The Montgomery advertiser., 1908-10-12

deal with tne dutleS Oh hneh ~
 God, let 1t be remembered that 1t does deal and rixhtfuiiy 60, with the du- ties of men to each others and It is here that the field of religious teach ing and the province of civil govern naent deal with the same subject mat ter, though in a different way. For religion also teaches men at least the fundamental moral principles which should control them in all their duties and relations to each oLner' now. ever. civil government and religion exercise different functions in regard to these duties of men to each other.
 Sin and Crime.
 Sin and crime are distinct. Sin Is A transgression of the law. of God. Crime is the transgression of the law of man. A sin may or may not be A crime. A man may be vile sinner and vet not a criminal In his heart he may cowet money. but as Ions as he does not allow his covetousness to lead him to steal. human law cannet convict him as criminal. The, State cannot rightfuliy punish sin as suen. because to punish 1t, the secrets of the heart must be known, and to se- cure these the inouisitior must be set up to secure by torture that which the victim does not choose to reveal. The exact punishment for sin can only bs
 
 of the Universal Judge who reads the hearts of all men. On the other hand the State can properly punish overt acts of wrong between man and man.
 'Tf we admit, then. that the gov- ernment should not administer the Church. and the Church should not ad- minister the government, let us ask. to paraphrase St. Paul What advan- tage then hath a religious people; and swhaf viFfma an fa ha T- ment is concerned, Is there in a Chris tion citizenship? Much, every way.
 T repeat religion is not to become political. but in a very vital sense. poll itics must become religious-the relig- ious man must carry. his religion with him into politics, as well as into his business and his home. The church and the body of religious people. have Q very important function to perform -the formation of a righteous public opinion. Here the church ought to take the lead. and insomuch as it fails to lead here. it declines in influence. The authority which remains to 1t, says pr. Aked, "is Inward, moral, spiritual; if 1t cannot inspire 1t Is be- cause 1t is no longer inspired. and a church without inspiration is corpse which should be quietly buried" The world of politics must be claimed as Gods world. Political work must be held to be religious work, and the church must teach these things. It must teach that a Christian can no more neglect the plain duties of citi- senship than he can neglect to pay his debts. Says a distinguished divine:
 But while I fully agree that 1t is the province of the church and it's ministry to arouse the civic conscience of men and inspire them to do right, 1t is not always well for the church to go further and tell them what in detail they should do. It is not the province of the church to do mems thinking for them and prescribe the laws they should pass or name the men they should vote for in political contest, This should be left to the aroused social conscience of the Chris tian citizen. and if perchance he dif- fers with his pastor or hjs priest, he should not be threatened with ex- communication or the .withdrawal of Christian fellowship. If we deny this principle, we could not criticise a Democratic pastor who saw ht to with draw feliawship from all Republican members of his church upon the ground that the protective tarife was lesalised robbery and opposed to sound morals as taught in the scrip lures. Who shirks 1t must be made to feel that his dedication exposes him to the wrath of God and the scorn Of man."
 The Ward PoIIcitian.
 The very odium which attaches to the world politician. is an indictment of the American people. who have for- gotten that politics is the science of government--the most Important and difficult of all the sciences. When so- called politicians grasp place and pow CT for selfish ends when they debauch our Institutions for the sake of biun- der, when they make American munici- pal politics 6 byword on the earth, they trail the flag in the dust, and trampls it under foot. The religious man who stands by and sees it done. should be- taught by his church and hts pastor that he is neithergreiistous nor q manly man.
 Let me also quote a sentence from pr. Josiah Strong: Local self gov ernmsnt Is today hanging in what Ed- giund Burke called a Dancing and a hesitating balance As New occasions teach new duties,' this new peril de- fnaRds a new patriotism-not new in spirit, but in manifestation; one which Is civil rather than military; one winch devotes itself to the principle actually endangered; not a patriotism which constructs fortihcationg and builds navies, but one which purifies politics and Substitutes statesmen for @dema- l gogues; not one which rallies around
 the flag so much as one which rallies round the ballot-box; not one which | charges Into the deadly breach, but one which smashes the 'machine;' not one which offers itself to die for the country, but one that is willing to | live for 1t, which is as much more heroic as it 1t more difiicult."
 The Christian patriotism must be | willing to bear the burden and heat | of the day; must not shrink from crit icism or opposition. Disinterestedness ] and honesty and unselfish desire to do l what is right are not enough in them- selves. A man must not only be dis
 interested, but he must be efficient. If
 he goes into politics, he must go into | practical politics. in order to make l his influence felt. Practical politics
 must not be construed to mean dirty 1 politics. On the contrary, in the long | run the politics of fraud and treachery 1 and foulness are impractical politics I and the most practical of all politicians | is the politician who is clean and deS cent and upright But a man who goes into the actual battle of the po- | liticaI world must prepare himself
 much as he would for the struggle in | any other branch of our life. He must | be prepared to meet men of far lower l ideals than his own, and to face things not as he would wish them, but aE they are, He must not lose his own | high ideal and yet he must face the l fact that the majority of the men with