The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1869-02-06
THE POLITICAL CLERGY.

lSO 'HSNtIlb COHtdlhS du u ItclC IciaIlfc
TO ,he poi ;cal clergy, which emb,..
ces views so extraordinary that we
eel it our duty 30 notice them.-
What he says about political preach
ers is right. They richly deserve all
tic LASH ngs ,hcy receive, and more !;
COR they ,,se guilty o. great moral
" ong every lime they preach politics
'nstead of The gospel. We have long
entertained lis opinion; and we e..
pect !" retain il as long rs we 1--WE
On ills point. VIZ: the moral turpi.
iHde of political preachers, tlic C"s,-
e.c:@ and our>eli' perfectly agree.
But when the editor attacks tho bI.
bic ;-w hen he misreprcscuts lis pure
teachings, we icel bound TO utter our
disclaimer. lie says that the "God Of
Abraham" got "mad because some of
the white folks he had created went
over in Nod aud cohabited with the
negroes of that country, and ne
drowned The whole human family save
Noah" The editor will permit us 10
say that ,ile most OF this is iicti"n.-
Cain went 10 he land OF Nod; bnt
rs 10 whether he co'rabitcd with ne
.:roes, or whether there were any
there, tic bible is entirely silent. The
earth was deluged with flood, be-
cause OF the great wickedness of its
inha biiantS, aud moi because Cain CO.
habited with negroes,
The editor SAYS that Araham was
the .'iavoiitc Of the Almighty" which
is true aud That Abraham went "out
10 The slaughter Of tie kings. mnrtler-
ing his defencclcss neigaho.s, and
Drostituting his wife Cor lucrc." II is
rue. hat Abraham lid whip severn
kings; aat it was in Llir stand-un
battle which they themselves had pro-
vohcd. Ttcy hail cap. dred Lot,
nephew Of s.braham. aud he attacked
anL "verthrcw them IN Ordce 10 wrcs
i'n, anI is .amily from .heir @,as,'.
And he was ius, liable in his. Thcrc
Is nothing in the binlc which rontr..-
veues the laws Of selfprotection And
1t not only jostiiies, 3r;
II demands o. Il m?n that hc prntcc.
rs own lie and 1hc lives OF those
bound TO him ~ ;,e lies of cohsan-
guinity; even IL IN doing so the lives
vi Others 1--we 10 be tIken. This is
common sense; aud the bible nevc
goes contrary 10 sound reason ani
common scnse-nevcr. ts 10 Ahra.
i'.tm ''prostitutiny his wife for lrcrc,"
t'ierc ISM word OF ,ruti' in it;-..n'
&c assefti"n tat ,ic did j. an outra-
scor> SANDER uDo" thc mot'tcr Of tie
jewish tarc. On one occasion Sarah
W. ta,en BY one Of the pcfy l.ings
Of C.tn"..u, and rc;.iincd for time
hc belle, az he. +" be Abraham's sis.
tcr; but tie narrative expressly siates
that it WIS because h.' her exceeding
''e.t,t !; ai>o thai when he iou.nl out
his mistake he 2c'npncd hcr 20 her
h,'>''ana--not dish"nofcd and .,ollu'
Ied AZ is substantially chafge,l by orr
friend of The In..,e.c;eL,-but rs
pure as when she lett Abraham's
tent.
The editor SAYS that Jacob swim
1led mis- brother, Esau, out OF his
birth-ri2ht. In our opinion this is
true. We cannot justify his conduct
on this occasion. In order 10 obtain
the birthrgnt, he ,ook advantage of
the pressing necessities of his brother
and in order TO obtain his fathers
blessing, he told several lies and prac-
tised the most Infamous deception.
1t will not do tc say lie was urged on
by his mother. lie was u full grown
man, and knew better-he knew he
was deceiying, he knew he was lying.
But this conduct was not sanctioned |
by the Almighty. He never sanctions
4 violation of lis laws nor does the
bible ever represent Him as so doing.
The editor calls Samuel, the proph-
It, u "blo"d.hound," and "bigoted,
Dlood-thirsty fanatic; )" and he fancies
hat he is justified in thus denouncing
Samuel because he "hewed Agag 10
pieces" with his own hand and be-
cause he doomed the tribe whom Agag
ruled to determination. In justifca.
ion of Samuel's conduct the follow
ng facts should be taken into consid-
eration. Samuel was the supreme ru-
er of the Jewish nation. In him GEN.
cred not only all civil, but all eccle-
'iastical power. In all his public acts
ne claimed to be, and he was, guided
by the express commands of the Al
mighty. In the case under consider
ation-what he did to Agag he did
by direct command from jehovah
lie was no more guilty of crime than
IS the sheriff of our day when he hangs
a man whom the courts have adjudg-