Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-02-08
Let nc Imitation Of
Germany Efficiency
Rob Us of Personal
Ere e dom
BY BISHOP WARREN A. GAMBLER.

/ 10 abandoned under constraint Of socalled
! necessity, a most faithless act is done.
Such a remuneration of rectitude for the
| sake OF eXpediencY proceeds on the as
! sumption that the moral law is not feast
! BILE under certain circumstances, and 1t
| IS the very climax of unbelief. 1t is the
worst atheism; for it is better to deny
! cable thing. Wherefore, the maxim, that
| God is. but that His law is an impracti-
cable thing. Wherefore, the mavim, that
/ necessity knows no law" is a dogma OF
! atheism. The scriptures teach us on
| the contrary that Gods law knows no
| necessity.
/ This is the lofty truth upon which
Christ acted in His temptation in the
! wilderness. The tempter approached
/ Him with the suggestion that extreme
hunger was sufficient justification for
distrusting God and exerting ones power
| I'm a lawless manner; but Jesus repulsed
the assault with the doctrine that no eX-
tremiey could Justify faithlessness and
disobedience, saying, Man shall not live
| by bread alone but by every word that
/ proceedeth out of the mouth of God"
/ Bread is not the staff of life, but truth
I is life's supreme necessity and support,
I Sin is worse than Death, and the divine
| favour is better than life. If at any
| time one finds that he cannot live and
/ do right the time has come when 1t is
| better for him to die than to live. OF
what value is a life that is enslaVed to
! ,esrempueeuatheb lame, shrd ! l IL
wrong, so that the liberty of doing right
can not be enjoyed? The worst of ty-
/ rant can not enforce a more direful
bondage than sevitude to unrighteous-
ness.
The prophets and apostles of whom we
read In the Bible, and the blessed mar
| tyrs of all ages, lived and triumphed
! through the faith that no sort of neces-
sity could Justify wrong doing; they pre-
| ferred death to the degradation Of their
nature to the level of sin.
Daniel acted on the principle that it is
better to be devoured by lions than to be
prayerless and disobedient. His Hebrew
companions preferred to be cast into the
fiery furnace rather than to worship an
| idol. In like manner apostles and mar
tvs preferred death to remuneration OF
their faith.
Men Of less heroic spirit would have
yielded their principles before surrender
ing their lives, and would have framed
easily most plausible extenuatings Of
their faithlessness. One such might have
said to Daniel, Prayer is matter or
the heart. Why not desist from FORMAL
prayer and only lift your heart to God"
Or to the Hebrew children, IAN idol Is
nothing, and you know 1t. Go through
the mere form of worshipping the IDOL
and thus save your lives" But how
would the brightest pages of human MS
tory be robbed Of their luster, If the doc
trines Of expediency had been accepted
by men like Daniel and Paul and Gran
mer and Latimer. The men who are
called practical men" have never been
the heroes of the race; they have peeh
too busy preserving their precious hides
Il the
ton of mankind.
No man wishes tho rule Of right sus-
pended permanently; the apostles or ex-
pediency plead for no more than the
temporary suspension of principle un-
der the pressure of extreme necessity
But 1t Is obvious that once 1t Is ad-
mitted that necessity may JUSTIFY
wrongdoing, even for time, the reign
of righteousness Is at an END. When
the moral law is suspended under the
plea of necessity, God is dethroned
and the majesty of the throne Is set
at naught. Moreover, the rule or right
which is set aside to meet an emergency
is never again restored to its original
authority. new and lower principle
has been introduced into the conauct
of life, and, thereafter, ones behaviour
becomes a mere matter of circum-
stances, and character becomes thing
of chance.
All this Is true of individuals who
consent to renounce that which is right
under the constraint Of necessity and II
IS equally true of nations which de-
part from the fundamental principles
of good government and adopt policy
of expediency. Hence times OF war
are periods in which governments OFTEN
suffer the most subtle and rapid de-
cay; under the plea of necessity the
people relax If they do not renounce
the things which they have regarded
as most binding and most sacred, and
that which is relaxed for q time Is
never fully restored.
A danger of this sort threatens the
American government at this time. The
war in Europe has brought to pass con
ditions which some would have US be-
lieVe require us to break away from
some of the most fixed principles OF
our form of government 1t is evident
that Germany's policy Of requiring the
individual to turn over his mind ana
conscience to the state enables her to
wage war far more economically and
vigorously. than can a government IN
which personal liberty is less curtailed.
Obviously highly centralized govern
ment can conduct war more enectiVe-
" than can a government like that or
ours. But shall we on that account
depart from our national traditions or
constitutional liberty and cast behind
us the fundamental principles Of our
federal system? Is the mere possibility
of war to create q constraining neces-
sity for abandoning our noblest con-
captions of freedom and embracing the
tyranny of a semi-socialistic system?
Nay verify. Let us put away this Sc
ductive temptation with, the utmost
energy. Let US resolve to remain free
people at any cost.
surely free men can find some bet
ter way than self-enslavement for de-
Tending themselves against any foreign
foe whatsoever. Let no plea Of neces-
sity move us to exchange our birth
right of constitutional government for
any specious scheme of Capitalization.
It is better for our nation TO perish
than to lose its freedom.