New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1876-12-17
HAVE WE A NATIONAL RELIGION

LAVE WE 0Ax1VQA1 RELl01O67
| On Thursday, November 30, the ma
tional Thanksgiving day, ON the Centen
NAL Exhibition ground at Philadelphia
was unveiled the statue emblemasic o.
religious liberty, erected under the aus
| pieces Of the Independent Order B'nai
Birth, ~ gift to the nation. On the
same day in the city Of New York, a
Christian minister, the Rev. j. A. NJ.
Chapman, preached . sermon upon the
subject of"A Christian Republic" claim.
ing ours to be such Sin the design of ita
founders, in the opinion Of the wisest ex-
FOUNDERS Of our national law, and q .
recognized fact in our national history. -
Which was right2 Il this christian
republic" properly 50 called. or is it .
free government. utterly disconnected
with any special form Of religion? The
constitution expressly provides that
Congress shall make no law respect
ting an establishment of religion,
Or prohibiting the free exercise there
Of" Under this wise provision, churches
Of various denominations have sprune
up ali over the country supported BY tho
voluntary contributions of the people,
church members and others not connected
with any church. Bsptists Of seven differ
emit kinds. CoDgregstionalish of two
kinds, Episcopalians, Friends, Jews, Lu-
therans, Methodists Of four kinds, Nor
mons. Presbyterians of five kinds, Roman
Catholics, Swedenborgians, Unitarians
and Universalists-all live and thrive un-
der it, building churches and supporting
ministers to maintain their separate
views; and though the over-zealous among
them may occasionally denounce each
other, yet, thanks to the constitutional
provision above quoted, no one of them
has as yet been able officially to monopo-
ize the keys Of heaven or to send mem
bers Of other sects to hell!
Foremost among these denominations
in point of numbers stands the Roman
Catholic. comprising within its pale more
members than the'Baptist and Methodist,
the next in point of numbers, taken TO-
gether. And yet the Rev. Mr.. Chapman
excludes these Roman Catholic Christians
altogether from his Christian Republic, f"
counting them neither Christian nor re-
publican, but on the contrary, antagonis-
tiq to both Christianity and republican
ism, and dangerous element in the COM
monweafth. OF course, he must likewise |
exclude Jews, Mormons, and the numer-
Gus followers of Confucius lately addedto
our population. a. none Of these classes
can help to form a Christian republic.
Narrowed down to its EXTREMIST limits,
the theory of Mr.. Chapman would, We
imagine, exclude likewise that large and
daily increasing class calling themselves
Liberal Christians, and, of course, all
mere theists. Thus We should have a. q
basis for our Christian republic that form
II Christianity which answers the prefix
Evangelical" but which is known by
hose outside of its limits as Puritanism.
The statue to religious liberty pre-
ented to the nation by the Independent
Order of B'nai Birth was q substantial
rioute to the genius of this country,
which, while sincerely religious, is essen
tally unsectarian; and just here it is we'll
note the mistake of the reverend gen.
leman who would establish anew the
'undations of our republic. That mis-
AXE consists in setting up the barrow I
'rm of Christianity which he processes
u the broad principles of pure religion .
'hich may exist under any form of re- 4
gion, or under no form. That the prin-
piles of pure religion, namely-justice. G
onesty and faith in God-should pervade Z
10 laws and politics of this land, as well 4
those of every other, no one, we pre- b
lme, will deny; but the only way in a
hich this most legitimate union of q
hurch and State can be brought about in b
" land is through the individual char 8,
tiers OF its citizens. What profit, for a,
stance, would it be, supposing party Il
ould arise sufficiently powerful to v
rry the oftsn-proposed amendment to p,
Q constitution by which the name of Il
ID and Jesus should be introduced te
to the preamble Of that instrument It VI
'uld only furnish another clause to dis M
to about, introduce theological bitter &c
ss as an additional source of dissension A
long rs, and thus defeat the intentions in
the fathers of our country. Truth, ne
entifc, religious or moral, can not be 81
tied by vote; and the God of these wi
les is not likely to be Influenced favor ex
y BY popular recognition implied in tn
h an amendment. The prayer, '.Be ha