New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1871-01-20
RECOG NIZING GOD.

The people of the United states came 10
their political majority resting - or rather
stageering-under the heavy burden OF Human
Slavery. For eighty years thereafter, tAey re-
NAMED under the unjust imputat0n OF cherish
ing and sustaining that anomaly, when III
fact they had not the right nor tie power
TO abolish it. State Sovereignty shielded
this, as it las shielded SO many crying
abuses; and only The madness OF ihe savehoid-
inc caste ultimately gave the Nation the power
and the opportunity to establish its political
fabric on the solid foundation of Impartial
Liberty. At length. and We trust oyelmore,
the political rights Of every American citizen
are exactly equal to those OF every otter, ana
are thus guaranteed and shielded by our
Federal Constitution.
Eternal vigilance is the price Of Liberty.
We have no sooner routed the enemy who de-
family advanced from one direction than we
are called to meet another who more necNy
and sinuously approaches from another. The
foe who deseuatcd and chatJcized Man is
succeeded by one who is speciousiy intent on
recognizing and honoIing God.
We oheeriuliy admit that the authors and
hackers Of the new crusade are v9rthy mrn and
GOOD citizens. We admit that what they pro-
pose seems to them rot only right but emin-
emily proper and urgently necessary. 1t is not
a novelty that men should have an earnest zeal
for Godn which is not "according to knOwl-
"edge.n Yet know not what spirit ye are or
was an admonitiOn addressed TO the immediate
followers Of the Savior what marvel tiat some
followers of those followers should be tempted
to deserve a similar rCbukc! Persecution and
every form of intolerance and bigo,ry have
been the work Of men who meant thereby to
honor God and bless mankind. In resisting
an erroneous and perlous movement, we no.
wise impugn the motives nor aSsail the char
acters Of its champions.
The Convention held this week in Phila-
delpha TO promote an amendment of the Fed
eral Constitution whereby God shall be form
ally recognized and Christianity declared the
true basis of all human government deliber-
ately
Resolred That in view Of the controlling power Of The
Constitution in shaping State wei National poicy,
II is Of immediate importance to public morals and TO
social order TO such an amendment will indi
cate that this Is Christian nation, place Christian
laws institutions, and usages, in our Government on an
undenable legal basis in the fundamental law of
ton-specialy those which secure proper oath, and
which protect society against basphemy, saboathbreak
ing and poyGaIny.
"A proper oath that is, On oath proper to
be taken by Christians as these men under
stand Christianity. Can a Hebrew take this
oath or Deist? or an Atheism or a
E" heather Chinee 2" or even a ratiOnaliHng
Unitarian Manilestly not The very object
of imposing such an oath would be defeated
If he cOuld. This "urOpcr Oafbn is intended
and will be shaped TO exclude not only from
Office but from voting if challenged, from
the jury-bOx, and from the wtness-stand,
every one who is not regarded by its trainers
as a Christian. Who does not see that this
is Church and State in far more intolerant
union than any European monarchy now
endures
But "blasphemy" is one of the oilenses
against which the new Amendment is to "pro-
tect Society" OF course, bhsphcmy must be
defined before it can be punished. Our pros
ecutOrs and judges must determine that an
averment is blasphemous, just as John Calvin
and Company did when they tried, condemned,
sentenced, and burned to death, Michael Ser
vetus, scholar and theoloeian of blamelcss
life and unqIestoned honesty, for his stout
resistance 10 the Trinitarian dogmas. If it be
indeed the duty Of Government to "pTotect
" Society" against "basphcny" then the roast
Ing 10 death Of Seryetus, as Of tens Of thou
sands like him. was eminenNy proper and sal
utary. The Spanish InQuisition, with its racks,
thumb-scTews, infinite unboaablc tortures
and 1n0ilings at the stake, was a logical and
inevitable deduction from the premise that it