The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1909-05-31
DECORATION DAY IS ]
THEME OF Sermon
Rev. William ThurstOn Brown
Talks on Patriotism in a
Democracy"
TIME NOT FAR DISTANT
WHEN ALL WILL BE GONE
Observance Then VIII Be Per
functOry; Reading Of Bible
in These Days.

Rev. William Thurston Brown of ths
Unitarian church took for his subject
Sunday morning Patriotism in q
Democracy" In part, he said;
How can a real patriotism be en-
Surcd? How can We make II certain that
men and women Will be patriotic? Can
we do ii by compelling our. boys and
girls In public schols 10 formally salute
tho flag and mechanically repeat an onth
10 them" BY no means. All VIC can do
hy that process is to create a lot OF
blind, unthlnlcing partisans.
And partisans nre not patriots: ,t Can
Ing hymns, by hearing brass bands, bv'
parades. by cytravagant culogy OF the
dead or empty boasts OF what we have
done or the unrHamplcd wealth We have
produced? Not at all There Is one way
and only one by which Il, real patriotism
can bc created. and that Is by making
the nation mean something sacred In and
for the lives OF all It's citizens. And that
can be done only by making II more and
more democratic. by putting all the pow
or and all the responsibility of the ma
tIon consciously In the hands of all the
people, by giving all the people a hand in
the government Not n hand In graft
not merely an experience in office hold
ing or salary rabhins. The ideal Of
democracy is not that Of making every
citizen a king. Democracy doesn't mean
replacing one king with a million or a
hundred million. Jt means The abolition
Of kings altogether II Is the declara-
liou that we can aud shall get along
without kings of any kind And that
isn't all it means. Democracy is not a
mega tion. There must be an alternative
To kings, and there is. Absolutely the
only alternative 10 kings in goverument
is brothers. comrades partners. and co..
operators. Whom democracy finds Itself,
comes TO It's own VIC shall have brother-
hood And until We have conscious broth
crhood as the atmosphere and meaning
OF the nation. We have not democracy,
Instead Of democracy-whatever the
changed one kind Of kings for another
kind-one kind OF irresponsible rulership
for another.
Not Far i'll Future.
The time Is not far in the future when
the last member Of the Grand Army Of
the Republic Will have died. No one will
re emain to whom the Civil war is mem-
ory. When that time comes, the obser-
vance Of this memorial will cease TO have
any vitality i'm IL. II Will he no better
than any other perfunCtoTy thing. When
any service becomes pcrfunctoTy. when
IL is mechanically done, or because the
law requires it, 1t has lost all its value
Our fathers were taught that 1t is a
sacred dutT 10 read the Bible. They
were taught that 1t is Il religious act.
Many OF them did read II. But no such
proportion of the people are reading the
Bible today were doing so fifty or a
lions more Bibles printed than ever
Why? Because wltlG the larger knowl-
edge OF today religion Is seen TO be sone-
thing different from what il seemed a
hundred years ago. The people OF the
Twentieth century know that reading the
Bible is not religion. and has no neces-
sary relation to religion, Such reading
is becoming perfunctory, and is dying
out.
IL would he the greatest moral mis-
fortune II it were possible for MS 10 make
or keep religion a pcrfuncIory thing.
Our salvation and the salvation of re-
lieon lies in its being A reality. and moi
q form. The same is true OF any ex-
preston OF citizenship 4 nation owes
its citizens no more sacred obligation
than that OF making it natural and easy,
nay Inevitable. for them TO love IL
Patriotism isn't something 10 be forced
on one. something which Is a duty. sonie-
thing that requires a big stick. 1t must
be spontaneous. moral, natural, the
loyalty OF the soul to what Il feels TO
be just and wise and good, The very
fate OF democracy depends on its ability
10 convince all sorts and conditions OF
people in it's citizenship OF its sacredness.
The nation must he evidently, convince
incly. q thing OF beauty and bcneficience.
a thing OF justice and truth. before II
can become strong, before il can create or
inspire patriotism.