The Tabor independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1913-19??, 1916-09-21
POLITICS IN :
- 1890 -
( THE PULPIT
COUNTRY NEEDS "oLD TIME RI.
LIGIoN."
Salvation Must Come From Bible i,
stead Of Statute Book.
BY Peter Radford.

BY Peter Radford.
At least Is per cent of the preach.
ers of this nation are on the payroll
Of the farmers; :. the farmers of tho
United States have built approximate.
ly 10000 churches, at a cost of $50.
100000; contribute towards the SIM
port of religious institutions moro
than 500, 100000 per annum, and the
census reports show that about "a
Of every 100 members of the variou,
church denominations live upon the
farm. Irefer with pride to the achieve.
ments of the farmers along the line
Of religious progress and moral deveI.
opment. The substantial assistance
which the farmers of the United States
have given the cause of religion an.
thorizes the vast body of agricultural
laymen who constitute the bone and
sinew of the church to speak out, for
certainly a layman may know as much
about political theology as a preacher
Keep the Yellow Peril Of Politics
From the Pulpit.
What 1 have to say has no referenc,
to that vast body of militant ministers
who have consecrated their lives to
the uplift of mankind and whose pre-
cepts and examples are a be~acon.light
Illuminating the pathway Of the hi.
man race. I refer exclusively to that
coterie of political clergymen who
prostitute their high calling by CAPT.
talking their reputation and by lend.
ing their occupation to designing pol.
iticians, and | appeal to the laymen
TO use their influence in preventing
the yellow peril Of politics from en-.
tering the pulpit In any Of its dis
guises.
/ appeal to the laSmen to demand
that political preachers give their
congregations more old-time religion
and less political clap-trap; that they
display a more earnest effort to reach
the hearts Of men and play less to
the galleries; that they more often
hold fellowship with the members and
fewer with the politicians.
Certainly the laymen cannot perform
their full duty to the church by sing.
ing songs, paying church dues and
voting tickets handed down from the
pulpit by political ev~angelists. The
layman should become a dominating
factor in the policies of the church.
Let all the brethren unite In lifting
fallen ministers from the sloughs Of
politics back into the pulpit.
The Layman's Problem.
It Is as important that the politi.
clans be driven out Of the pulpit as
that the preachers be forced back to
the pulpit. I think II sacrilegious for
anyone to get his call to the pulpit
from campaign managers, to get his
inspiration from the cesspool of poll.
tics or to get his articles Of faith from
political conventions. 1t pollutes the
church, mocks Christianity and is q
heinous crime against society.
We can conceive Of no more Ola.
bolical hypocrisy than a politician in
the pulpit shouting for votes and can
imagine nothing more damaging to
public conscience than a preacher
saying amen to his deceitfuI antics.
Political leaders may live wet and
vote dry and the low standard Of
statecraft Is not offended. but when
the church turns over the pulpit to
ohce-seekers and their henchmen,
true Christianity has received a crush.
ing blow and hypocrisy runs rampant
In the altar, for 1t is written "Ye
cannot serve two masters"
There never was a time when
preachers and politicians formed an
unholy alliance that civilization did
not Shrek out and Christianity cry
aloud. Since the beginning of gov
ernment,. politicians have sought to
decoy the ministry into the meshes of
politics and make them carry banners
In political professions. They have
$50 u hiihiStly W Tie mOuDLHlH-
top OF power and offered to make
them monarch of all they surveyed,
and while most Of them have said,
get thee behind me Satan" a few
have fallen with a crash that has
shaken every pulpit In Christendom.
The ministry, unsophisticated and
conf1ding, is no match for the poll
tician versed in artful persuasion and
skilled In deceit, and 1t is the duty of
the laymen to protect the ministry
against the onslaught of these wolves
In sleeps clothing and drive the poll
ticians from the pulpit with the lash
OF public scorn. 1t is the laymen's
problem to keep the ministry free
from unholy alliances, for II is said
on divine authority that we are our
brothers keeper.
Political Prayer Meetings.
It Is a sad day for Christianity
when the church bells call the com.
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