The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1896-11-09
A CHRISTIAN GOVERNMENT.

To the strong and fervent appea
for unity which Pastor Birnie pre-
scented III his sermon Sunday NOR
ming to the congregation of the
Central Union Church, every man
in the community who does his
own thinking and thinks clearly
and TO the point, must give a hear
ty and unqualified assent. There
are forces at work which are di-
viding men apart who must learn
TO live together. This trouble has
invaded family life, and hasty mar
riages and easy divorces are alto
gether too common. We see 1T IN
business relations, in the unscrupu-
Ious endeavors of some to pile up
great wealth, and the determine
ton of others, if they cannot be
milliOnaires, that no one else shall
be. We see it in the church, in the
dismembered body of the incarnate
Redeemer. We see it in political
life, where one party can see no
good in what another party seeks.
Happily for this community, the
dominant element in political af-
fairs at the present time is not self
seeking, and so divisive is not UNI
scrupulous and so destructive; but
seeks the good of the whole body
polite, ON principles in accordance
with -Christ's teachings and exam
pie.
In the discussions that have been
carried on, more especially In re-
cent years, in regard to-the relation
of republican government to the
doctrines and institutions of Chris
tianity, there has beensa manifest
tendency in some minds to deny all
religious character to civil and po-
litical institutions. GA state with
out "a church" has been held to
mean a government without any
recognition of religion. The de-
mand has been made by those who
reject Christianity as divine reve- !
lation of authoritative, imperative
truth, that in conformity with their
opinions there shall be no religious
in congress or legislature,
prisons, or schools, no public thanks
yivings nor fasts, no oaths requir
I'd, no Sunday laws, no legislation
o favor Christianity or accord any
special privileges to the sanctities
If religion, whether truths, insti-
utions or functions. But as a mat
er of fact in all of the cases above
the Christian religion
5 recognized as the religion in ac
,ordance with whose teachings
very government of Christendom,
very great power, shapes its legis-
alton.
The law courts of England and
he United States in this matter
ollaw the dictum of Sir Matthew :
Hale: christianity is parcel of
he laws of England Or, as Lord
fansfeld phrases it, 'The spiritual
principles of religion are part of
be common law But this is not
D be confounded with the claim of
he Roman Pontiff in the famous
ull, "Unam Sanctam Ecclesian,"
f Boniface VIII, that the sword
f civil power is welded only by !
ne sanction of the church as "the :,
lie depository of all rule"
All sovereignty in church or :
ate is maintained only with the :
'nsent of the governed. Blasphe- :
y is treated as civil offence, not T
sin against God, because defama- /
on of the Deity is destructive of
e principles of reverence for SUI
eriors, and because also it is
anton injury to those who have
right to demand respect for their
ligious faith and its obligations. '
We cannot form clear ideas on
is question of the relation of re-
non to civil government without
fining clearly the limitations of 1
e powers and prerogatives of