Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1901-03-08
CHURCH AND PRESS.
A Warm Friendship Should Exist
Between Them.
ar. TalmaEc Says That the Spoken
Word and the PrintedWord Should
Go Side by Sfde-God and
the Printing Press.
copyright. 1901, by Louis Klopsch.]

In this discourse Dr. Ialmage Calls
for a warm friendship between those
who preach the Gospel and those who
make newspapers, the spoken word
and the printed word to go side by
side; text, Luke 1868: ''The children
of this world are in their generation
wiser than the children of light"
Sacred stupidity and solemn incom-
potency and sanctified laziness are
here rebuked by Christ. He says
worldlings are wider awake for OPP
portunities than are Christians. Men
of the world grab occasions, while
Christian people let the most valu-
able occasions drift by unimproved.
That is the meaning of our Lord
when He says: "The children of this
world are in their generation wiser
than the children of light"
A marked illustration Of the truth
of that maxim is in the slowness OF
the Christian religion to take pos
session of the secular printing press.
The opportunity is open and has
been for some time open, but the
ecclesiastical courts, and the
churches, and the ministers of re-
Egion are for the most part allow
ing the golden opportunity to pass
uniTproved. That the opportunity
is open I declare from the fact that
all the secular newspapers are glad
of any religious facts or statistics
that you present them. Any Animal
ed and stirring article relating to re-
ligious themes they would gladly
print. They thank you for any in
formation in regard to churches. II
a wrong has been done to any Chris
tian church or Christian institution
you could go into any newspaper Of
fee of the land and have the real
truth stated. Dedication services,
ministerial ordinations and pastoral
installations, cornerstone laying of
church, anniversary of a charitable
society, will have reasonable space in
any, secular journal if it have previ-
Gus notice given. If I had some
great injustice done me, there is not
an editorial or a reportorial room
in the United States into which I
could not go and get myself set
right, and that is true of any we'll
known Christian man. Why, then,
does not our glorious Christianity
embrace these magnificent opportuni-
ties? I have before me subject of
first and last Importance: How shall
we secure the secular press as
mighty reinforcement to religion and
the pulpit?
The first thing toward this result
is cessation of indiscriminate hos
tility against newspaperdom. You
might as we'll denounce the legal pro-
fession because of the shysters, or
the medical profession because of the
quacks, or merchandise because of
the swindling bargain makers, as to
slambang newspapers because there
are recreant editors and unfair re-
porters and unclean columns. Guten-
berg, the inventor of the art Of print
and extinguish the art because it was
suggested to him that printing might
be suborned into the service of the
devil, but afterward he bethought
himself that the right use of the art
might more than overcome the evil
use of it, and so he spared the type
and the intelligence of all following
ages. But there are many to-day in
the depressed mood of Gutenberg,
with uplifted hammer, wanting to
pound to pieces the type, who have
not reached his better mood, in
which he saw the art of printing to
be the rising sun of the worlds
illumination.
If, instead of fighting newspapers.
we spend the same length of time and
the same vehemence in marshaling
their help in religious directions we
would be as much wiser as the man
who gets consent of the railroad super
intendent to fasten a car to the end
of a rail train shows better sense than
he who runs his wheelbarrow up the
track to meet and drive back the Chi
cago limited express. The silliest thing
that man ever does is to fight news
paper, for you may have the floor for
utterance perhaps for one day in the
week, while the newspaper has the
floor every day in the week. Napoleon,
though a mighty man, had many weak
nesses, and one of the weakest things
he ever cid was to threaten thatif the
English newspapers did not stop their
adverse criticism of himself he would
with 100000 bayonets, cross the chan
mel for their chastisement. Don't
fight newspapers. Attack provokes at
tack. Better wait until the excite
ment blows over and then go in and get
Justice. for get it you will if you have
patience and common sense and equi.
poise of disposition It ought to be q
mighty sedative that there is an enor-
mons amount of common sense in the
world. and you will Eventually be taken
for what you are really worth, and you
cannot be puffed, up, and you cannot
be written down, and If you are the
enemy of good society, that fact viii
come out, and If you are the friend Of
good society that fact will be estab
ished.