opposition, that of the two systems, that in which the people were at any time drilled was always at that time the unpopular system, that the training of the High Church ended in the reign of the Puritans, and that the training of the Puritans ended in the reign of the harlots.
Every argument in support of such a system as this proves futile.
In fact, the artillery of the advocates of this theory is composed of two sorts of cannon,—guns which will not go off at all, and guns which go off with such a vengeance that they recoil with most crushing effect upon those who train and fire them.
Again, the advocates of this and all similar measures say that their ideas embodied in the Constitution would be a recognition of God in the document as king of this country. Let us see. The National Convention of the W. C. T. U. in 1888, by resolution, indorsed the proposed Blair amendment as deserving their "earnest and united support." Exactly; that was only the logical sequel to their resolution, in National Convention, of 1887:—
The Woman's Christian Temperance Union, local, State, national, and world-wide, has one vital, organic thought, one all-absorbing purpose, one underlying enthusiasm, and that is that Christ shall be this world's king; yea, verily, THIS WORLD'S KING in its realm of cause and effect,—king at its courts, its camps, its commerce,—king of its colleges and cloisters,—king of its customs and constitutions. . . . The kingdom of Christ must enter the realm of law through the gateway of politics.
Christ to be KING OF THIS WORLD; but he himself said, "My kingdom is not of this world." And those who thrust temporal sovereignty upon him treat him as their prototypes treated him over 1,800 years ago.
They bow the knee, and spit upon him; they cry "Hail!" and smite him on the cheek; they put a scepter in his hand, but it is a fragile reed; they crown him, but is with thorns; they cover with purple the wounds which their own hands have inflicted on him, and inscribe magnificent titles over the cross on which they have fixed him, to perish in ignominy and pain.