Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1910-06-18
THE CHURCHS'
INTRUSION INTO
POLITICAL ARENA
midas Criterion.)

Largely without being aware Of
the injury to the cause of true
religion, the church is being used
throughout the whole country as 2
lever to work political or mercenary
schemes Of individual agitators.
The rule is that the church as an
institution bears the brunt OF the
suffering, while the agitators, re-
gardIess Of everything but their
selfish aims, or their zeal for the
issues Of so-called temperance, which
is really intemperance Of the most
pronounced character, mount higher
and higher on the good name and
influence Of the church.
These agitators are of several
types, one of which consists of those
jealous for the promotion of sump-
tuary legislation and deem every and
any means legitimate to accomplish
their object.
Another class consists Of men of
too limited ability to succeed in the
pulpit, who find they can make an
easy living by their glib tongues
and artful and inslnuating ways on
simple and good-hearted people.
Another type of agitator seeks to
attain political preferment by using
his organization and the church SO
that he can beefoisted into political
office OF some description, and is
often successful in this.
These classes seek for their own
ends to involve the church in affairs
political, which the laws directed
against personal liberty certainly
are.
Such action is not only fraught
with great danger to the church but
to the State as well.
These organizations generally
originate in church edifices loaned
for the purpose by the pastor or
trustees under the pretense that the
object is moral one. It thus be-
comes identified with the church TO
its detriment and loss of prestige,
for the effect is to drive out the
worshipers with liberal views, leav-
ing behind TO maintain the church
only morrow minded coterie. An
other way in which the church will
suffer is that having taken up the
carnal weapons of politics, it cannot
screen itself by the sanctity of it's
proper sphere, and must take as well
as give blows in the rough arena of
politics.
Already this question is being
more and more agltated that If the
church is to become a political as
we'll as an ecclesiastical power, it
should not be allowed to have ex@
emption from taxation on it's edifices
and real estate, but should pay its
share of the public burdens, not
screening itself on the pretext of its
sacred commission, which 1t has
deserted.
Those who are leading the church
out of its sphere are eager to de-
prive by law the nation, the state
anu municipalities VI Tue thOluoun
revenues derived from liquor, but
they do not so much as lift their
little finger TO tighten the burden OF
taxation that would ensue by even
limiting that the church should pay
its proportion on its costly buildings
and valuable zeal estate holdings.
This dragging in the church under
false pretenses into the arena of
state or political affairs is distinctly
opposed both to the letter and the
spirit OF the Constitution of the
United States and that OF every
individual State, which forever divide
the two spheres OF church and state,
which rebounds to the safety, per-
manence and integrity Of the nation
and its several constituent States.
Anything that seeks to combine
what the Constitution under the
wise eounsels Of the founders has
set apart Is clearly to be deprecated
and reslst[ to the uttermost by
ali patriotic citizens, irrespective of
creed, race or party, and as such the
Criterion raises its voice against
the desecration Of the church by its
intrusion into civic affairs, and
warns Il that It will certainly suffer
In efficiency and prestige by its
departure from the policy laid down
by the fathers OF this nation.
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