Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1896-09-21
LIVE QUESTIONS.
A Series of Articles Contributed by
Advanced Thinkers.
LET THIS WORLD BE FOR GOD.

representing Jesus CnrlSt III the world.
l wish to state that this question has
been settled. The true church and the
only church is the church militant, or
fighting church. 1t is the church that,
III doing the work of God, is willing to
throw away its dignity, take off its
coat roll up its sleeves and reach its
bare arms down into the mire and cess
pools of society where human beings
are struggling for life and breath, res
cuing Gods children, half buried there
1t puts weapons in the hands of these
who have been waylaid and robbed, and
leads them against their despoilers. o
declares uncompromising war against
the organized forces of greed which now
make an earthly hell of what might be
an earthly paradise.
The mission of the church is not to
temporize with evil, but to engage man.
fully and boldly i'll the great struggle of
right against wrong; to take this world
and everything in it for God Almighty.
1t is not to teach that God is an intan-
gible, mysterious force, residing afar
off, incapable of governing his universe
Alright, and that the most the church can
hope to do, even with Gods help, is to
mitigate the reign of evil 1t is not to
teach the existence of a great big devil,
who holds the world in his hands and
controls all the dominant forces of So
ciety, and opposed to this little bit Of
Il God, with his hands tied and his head
quarters away off on some distant planet
where he patiently waits for better
times Although this may be the prac-
tical belief Of many who profess reli-
gion, it is not the creed of the true
church.
The true church is composed of the
followers in this world of God not
only all good and all wise, but all pow
erful "a God who cannot only whip the
devil-the one with forked tongue,
horns and tail, that you and | never
saw and hope will never see-but is
strong enough to whip Boss Croker Of
New York, Boss Quay of Pennsylvania,
and, If necessary, even Boss Filloy of
st. Louis He cannot only whip the
devil of Milton's Paradise Lost, =" with
mammoth wings and all armed with
fire, but those particular and numerous
two legged devils with silk hats instead
of horns, Prince Albert coats instead of
wings, and whose hoofs and claws, if
they have any, are neatly covered with
patent leather shoes, those who are
armed with Doodle instead of fire, who
build immense fortunes by the degrada-
tion of their fellow men and the blight
ing drudgery of little children
The true church teaches that as God
is good he made this world large enough
and rich enough to supply food, cloth
ing and the good things Of life to every
human being born into it; that the
poverty, the enforced idleness, the hun
cry mouths and the aching backs are
the result not Of lack Of foresight on
the part of our Maker, but are the di-
rect result of social crime, of the selfish
cunning of the few permitted by the
negligence, the ignorance and cowardli-
ness of the many.
If prayer is of any value, uttered by
any being, under any possible circum-
stances, certainly the prayer of Jesus
Christ will be answered, and he prayed,
'"Thy kingdom come, thy will be done
on earth as it is in heaven" and he
promised that greater things than he
did shall be done by his followers. Tho
man who says that st. Louis politics
cannot be regeneratGd and that our
beautiful city cannot be administered
honestly, that the forces of righteous
ness cannot drive boodlers and bull
dozers from the city hall, is an infidcl,
whether or not he claims membership
in a Christian church. Belief in an i'm
potent, good for nothing, helpless God
is combination of blasphemy and
hypocrisy, because if God is impotent,
he is no God at all, but mere fgment
of the imagination.
A few years ago l visited personally
200 ministers in New York city and
asked them to Join movement for the
overthrow of the most desperate gang
of robbers and blackmailers that ever
cursed "a civilized community. They
said to me:
NNHA'eS 'i''N+4' va sAtN gNhNAiIuA anu
inexperienced. When you get as old as
we are, you will learn better than to
try such things. Tammany Hall will
rule New York when you are gray
headed.
found that the majority Of ministers
there feared Boss Croker more than
they feared God Almighty and believed
that he had more influence i'll New
York city. But there was one little Il, an
with chin whiskers and swapping eyes
who believed in living God with
power, and although he was deserted by
nearly all his brother clcrgymen and
by all of the great daily papers, he,
Charles Parkhu:st, was permitted to
| deal the blow that struck down the
Tammany tiger aud imprinted his own
name indelibly on one of the most in
teresting pages of American history.
WALTER VROOMAN,
Secretary ST. Louis Civic Federation.
GROWTH OF THE SENTIMENT OF
ARBlTRATION