The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1898-10-27

aamd that whenever NueaUlN 81 hNNtAcd e. Ae AaNuFbNE mrkftteWent
Un The moment such appel e made such Issue becomes political in ii
7mea and essence
Wnht the liquor question this mtce has nothing Is IL. Except Incidental,
sbfby way illustrating th~etendency OF he pulpit 60 take an,aetive nat N
ns political matters Of thisstate Indeed enc Of the preachers n the con.
s aboye referred 70 IS said 70 have openly ayowed that the next governor
fof state WIN be determined BY the prohibition vote. 1T s quite possible
At IL the preachers engaged III chat local option election had NC ti
themselves called upon % take part IN the local struggle, their zeal and a.
avag would have found 0r created an opportunity somewhere else for a
display o. their eloquenee upon the political hastings One Of them has al.
padg achieved a fame enyiable M%othbrwBes for the pulp he exerts in
he politics or Mississippi
Ecclesiastical politicians are not unknown to history, but it may well
Be daubted 81 any permanent good either to church or state ever followed
te attainment to temporal powero Of any one religious sect or dsnomina-
tn Awrlter IN one Of our state papers recently quoted as follows from
Bhb0ns Rome;
1.-THE peates q the third century inpereptbly changed the Language
derhotaton into that of command.
There Is a world Of significance III this extract, because the history
tharn reched las been substantially repeated in every country, where the
church, or any branch Of 1T obtained temporal ascendancy Or welded the
balance Of political power ia the third century the church Of Rome held
aust universal sway among Christian people and it gradually and BY im-
payeptbe steps exceeded rs legitimate functions until it became practical
D te dictator 81 politics id every government where the Christian religion
prevailed. The centuries which followed up to the fourteenth are not Of Il
character to lead us to suppose that the domination Of civil government by
the clergy is a thing to BE- wished for now. But the full extent Of the
evils attendant upon the exercise Of the temporal power by the clergy was
never realized until the political authority OF Bic church OF Rome was in a
manner broken and cicumscribed by the events Of the fifteenth century
adthose which succeeded t Iii true that these alvents at first seemed to
de rise merely toa change Of masters Where the Pope Or his accedl-
aagents had been accustomed to direct the policies Of a nation, tile church
dEnglaud now held sway OF some Boandhead pulpiteer expounded Gle sci
ence Of civil government to a flock which accepted his teachings AZ little
short Of divine revelation. The Scriptures were used to couiure with,
Hu tE uSf4ub# sAAAaNaN M7 laugh " 9ASdlG his SWORN In Ihc UcGb VI
MS ielow.maa with religious zeal and a clear concience Justification
was found I'M text from Holy Writ Everywhere religions and civtl ia
tolerance found full scope for unlimited exercise For savage feroclty no
vars have eqaded those which had their birth in pulpit politics.
Looking back upon the history Of the bloody conflicts which were dl
Ndy Or Indirectly attributable to ecclesiastical intermeddnng with tempo
nl affairs the c9ntempatge mind mist almost inevitably become con.
Fnced that clerical interference With civil politics must always exert al
malgn influence. The reason why this result should follow is not enHe-
y clear, and IL Isl chiefly upon the lessons Of history that the assumption
must rest. rhine cases out of ten where d preacher enters the political
arena, be does 50 With The best possible motiyesi 10 nine eases out Of ten his
object s the accomplishment Of some highly moral end-tle promotion OIL
a@e good measure o. the sppFesslolo Of some aagranteyiL How does fG
happen, then, mat III majority 81 cases bis good intentions and ardent
zeal are productive 81 strife, dissensons, domestic chickering's, estrangement
Of friends, enmity Of neigubos and baneul effect upon church relatlons9
htt because preachers as "a class study little beyond theology, and their
minds are therefore limited in scope and they view al Questions through
theological speeJaelesf we al Know how clartably Tue ordinary TFeach-
o. looks upon the dissenting beefOf a brother minister Of different de-
nomination. They don't 80 to the extent of actual hotlites but mol
doubt in many Instances the failure to appea. to the arbitrament Of battle
Is due less toa lack 81 inclination to fight than 10 s toa regard for public
sentiment Naturally jealous IN what they conceive 70 be their duty
thg fail to understand that q person who enterains opinions differing from
their own might possibly be right Accustomed to speak from the pulls
pt Where their utteFances ae MT subject 70 the crucial test Of discussion
anal critical analysts, they naturally drift dst into dognatism, and uhi-
maely into belief n their own tn|falibllty When any man has reach
Cd this stage Of bgotrg, he becomes dangerous fctor 10 politics and pU-
This rule viii also apply To the fawyerwho studies nothing but laws to the
physician who reads nothing but medical works; TO TIE merchant who per-
sues nothing but commercial bulletins and market reports Itapples tol
every man whose vocation and habit ii Thought coaaneb bis mental develop
nnt % q single channel
The field Il statecnt is entirely toe broad and comprehensive 70 pc
0mp@sed BY an intellect which Has been daarfod by the pursuit Of only
oaelne Of study.
Some peaeheH haze gone Into political lHe for Tie purpose of urdyingE
politics ltis Is what The KANSAS statesman would term an 'iFrdesosntI
Dream Prom tie very nature Of things an organized governments owe
theF existence tO the Spirit 81 compromise. There are 50 many conflict
Fg Interests to he haFmpnized, and d many interests THAT cannot be mar
nonzedl that eyilin one direction must be cauntenanced AZ times tn order
OBSCURE good % another Thus tie politician IS sometimes driven toll
support q measure which BIS own Judgment condemns as bad, % order
secure th0 adoption 81 another Wtirl s good enough % compensate wholly
g 10 part mF th8t which fHevH When tbo praeheF goes into politics
III driven either tn adopt MQ mothois 81 thqpolteiaa, "a utterly tah Y
A bis political mission. Observation teaehes ns lhat he political preach
e anot tardg 81 discovering Clio tre lawardnes d the situation ana ne
adopts is ts moNB aIae ends IusIaes che means. tie begins 70 make
eoncasessoag IA politics. and d IS ut long before hoeztends the methods
morals and religion. ASA necessary result while tis plane ai politics
h~u oteegatad aa purified 81 hs wetmeant endeayors Bis religious conf