THE best patriotism is that which champions the rights of all individuals, regardless of nationality, color, or belief.AMS November 11, 1897, page 689.5

THE liberality of the present age is mostly of the kind that has its origin in the commercial instinct. It is manifested only in return for value received.AMS November 11, 1897, page 689.6

WILL America return the same answer to the question whether democratic government can be permanently successful, that has been given by Greece and Rome?AMS November 11, 1897, page 689.7

WHEN the people vote to be governed by a dictator, as in the late election in “Greater New York,” “popular government” means government by a dictator and nothing more.AMS November 11, 1897, page 689.8

“WHILE they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption,” is a scripture which applies well to the promises of liberty made in this day by most of the political leaders.AMS November 11, 1897, page 689.9

AMS well might one think to build a fine edifice without paying any particular attention to the laying of the individual brick, as to think that there can be good government through any scheme based upon the idea of converting people by wholesale.AMS November 11, 1897, page 689.10

IT is useless to think of raising the standard of allegiance to God’s Sabbath law by devising means for an improved observance of Sunday. When you miss the mark altogether, it doesn’t matter whether your bullet would or would not have been more effective on the target than one you had been using before.AMS November 11, 1897, page 689.11

“What Army Chaplains Are For” American Sentinel 12, 44, pp. 689, 690.

ATJ

RECENTLY, at a “Grand Army” banquet in Buffalo, N. Y., tendered to the President of the United States, Archbishop Ireland spoke in response to the toast, “The Chaplain.” As a statement of what are deemed the proper functions of the chaplain’s office, the words of this eminent churchman are worthy of consideration. The quotations following give that part of his speech most directly pertinent to the subject:—AMS November 11, 1897, page 689.1

“But why in an encampment of veterans mention the army chaplain? Has he had a part even most slight in their achievements? Apparently the part of the chaplain was small, if a part is at all to be credited to him. The chaplain bore no gun upon hes shoulder. The chaplain was a non-combatant, a man of peace, whether in camp or on the battle-field. In fact, however, the part of the chaplain was most important. I am making a plea of my own patriotism. I was a chaplain.AMS November 11, 1897, page 689.2

“The chaplain invested the soldier’s fighting, the soldier’s whole round of labor and suffering, with the halo of moral duty.”AMS November 11, 1897, page 689.3

We have never believed in the utility of the office, but this statement makes it worse even than we had thought. We had never before conceived of the chaplain’s duty as being that of casting a halo about the business of killing people.AMS November 11, 1897, page 689.4

Unquestionably the soldier’s business is one that will admit of a service of this kind. This is no natural halo about it, certainly. To deliberately shoot down men, made in the image of the Creator, to smash their skulls with clubbed muskets in fierce hand-to-hand conflict, to cut and stab them to death with sword and bayonet, to pour their life blood out upon the earth, to make widows and orphans of those they have left at home,—these are actions which, unsurrounded by any halo, would strike the minds of ordinary people with horror. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman, who certainly knew what the soldier’s business is, said, “War is hell.” Putting this statement of this eminent military authority with that of Archbishop Ireland concerning the chaplain’s office, we are brought to the conclusion that the legitimate business of the army chaplain is to cast a halo about hell!AMS November 11, 1897, page 670.1

But casting a halo about hell does not at all change the character of that place. And that which needs to be invested with a “halo of moral duty” in order that people may be led to espouse the support it, would far better be left to appear in its true light, and be accepted or rejected upon its merits.AMS November 11, 1897, page 670.2

Proceeding with his line of thought, the archbishop went on to say that,—AMS November 11, 1897, page 670.3

“The appeal of the chaplain to the living God, as approving war and consecrating battle-fields, is in the fullest harmony with the teachings of religion. God is, indeed, the God of love and peace while love means no violation of justice and peace implies no surrender of supreme rights.”AMS November 11, 1897, page 670.4

As soon, therefore, as a person feels that he is treated unjustly, or that his rights have been invaded, he may properly go to war with his enemies, relying upon the protection and aid of Heaven! This view will scarcely harmonize with the divinely given exhortation, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you.”AMS November 11, 1897, page 670.5

The archbishop was not, in this, stating something peculiar to his own views, or to those of his church: otherwise it would not be so worthy of notice. The conception of God as “approving war,” whenever people are suffering injustice, is a very general one, and is the idea by which the horrors of war are theoretically justified. But it has no foundation in truth.AMS November 11, 1897, page 670.6

The archbishop continued:—AMS November 11, 1897, page 670.7

“The servants of God must ever seek peace so long as it is possible to obtain peace. They must never proclaim war so long as war is not absolutely necessary. But times come when war is absolutely necessary, when naught but war can avert great wrongs and save the life and the honor of the nation. Then the God of peace becomes the God of armies; he who unsheathes the sword in response to country’s call finds favor before God, and the soldier who is a coward on the battle-field is a culprit before heaven’s tribunal.”AMS November 11, 1897, page 670.8

Yes; “the servants of God must ever seek peace so long as it is possible to obtain peace,” and “must never proclaim war so long as war is not absolutely necessary.” But when is the point reached where peace becomes impossible and war “abolutely [sic.] necessary”? Oh, it is when somebody is not treating us right and will not stop misusing us as soon as we think they ought to; or it is when we have been insulted by somebody and the offender will not apologize to save our “honor” from being stained. It is, in short, whenever we think that war is necessary. And what we think on such occasions is inspired by the aroused passions and pride of fallen human nature. But God has not left the matter of living peaceably or otherwise to be determined in this way.AMS November 11, 1897, page 670.9

People generally, and nations, usually find it quite “possible to obtain peace” when they do not feel strong enough to ship their opponents in the event of hostilities. And when people—and nations—are naturally belligerent, or have something to gain by fighting, and feel confident as to the result, it is very easy for them to reach the point where war is “absolutely necessary.”AMS November 11, 1897, page 670.10

In the late war between Germany and France, the contestants on each side “unsheathed the sword in response to country’s call,” and I so doing, both sides of the controversy found “favor before God,” no doubt!AMS November 11, 1897, page 670.11

One more quotation from the archbishop’s speech will be in place. It is this:—AMS November 11, 1897, page 670.12

“The chaplain—let him remain to America—to America’s army and navy. It is sometimes said that the chaplain is an anomaly in a country which has decreed the separation of state and church. America has decreed the separation of state from church; America has not decreed and America never will decree the separation of state from morals and religion. To soldiers upon land and sea, as well as to other citizens, morals and religion are necessary. The dependence of soldiers upon the government of the country is complete. The government of the country must provide for soldiers teachers of morals and religion. In providing for them such teachers the country performs a duty which she owes to the soldiers and she serves her own high interests. For the best and bravest soldiers are men that are not estranged from morals and religion.”AMS November 11, 1897, page 670.13

Yes, it is true that “the dependence of soldiers upon the government is complete,” under such a system as that for which the archbishop was speaking. But “pity ‘tis ‘tis true.” There never ought to be such dependence in the case of any individual. The archbishop frankly admits that, to the soldier, the government stands in the place of God. “The government of the country must provide for soldiers teachers of morals and religion.” But the government has no higher wisdom or power than that which is human, and human wisdom is altogether inadequate to provide for the needs of the soul.AMS November 11, 1897, page 670.14

In providing teachers of morals and religion, the government will select such persons as it fancies, and these will be persons who will teach in harmony with the government’s ideas. They will teach the morals and religion of the state, and nothing else. But what every individual needs and must have in order to obtain salvation, is the teaching of the morals and religion of the divine Word. And the teacher of these is the Holy Spirit, provided by God himself.AMS November 11, 1897, page 670.15

It is also true enough that “the best and bravest soldiers are men that are not estranged from morals and religion,” and by no people is its truth better illustrated than by the Mohammedans. With sword or lance in one hand, and the Koran in the other, one of these fanatics will rush on to what he knows is certain death, without the least hesitation. It is only a perverted religion that will harmonize with the spirit of war.AMS November 11, 1897, page 692.1

Let not this perverted religion be palmed off as Christianity. Let not the government usurp the place of ... as the teacher of morals and religion. Let not the miserable business of killing people be invested with a halo of moral duty; let it stand upon its own merits—if such exists. Let the government keep separate from religion. Let army chaplaincies be abolished.AMS November 11, 1897, page 692.2

“True and False Democracy” American Sentinel 12, 44, pp. 691, 692.

ATJ

THE philosophy of Jefferson, to which allusion is made in another column, must not be understood as being synonymous with the socialism, communism, etc., which have clothed themselves in the mantle of democracy at the present time. The principle of true democracy is the principle of the Gold Rule. It is the principle of seeking the welfare of others equally with that of ourselves. It is the principle of unselfishness.AMS November 11, 1897, page 691.1

There is a sense in which Christianity itself, as embodying the principles of God’s government, is synonymous with democracy—with “government of the people, by the people, and for the people.” For in God’s government, nothing is done without the approval of the people, though God is himself the supreme ruler. All is done for the people and by the people, to the extent at least of their voluntary consent and approval. It is to secure this voluntary consent and approval of his created intelligences upon that which he has done hitherto, and will do to the end of the world, that the Almighty will conduct a final judgment. In that great investigation he himself will be on trial equally with the humblest of his subjects who has lived on earth. And then, when all facts are brought forth to the view of all, and the light of truth is turned full upon all his dealings with mankind, mankind and angels will with one accord signify their approval.AMS November 11, 1897, page 691.2

The judgment will afford the strongest possible proof that it is a fixed principle of God’s government to do nothing without the voluntary approval of his subjects.AMS November 11, 1897, page 691.3

The real character of that which claims to be democracy may be tested by the principle of unselfishness. Socialism says, What’s yours is mine. Christianity, on the other hand, says, What’s mine is yours. There is a world of difference between these two sentiments. They represent principles that are as unlike as light and darkness.AMS November 11, 1897, page 691.4

The best and highest form of democracy is found in Christianity alone. It is Christianity that the world needs,—Christianity for the working men, to bring them into an unselfish attitude toward their employers and toward each other, and Christianity for the men of wealth, to bring a similar change in their attitude toward their fellows. The application of the principle of unselfishness to the dealings of men with each other, would solve every problem of labor and capital in a single day. But so long as the principle of selfishness is embodied in these dealings, these problems will remain unsolved, in spite of all the measures that can be devised by all the labor combines, the trusts, and similar organizations on the earth.AMS November 11, 1897, page 691.5

Christianity—the application of the principle of unselfishness to the individual life, is no Utopian dream. It is a divine reality, set up by its Author right amidst all the unfeeling selfishness of earth, and one which all may know. Let us work to spread it among men, and to usher in the day when it will be universal over all the world.AMS November 11, 1897, page 692.1

November 4, 1897

November 18, 1897