Daily Davenport Democrat. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1864-1874, 1866-09-29

bud ss-ertios without giving soms add
tsonal rsoeoos fue l. ~
In ~ srst plass il IL srvssly dlshoeeA
fs@pley you = minister, ~ {csf sAnfy
end be1d you church bscsaGs havs een
Adsocs in yoss theological Seesrines. .b3
you nay 30 a de sane u0e wholly unne
Tor my Political leades. Nov Ven are g. ~
Of 3 ft1ao fraud n No, Il, instead Of
preaching religion. you take advantage 81
the position have given you 70 ventiisis
vour crude and ignorant notions VI State a.
ia;r,. have ssSe for bread and you gave
~ = stooe. insssssa % 49, 60 66ssgsiosd
for, you put into my hands . serpent. that
stin9s end pois1ns ne.
II destroys the unity Of the church.
There 10 no room for national dispute about
toe great thrulhs Of Chtisuaaly; Not men
will never agree upon poaitieal subjects, for
human government 10 at best but . compS0
mise Of sel3sb interests and sonficune pes.
si,ns. When you mig the two together
you bre,k the church into irsg ments, and
Instead Of zone Lord, one faith and one bar.
tisln," you create . thousand warning sec,s.
and substitute he ptovsib.al- bitterness OF
the odium MeoloSieMm FIR the charity
which thinketh no evil"
No one will deny that union Of Church
and State is always the cause Of bad gov~
crnment, perv,rted religion and 'cofrupt
morals | do not mean merely tina, legal
union which exists ia European countries.
That is bad enough; but you have less COM
mon sense than give you credit fcs, II you
do not see that this sdulterous connection
assumes its most po.luting form when the
church. is volun' lrily prostituted BY her own
IN listers to political party In popular
government.
The evil influence Of such connections up
ON Church and State 10 easily accounted for.
Both Of them in combination will do what
either wosld sesoil from il standing alone
A politician. hacked By the psomiDe q the
clergy 70 sustain hin, can safsly deg tooessy
and tramplc upon Law, for do what he may
he is assured Of clerical support here end Of
hes,en hereafter. The clergy on the otbes
hand, and those Who are under their irfl0
ence, easily acquire the habit Of praising
unfortunately whatever is done by their
public men. Acting and reacting IN one
another they 90 down together in the d.
rcction Of the pit that 10 bottomless and
both are found to have "slrangs alscrity at
sinking
No man can serve two masters faithfully !;
for he must hate one If he loves The other.
A minister, who sdmlres and follows such
men Is thoee who have lately ruled and ruin
cd ,his country, must necessarily despise the
character OF Christ. II he glorliies the cruel
~, rapacity and talsehood oi his party lead
ers. he il compelled BY an inflex'ble law Of
4 a
human nature to deny the Lord who bought
them"
The experiences offifteen centuries proves
that political preachers are the curse OF the
world. More than half the bloody wars,
which at different periods have desolated
Christcndom. were produced by their direct
instigstion; and whe' ever they have thrust
themselves Into . contest commenced by
others, they always envenomed the strife and
mac, It more cruel, savage and unc0mpro :
miSiog Tue religious woro, %. called, had
nothing religious about them except ehos
they Wero Missed up by the clergy. Look
back and zee IL this II not true.
The Arian cont' osersy (the first great
schisu') was followed by wars in which mil
lions Of lives were lost. DO you suppose the
real quarrel WAS for the insertion or omission
describes the p. occasion Of thc Holy Ghost
Did homoiOwsian slsughter his bro,her be-
cause he was hcmoio"sidnf No, II vas
but the difference Of dipshOng. hut the
plundes OF an empire that they fought for.
Il was tho politics o. the church, not her re-
ligou, thst infuriat' q the parties and con-
verted men into demons.
The Thirty Years War in Germany is Of
ten supposed TO have been . fair stand zap
tight between the two leading forms Of
Christianity. 1t vas not %. The religious
difference VAS false pretencs Of the polit>
ical preachers for the promotion Of their
own political schemes. There was not .
sane man on al that continent. who would
have felt himself impell,d by motives mere.
" religious to murder his neignbor for be
lieving or di>believing in transubstantiation.
II proof Of this .cre wanting. it might be
found in the fact. that long before the war
ended, the set'aii ian cries were abandoned.
and Catholics, as well as r,o,estan's. were
fighting on DO sides.
II is utterly impossible to believe that the
clergy Of England and Scotland, il they
bad not been politicians, woud have though,
Of waging bloody wcr. to settle questions Of
SVtt'Vh nuN itP''VHt'''s 'a'Ss tVtShuVWi-
edge, free will, aud other points Of meta
ply steal theology Nor would they, apart
from their politics, have encouraged and
committed the other horrid crimes Of which
they werc guilty in the name of religion.
Can you think that the Irish were invad-
e1, and conquered, and oppressed, end muir
dercd, and robbed for centuries, merely DO
cause the English love and believed IN the
Protestant religion ] suppose you know.
that those brutal atrocities we're carried on
for the purpose Of giving 10 political preach
ers in England possession Of the churches,
csthedrals, glebs land and tythes which bs>
longed 10 the Isish Catholics. The soldier
Was also Iewa rded BY confscations and
plurder. The chur. h and tie state hun,ed
in couples. and Ireland vas the prey which
they ran down together.
Coming to our own country you find
Massachusetts and Connecticut in colonial
times under tho cole domination Of political
preachers. Their trcachero 10 war upon
tn" Indians for purposes wholly mercenarr /;
their enslaving Of white persons as well as
rcd ones, aud selling them abroad, or
wrapping them 10, 6iackamoors;" their
Whipping, 'mprisonng and killing Quakers
and BaPtists, for their Conscientious opin-
IONS and Their base treatment Of such 'nen
as Roger Williams and his friends, will
mark their government through oil times ss
one ol the crusl"ss aud meanest that ever
exiStcO.