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    November 10, 1898

    “Notes” American Sentinel 13, 44, p. 693.

    ATJ

    NO STATE could be weaker than that whose citizens were unable to support themselves.AMS November 10, 1898, page 693.1

    THE truth most loudly proclaimed by the church in calling for the aid of state legislation, is that she has lost the support of God.AMS November 10, 1898, page 693.2

    LAWS are enacted to uphold rights, not the individuals to whom the rights belong.AMS November 10, 1898, page 693.3

    THE light of the world’s highest wisdom has never proved an antidote for moral darkness.AMS November 10, 1898, page 693.4

    A SUNDAY law can never rise above the character of a religious quarantine.AMS November 10, 1898, page 693.5

    WORK is not an enemy of the human race, but idleness and stagnation are enemies. A country is never so prosperous as when all its people have plenty of work.AMS November 10, 1898, page 693.6

    NO SABBATH law is needed to uphold the right of the workingman to a day of weekly rest.AMS November 10, 1898, page 693.7

    WHEN the church speaks one word for the workingmen on the subject of Sabbath legislation, she speaks two words for herself.AMS November 10, 1898, page 693.8

    THE night is for physical rest; the Sabbath for spiritual rest.AMS November 10, 1898, page 693.9

    IT is possible to make a person rest in such a way that it becomes more tiresome to him than work.AMS November 10, 1898, page 693.10

    TO ADMIT that it is the duty of the state to detect and punish even one sin, as such, is to justify the Inquisition and the persecutions of the Dark Ages.AMS November 10, 1898, page 693.11

    THE “powers that be” were not ordained of God to support the Christian Church or to be the means for the conversion of sinners.AMS November 10, 1898, page 693.12

    [Inset.] THE WORKINGMAN DECLINES THE SUPPORT OF RELIGIOUS LEGISLATION. THE movement which aims to establish religious observances in this land by legal sanction, has long been represented as an effort in behalf of the workingmen, who it is said are compelled to work seven days in the week, and thus lose the day of rest. The falsity of the claim that workingmen are compelled to work on the Sabbath, is demonstrated by the fact that 50,000 people in this country observe the seventh day by abstaining from work, yet who are as much “compelled” to work seven days in the week as are any who observe the first day. The workingmen through their organizations have repudiated the idea that they have not strength enough to take care of themselves, and manhood enough to obey the dictates of conscience on the point of Sabbath observance. He who has faith in God, needs no other support in obeying the divine commands; and he who would not obey God without the support of the legislature, proclaims there by that he is a moral cripple.AMS November 10, 1898, page 693.13

    “Christianity and Civic Interests” American Sentinel 13, 44, pp. 694, 695.

    ATJ

    IN the November issue of The Defender, is printed a speech by Rev. J. B. Carruthers, telling how Christianity should be “applied to civic interests.” The writer states that at present Christianity is applied only indirectly to such interests, which falls far short of what the church desires. He believes that “the Christian can be a power, according to his ability in the political and social life of the community.” In outlining his plan of church work for civic reform, this clergyman says:—AMS November 10, 1898, page 694.1

    “The church at the present time is utterly ignored by the politician in making up his slate. Must it always be so? The saloon holds both of the leading political parties in its power. Either party, when in power, will protect the saloon against any prosecution that threatens to do it any serious injury.AMS November 10, 1898, page 694.2

    “It is the duty of the church to teach the masses through good laws, enacted and sustained. A well-regulated community gives the average man a moral uplift. With our old methods of ‘letting outside questions alone,’ we have reached a condition of things where the New England Sunday is something of the past, and the saloon holds sway in the good old state of Maine. What shall we do? Draw up some strong resolution? We have done that in the past; we have drilled down to the very bed rock of the Sunday and the saloon question. The resolutions, the holes, are all right; what we need now is to charge them with a generous amount of moral, civic dynamite. Let Christians go into the caucus and help to make or break the slate.AMS November 10, 1898, page 694.3

    “What is the church doing to mould the civic sentiment of the community? Shall the church be ‘like a weather cock, that changes with every wind, or like the mountains that change the course of the winds?’ We need some intelligent, united action before the church can make itself felt against the great evils of the day. The Congregational Church, the church of our fathers, is well equipped to lead in this work.AMS November 10, 1898, page 694.4

    “It certainly is the duty of the church to look after the moral interests of a community, and to aid in removing the causes of immorality and crime, and, as this can be done in no way so well as by the church acting in its civic capacities, we need in New England a non-political organization, so organized, manned, and financially sustained that it can demand that our laws be enforced. The masses are coming to believe, and are encouraged in their belief by corrupt lawyers and corrupt politicians, that the laws are not made to be kept. When the Christian citizens are organized in a civic organization, they will be able to impress the masses, the politician, and the officials with the fact that good laws are made to be respected, and, by so doing, politics will be purified, and we will be able to rid our communities of many evils that now menace their peace and prosperity, and hinder the advance of the kingdom of God.”AMS November 10, 1898, page 694.5

    This is a plain proposition to turn the church into a political organization. Under the present order of things he says, the church cannot “make itself felt against the great evils of the day.” What is the remedy? “Let Christians go into the caucus and help to make or break the slate.”AMS November 10, 1898, page 694.6

    Christians are ambassadors for God. As such they proclaim to all men the gospel of salvation through faith in Christ. They do this in fulfillment of the instructions of Him who said, “All power is given unto Me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” But now, in this year A. D. 1898, it has been found by one of these ambassadors—by a certain class of them, rather—that this method of work will not do. God’s ambassadors must copy the methods of the politicians. They should have been copying the methods of these worldly men from the first. Evidently the Lord must have made a mistake in his instructions upon this point!AMS November 10, 1898, page 694.7

    “It is the duty of the church to look after the moral interests of a community,” and in no way can this be done “so well as by the church acting in its civic capacities,” demanding “that our laws be enforced.” The church should do this in order that politics may be purified and serious obstacles be removed which hinder “the advance of the kingdom of God.”AMS November 10, 1898, page 694.8

    What Christians, who are such in deed as well as name, do for the community in which they reside, is plainly stated in the Scripture declaration that they “are the salt of the earth.” By them the whole earth is preserved from destruction. But how are they the salt of the earth?—as politicians? as voters? as caucus manipulators? Did Christ himself figure in any of these things, or the Christians of his time? And have Christian methods of work changed between that time and the present? To assert it would be to say that God himself has changed.AMS November 10, 1898, page 694.9

    “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set upon a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick.” This states the position and work of the Christian Church. She is the light of the world, and therefore must be above the world. Lighthouse lamps are not fixed on a level with the earth. And when the church descends from her divinely-appointed station, above the world, down to the arena of politics, she puts herself on a level with the world, and her light is no longer seen by souls adrift upon the sea of time and in danger of shipwreck.AMS November 10, 1898, page 694.10

    When professed ministers of the gospel turn from the gospel and advocate political work as the only effective way of accomplishing the reforms needed in society, they deny the power of godliness, and proclaim that we have reached an age of apostasy in the professedly Christian Church.AMS November 10, 1898, page 695.1

    “Back Page” American Sentinel 13, 44, p. 708.

    ATJ

    A LITTLE internal expansion would be far better for the United States than much annexation of outside territory.AMS November 10, 1898, page 708.1

    THE nation which gives itself up to the pursuit of glory, is very apt to become dazzled by its brightness and make a fatal misstep.AMS November 10, 1898, page 708.2

    A CENTURY ago our forefathers fought Great Britain because of antagonism to the principle of “taxation without representation.” Now the nation is about to impose this same thing upon the territory it has conquered from Spain.AMS November 10, 1898, page 708.3

    YOU may think there is no danger of a revival of intolerance in this “free country.” But the very fact that you and so many other people think this way, constitutes one of the chief causes for fearing that such a calamity may be realized.AMS November 10, 1898, page 708.4

    THERE can be no such thing as liberalizing a bad law. A thing that is bad ought to be cast out; a bad principle ought to be repudiated altogether. To dress a bad principle in the garb of liberality is only to disguise its evil; and evil in disguise is worse than evil in all its ugliness. Let the bad principle be replaced by a good one. This will apply directly to the matter of Sunday legislation. A “bad” Sunday law is really less dangerous than the so-called good ones.AMS November 10, 1898, page 708.5

    THE best government is not that which does most to “help” an individual in his own affairs, but which leaves him most at liberty to help himself and develop the traits of true manhood.AMS November 10, 1898, page 708.6

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