The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1908-04-15
Woolley on the Issue
Extracts From a Recent Sermon.

politics but as yet they accept with
great composure and even enthusiasm,
the theory of the pot-house that the
name of God has to be and therefore
ought to be vain in political campaigns.
Twenty years ago. or ten years ago.
this might have been winked at on
the score of ignorance, but now the
dawning epoch commands the church
to repent and brace up and put her
thoughts into practise and her language
into events by a great political deci-
sion, formed in conscience and defend
ed on honor even unto blood"
You have been doubtless by this time
that the theme of this speech is the
conversion of the voting church to civic
character-not to a sound theology, to
character.
The church is saturated with theology
and hymnology and eschatology 1t
needs to prove up going, doing Christ.
This nation is ready for a great reli-
gion, a great ministry, great Chris
tian citizenship, a great national char
acter, and the church must produce
them.
How can she produce them. 4 mega
tive answer is easy. She cannot pro-
duce them by an everlasting debate
as to whether the membership may
dance, play cards. chew tobacco, at
tend theaters ct cetera. I do not mean
to disparage the discussion of these
things, but they are paltry trifles as
compared to whether a Christian voter
in a democratic form of government
may pray one way and vote another,
about the greatest public question of
two centuries. She cannot do it by
building new churches, raising more
money for missions, adopting better
rituals, securing better music, stamp
ing out the heresies of the new the
ology, or showing up the superstitions
in the old. She cannot do it by holding
great conventions or increasing the
membership. In short, the church is
up against a question of decent, hon
est, manly, cody politics. She herself
has stated the issue in thought and
prayer and published word She her
self has raised, in national, state and
local politics. the transcendent question
which in morals and economics towers
over all other as the Mauna Loa towers
over the rushes on the shore. She must
put the thought. and the prayer, and
the word into the ballot-box and the
statute book, or despise herself and be
despised.
The stock objection to this is that
she will contaminate herself by mixing
in 'tthe muddy pool of politics." As to
that, I have only to remind you thar
she is already mixed far beyond the
contamination point. Her one hope of
cleansing is to pull out and march out
and reassemble on high ground where
there is good drainage and no stand
ing room for any muddy pool of poli-
tics
Another objection is that confusion
will come of her going into politics. |
This objection fairly bristles with alb |
surdities, The church by her voting |
membership is in politics, and my |
whole appeal is for a clear-cut, oonsis-
tent. concentrated, organized decision
of Christian men in favor of something /
political. not because it is shrewd, or
or easy, but on the ground
that it is everlastingly right. The
church is unit on the liquor problem
sentimentally. She is more or less con-
fused on every other. In point of
clearness and simplicity and dimensions
and immediate as well as ultimate i'm
portance, the liquor issue stands alone.
In it science and conscience and ven
geance and self defense and altruism
and economics and the police power
and the constitution meet and fuse.
There is nothing like it before the
country. All of the other proposed leg
islation of the present day, taken to-
gether, pales to rank folly in COM
parison
The church begins to notice that saw
ing souls, retail, while conserving to
their damnation, wholesale and retail,
is a business which practically has
given her good start "over the hill
to the poor house" She begins to know
that there is such a thing as human
ity, that it has soul to be saved and
that the law is schoolmaster to bring
the masses slowly but surely to repent
ance and Christian civilization.
She begins to know that civil gov
eminent has also to deal with men as
they ought to be and that democracy Is
"a highway cast up for the ransomed
of the Iaord,' that is to say, everybody,
to walk in power and dominion.
She has feared God. That is the
beginning of wisdom She must now
be honest with God and men. That
is advanced wisdom and the body of
Christian democracy. She has fought
put the sovereign right of conscience.
she must now proclaim and illustrate
in a larger life the imperial obligation
Of duty.