The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1882-06-01
The NJ. E. General Conference.

| Vlile. on Cne laSL DAY, as given elsewhere il
this Issue of the VIRGINIAN, show that tn
sectional feeling which eliminated in d
vision OF the Church in 1861. is not vet ex
tinct. The cause, chattel slavery, has beef
removed, but the prejudices aroused in tn,
discussions and actions OF the several con
ferences, North and South, cotemporaneou,
with the secession of the Southern States
are kept alive, and great body like tina
which has just adjourned at Nashville, ha,
allowed its deliberations to be controlled b,
! it. Politically, the South has resumed he,
normal relations to the national govern
ment-the Union of the Southern and
Northern States has been restored-eacl
State has its constitutional represen tatior
in the national legislature-the tendency
of political thought is to firmer compacl
than has ever before existed, and the patri
otto aspiration of the whole country is fol
the removal of all cause of sectional zeal
ousies and prejudices. that the government
to generations to come in its Republican
form, with the Constitution as the bond of
fraternal union and reciprocal interests
strengthening the ties which bind the peo-
pie together. Political parties recogn ize
that the original cause of sectional strife
does not now exist, and that it is the true
policy of party organization to give practi-
cal effect to the sentiment which necessa-
nj Of ~,
The obstruction to the obliteration of Sec
tional differences comes from political as
pirants, who think they can better accom-
plish their selfish purposes by keeping alive
the prejudces Of the war, and appealing to
passions at one time inflamed because of
war remembrances. But there is no ex-
cuse of this kind that can be properly
availed Of by the churches. 1t is presumed
that they are controlled by motives of
peace, fraternal friendship and animated
solely by the spirit which controlled Him
whose mission was peace and good will to-
ward all men. The cardinal tenets of the
faith of the Northern and Southern
branches of the Methodist Church are the
same-their forms of worship, ritualistic
observances, church government, are sub
stantially identical. There is, indeed, no
ground to justify the continued separation,
consistent with the duty of christians and
devotion to the Church VIII ich Wesley
founded. Whatever may have been the
Emergencies growing out of negro slavery,
the extinction of that institution should
have carried with it the prejudices it en-
gendered, and under the influence of gen.
uine christian motives, church oneness fol-
lowed as the legitimate fruit of the recogni-
brotherly love and religious fellowship. 1t
is bad enough for the political parties of the
country to stir the passions Of the people,
and revive sectional feeling as a means to
selfish ends. But it is something that
non-churchm en- cannot well understand,
when branch of great christian denom-
nation, united upon every essential point
of doctrine, formally declares in favor of
perpetuating sectional designation, which
is practically political in its import. and
positively refuses to eliminate word which
embraces the spirit, the feeling and the
prejudices of the politics of the country
entirely foreign to the mission of the
church.
So long as the religious denominations
allow such considerations to estrange their
own household, it is not reasonable to ex-
pect secular organizations to rise to
higher plane. If the Methodist denomi-
nation of the United States could be
brought to appreciat the salutary effect
that an organic union would accomplish, it
would go far towards bringing about bet
ter understanding between the sections,
and inculcate more catholic senti-
ment North and South. Slavery was the
cause of the separation, and slavery hav-
ing been removed, there is no rational
view of the question that can Justify the
division that was brought about by that is
sue. 1t is to be regretted, therefore, that
the Southern General Conference did not
take the first and important step in &C.
menting this great body of christians, and
thus pave the way for that oneness of Or
ganization and organized effort, necessary
for the accomplishment of the great work
OF healing national discussions and re-
storing peace and harmony to estranged
sections.