The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1907-04-06

great gregation.-Psaims 1913.
In the recent municipal campaign in
Emporia William Allen White took
occasion to read the riot act to En-
poria preachers for not taking an ac-
tive part in politics. 1t seems that in
Mr.. Whites fight to MAKE Emporia
clean town morally only two of the
local ministers helped actively and
practically. That is what called out
these remarks in the Emporia Ga
zette:
1.-The great trouble with churches
and preachers is that they inspire a
man to be good one day in the week,
ana don't care what he does other days
fty. Preachers live up in the air.
Churches are concerned too much with
heaven and not enough with this
earth. What is needed is seven-day
morality. What is needed instead of
sermons is preachers who are some
thing more than theorizers, who will
help their friends and their focks and
their towns and their country in some
real, practical way. Preachers are too
much afraid of getting their hands
dirty; they tell US about God, and let
man go ahead in his ignorance.
churches should be organizations to
accomplish something besides sending
missionaries to the heathens; they
should make their own wards and their
own towns and their own states bet
ter to live in.
This is a practical world. and
man. whether he is a preacher or
teacher or storekeeper or a church.
man OF any sort. who lives in the
clouds and doesn't get down to the
practical side of life is a mere dreamer
The world needs workers, and not
dreamers; and it needs them not mere
ly in the stores and offices and in the
shops, but in the pulpits- A preacher
ia ma flx-r INV a.
tice the plain hard sense that his creed
breaches is not much of a man.
Every one believes these things
Men don't go to church because
churches are not practical And vet
ana yet when preacher does make
his religion practical, when he does
practice what he breaches when he
does take an active part in life and be-
comes a man among men, helping
where he can, and doing Gods work
as men should do it, in the thick of
the fight of life, these same men who
critictse the preachers and say they
are dreamers. get out and howl that
preachers place is in the pulpit. In
this campaign, two out of thirty
preachers engaged in a campaign to
nominate a clean ticket. These
preachers were invited by business
men to help. The preachers went in
thinking they could help the business
men make Emporia a clean town:
they did only what business men ask
ed them to do-the preachers were
lieutenants, not captains and thew
were two of our two hundred business
men, and two out of thirty preachers
In town, and yet the men who want to
make this town a wide open town-the
Eagles and the enemies of decent gov
eminent in Emporia-have tramped
up and down the streets of this town
wailing and weeping about the preach
ers running this town. It is merely a
silly cry, raised to drive voters into
n MI
reason in Gods beautiful, practical
world. why a preacher should not do
his full duty as citizen. There is no
reason why he should not help to put
up city administration that will close
the joints, and tighten up the drug
stores; there is no reason why a
preacher should not be an American
citizen and the man who has an OBJ
lection to preacher doing a practical
work under the direction of business
men, has not the best interests of this
town at heart"
1t Is somewhat unusual that the
ministry is criticised for not being
more active in politics, but is not Mr..
White a little harsh on the Emporia
ministry? All preachers are not fitted
to be politicians. The majority of
them could not lead and direct a sue
cessful political campaign. If they
tried it they would make a mess"
from the start.
But it undoubtedly is the duty of
ministers to preach righteousness in
government as well as in religion, and
they should not be so buried in
spiritual affairs that they take no in
terest in the way the town is run and
how the state and national govern
ments are administered. The preacher
who IS afraid to denounce evils in gov
eminent for fear OF often ding an in
fiuentfal member of his church. per-
haps, does not amount to much
The criticism that is aroused by a
preacher dipping into politics" usual
ly comes from the way he does it. Not
being politicians, ministers are fire.
quently fooled by designing persons in
political matters. If they confine
themselves to denouncing wrong and
commencing right, no criticism that
amounts to anything can be urged
against that. Old Elijah was that
kind of a preacher, and Samuel was
another; and they had considerable to
do with the politics of their times.