The menace. [volume] (Aurora, Mo.) 1911-1920, 1915-02-13
10 dispose Of the political issue,
involved rs follows:
The Evil Of Dragging Religion
Into Polictics

The Evil Of Dragging Religion
Into Polietics
Politics and political campaigns an,
usci 10 forward and fomrut thr strife
/ Catholics who are good citizens. and
whose lives are upright, are male "a
carry the burden Of prejudice sngrn
derci In the hearts of men against tht
churrh of which they are members, not.
withstanding the Constitution OF the
United States, which declares that
/" Congress shall make no law respecting
an establishment Of religion, ur prohih.
ting the free exercise thereof. A"
This, Il seems 10 me, il the most an.
fortunate feature Of this movement.
aside from the social discomforts which
come of religious strife. The prnsrrib.
ing OF any citizen as unworthy OF pub.
ice confidence, uulcSs he profess or ~.
nouncc this or that religious opinion. h.
deprNing him Of those privilege aud
advantages 10 which he l. Of right en-.
titled as an American citizen
Ii is truly unfortunate that the
unSophisticated lay members of
the Roman Catholic church must
share the blame for what the
higher-up political managers OF
the system are wholly or largely
responsible. The members Of
a body which is ruled from an
Italian throne are certainly not
TO blame for the papal encyclicals
against civilization so long aS
they do not realize the meaning
OF religious monarchism and its
inevitable enmity TO popular gov
ernment and human freedom.
In supporting the papal system
they place themselves in the same
position as any other citizen who
supports a bad cause through
failure 10 Understand its true ma
ture. II may be that even those
higher up are so carried away
by the success of the scheme that
the glory of the papal aristocracy
Is the same to them as the glory
of God.
But we, who are not under the 1
spell of popery, find in the opera
ton of the papal system a politi-
cal error that must be overcome
before its monarchial principles
triumph over human freedom and
popular government. We deny
the divine right of the pope and
ms princes to rulership of the
earth. We deny his infallible
ability and power to say what is
moral and what is immoral. We
repudiate popery fer the same
reason that we repudiate king
craft and monarchism i'm all its
forms.
To register our protest against
popery and to check the aggres.
slons of the pope'S agents we have
the ballot and we have the right
to use it. We have the same
right and we feel the same duty
to oppose the schemes of the
pope of Rome that we would have
to oppose similar effort bv the
Gar of Russia to capture this
country.
We have the same right and
,eel the same duty to oppose can
ildateS and measures hostile TO
.hc public school that the mem /.
oers of one political party have
md feel in opposing the men and
measures of the opposing partvI
For IT should he known that
here is Roman Catholic politi-
'ai party in this country Just as /;
'eal and just as active as the Re
and Democratic parties
The methods of the Roman ,
Iatholic party are different; but
he results of their political ef- :
orts are even greater, and bv
ar more dangerous, than those of !.
my other. If there is any strife =
n this opposition to popery. let i
hose who dragged their Italian
hurch into American politics
ear the blaIae. a
That reference to Congress and
he Constitution is rather far
etched. The distinctively Prot ;.
slant and American passage !, ,
noted by Sir Knight Callahan "
approved by all with the excep-
ion of pOpes and papists whose h
lew was plainly stated by Leo i
iii as follows: "It would be Ii
cry erroneous to draw the con. ca
Iusion that in America is to be :
ought the type of the most de-