The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1906-10-25
Religion as Parasite.
From the st. Paul Dispatch

G. Loves Dickinson, the man who
wrote the anonymous Letters from o
Chinese Official" but who wrote also
the more dignified book, "A Sympo-
sum-" declared in the latter-for both
books contain criticism on American
ways and means-that religion In
America is a parasite without roots"
OF course Americans resent this, but
any acquaintance with the deeper
rooted sense of religion in England and,
indeed, In all the strictly British coun-
tries, might lead one to suspect that
at least from Mr.. Dickinson's own point
OF view as an Englishman, there was
much truth in the assertion.
The announcement yesterday In Min.
neapoiis. before the Presbyterian syn
cd, that one-half of the %onver to
Presbyterian faith during the past
year in Minnesota have not MATERIAL
lied. have not added to the sum total
OF the membership, but nave wandered
off under the pressure Of worlds
ness may or may not be testimony to
the statement that religion Is a para
site without roots" but we are rather
inclined to think it is. And last week
from another denomination. the Meth
odfst, we learned that there, also, had
been q falling o| in the number of
converts and the number of members
This was not the revelation Of a state
secret, but a calm facing of the fact
a iyoIlC acquainted Win
church affairs had come to notice, and
we do not suppose that it is a fact
confined ~singulcrly to these two Prot
estant denominations, but that 1t is
true also of all the others. 1t is q
condition of affairs which may well
give one pause. We doubt If it is al
together hopeless: we do not believe
that 1t is anything more than a tenn
porary transitional state, and we be-
tieVe that good n well being lie be-
yond. But our general hopefulness
should not blind us to the particular
crisis of the present.
The first difficulty would seem to be
that we have altogether and too sue
cessfully divorced state and church.
This was an absolute necessity in our
American beginning. America was for
tunately founded by that very class
of men from the old world. England
and the continent, who sought freedom
IN religious affairs and the right to
their individual conscience. They did
not secure 1t, of course; we all know
that. No sooner had they coloniZed a
small spot on the great American con-
tinent that one conscience attempted
and usually succeeded in overriding all
the other consciences, and particularly
did one kind of conscience dominate
each colony. We worked out of that
condition. very largely through divorce
ing church and state in practice, until
Soudy we dTe dDSOlulely IN the divorced
state, and both state and church suf-
fer. And the people have suffered most
of all. We by no means advocate q re-
turn to q state church. The solution
will come in some other way. Matters
OF government have already felt a fine
wave OF moral enthusiasm, and what
is better, the very foundations are be-
ing reconstructed, SO that instead of
fmpermanent waves, there may be per-
manent good, decency and honesty, as
the foundation stones of municipal and
state n national life. Some such re-
form is certain to overtake the church.
We could wish it would come not alone
in the churches but in the state, moro
tina rslil,ion which is not denomina-
tional shoul win for itself a place
I'm the curriculum. Does anyone doubt
that much OF the dignity and serious
ness of attitude of an Englishman
toward his country, comes from the
minglinE Of religion and government
In his early school training? And the
chapel service which every college Of
Oxford or Cambridge holds each day,
which has unfortunately not been APP
proachedl by the very perfunctory
chapel service held in American COL
ieges, has had a large part In inclin-
dent to higher things and even toward
FORMAL devotion. We could wish our
American sense of religion to be VOL
untary, spontaneous. Blu we are con-
that the formal observance has
Its important part. The parasite will
give place to the living truth when the
first service to the state, performed by
the child in its attendance at school,
religious as we'll as civil.