The Washington weekly post. (Washington, D.C.) 1878-1916, 1899-02-07
The Churches on War Issues

one OF the nIOEt remarkable incidents
in our latest-and. We all hope our last
war was the intense interest manifested
IN IL by the churches and other religious
bodies. 1t was the religious element. quite
as much as any other. which created that
public sentiment that rendered the avoid
ance of war impossible And this element.
IN its organized form. stood by the gov
eminent while 1t was cOnquering an early
ana honorable peace. In the War of the
Revolution, as in that of 1872 and the Mex
lean War, the American pulpit was dIvid-
ed OF course, it had to be divided in our
great domestic upheaVaI Of Is5lIe5. Rut
in the war of '9S there was practical ma
nlmity IN the support of the government
by all the religious bodies. The solid vote
OF both houses of Congress or the first
war measure typified the solidity of the
people. And the pulpit kept pace with
the press in maintaining the strong and
wholesome sentiment that sustained the
government
But the end of the war did not termi-
nate the interest of the churches. They
are as mindful of the results of the con-
fict as they were Of the incidents attend
ing its inception and prosecution. And
they are almost as nearly united now as
they were then. If this country should
finally decide that it is bound in honor to
take up the white mans burden" in the
far East, that decision will be very large
ly due 20 the pulpit and the religious
press, or, rather, TO their fidelity in rep
resenting the convictions of the religious
masses behind them, the religious bodies
for which they stand, in whose name they
speak.
As an illustration of this phase of the
situation, take lions Herald, the leading
organ of Methodism in New England,
where anti-expansion has its stronghold.
We do not like the term imperial" or
''imperialistic," for We think il cannot
properly be applied to any policy advocat-
ed by any portion of the American people
But our Methodist contemporary simply
means expansion. 1t declares, as we find
it quoted in the Providence Journal. that
the Methodist body is strongly imperial
istic in opinion and preference 1t saws
that the Secretary of the Anti-Imperial-
list League, after weeks of effort. could
not secure the name of a single prominent
member of that body for his petition 10
Congress. and that the prophets of evil
do not affect our people,"
Certainly there is some significance in
such an utterance by paper that repre-
sents the largest Protestant denomination
in the United States. And the fact that
lions Herald is published in Boston, the
focus of all the anti-expansion rays, adds
to that significance. The Herald asserts
that our people are becoming weary and
impatient with the jeremiads of a very
small part of the American people and the
talk against the ratification of the treaty:
because, unquestionably, such action en-
courages Aguinaldo's pretensions and
renders a conciliatory and early solution
OF the problem much more difficult"
Leaving the matter of the future gov
eminent of the Philippines and cur
relations 10 them out OF the ques-
ton, there is no doubt that the sooner
the treaty is ratified the better il will
be for all concerned Ratification will
place all subordinate questions in the
hands of Congress. And there is no doubt
that the pulpit and the religious press
Will have an unusual and great influence
IN determining the action of Congress to-
ward those islands and their inhabitants.
Whatever may be said against the inter-
ference of the pulpit in politics, il cannot
he denied that this great and new issue
rises far above the level of merely parri-
san disputes, and presents ground on
which religionists may stand and contend
without sacrifice of Christian prophecies.