The Evening dispatch. [volume] (Provo, City, Utah) 1891-1895, 1894-03-03
PROVO CITY. MARCH 8. 1884
THE DISPATCH SERMON.

The DISPATCH sometimes breaches a
sermon, sometimes series of them, but
it meyer sings song. We don't know
if we shall preach this one by rule or
not. We believe it is usual to select a
text, the text suggesting the sermon.
We shall reverse this order and let the
sermon develop the text. THE DIS
PATCH dosen't care how religious you
are so you don't carry too much of that
commodity into politics. Bloody Mary
was, perhaps, one of the most pious of
soverigns, but she drenched England
with the best blood of the kingdom.
1t would have been far better for that
day and time had she kept her religion
and her politics separated in separate
boxes as it were. Church people are
not all pIous any more than politicians
are all patriots, yet there is one thing
they can all do, and that is, keep their
hand off our common free schools, and
our priests, holy men and teachers can
keep out of politics. Indeed, If the ladies
enter politics in squads, as now seems
certain, there will be enough goodness
in politics so that we can get on with.
out the preachers. When men form
the habit of following preachers as to
the things pertaining to salvation, they
are too apt to want to follow them in
political matters. We have noticed
that the greatest preachers of all
epochs, at least biblical, the greatest
deYotees, the most successful soul.
savers, we're not found On the thrones,
or leading seuates, or ward meetings.
A pretty broadly established religi-
Gus authority said on one occasion.
Render to Caesar, the things which are
C@sar's, to God the things which are
Gods" He didn't mean that Gods men
should do Caesars work, any more than
he did that Casar's men should do
Gods work. The same illustrious au-
thority said that 'ye cannot serve God
and Mammon" individually. Were
one to undertake such thing it would
seem to us that there would be rather
too much mixing OF things. The
best preachers have no time to run for
office or say who shall, The most pa
triotic people have too much to do for
the temporal veal to haYe time to di-
rect the spiritual course of men and
women, and when they undertake to do
30 they make botch of the business.
This mighty Yankee nation hasn't a
great deal of taste for union of
church and state; for the mixing of
the prerogatives of the servants of the
two powers. a great servant Of God,
Brother Burchard by name, on one
occasion, went head oyer heels into
a political campaign, and in three
words procured the defeat of one OF
the most illustrious democrats who
ever held the presidency of the United
States by the votes of the republican
party. Rum, Romanism and Rebel
lion, constituted the most forceful al
liberation which has ever been con-
structed, but, while the work of No.
/ genius it was truly the most destruc
tive bolt ever launched in a political
campaign. Had the Blessed Savior,
instead of General Grant, been an as
pirant for the nomination and election,
he would have been defeated. A good
many angelic beings have essayed to
lead the church with one hand and
the nation with the other, but they
all came to grief just as
Brother BuUchard did. LET the
shoemaker stick to his last," let wo-
men sell butter and eggs, the priest ex-
pound the scriptures and the saints
point the way to the realms of light
beyond the grave, but let the men OF
the world control the affairs of the
world. God Will handle His unfaith-
full and incompetent servants and the
people will refuse to vote again for
theirs. This is about the most common
sense, rational and just disposition of
the question that we know anything
about. Let the watchword from now
on be for both church and state,
shiny on your own side" or get your
shins pounded as other people do when
they overstep the boundaries which |
belong to their provinces.