The Birmingham age-herald., 1918-01-21


 in liberty bond campaigns. with your gifts to Y. NJ C. A. war funds and Red Cross work. And now there comes the income tax, bearing more heavily on many of us than any of these other calls. Every single man with a thousand dollars a year; every married man with 5000, has solemn duty and glorious privi- lege before him. Do not wait for the treasury department to seek you out. The authorities have enough to do without looking ycu up Go to them. Secure the proper forms and make your returns. We are but poor business men if we regard these taxes as lost. They are but the premiums that we are paying on the greatest insurance of all times insurance against the chaos of Russia; against the torture that Armenia has known; against the outrage of Belgium and the shame Of northern France Think on these things, and then remember that every dollar you pay at this time into the treasury of these United States places arother barrier between your loved ones and such unspeakable horrors as these. And so at the request of the government, and in the name of the government and of all that is clean and free in life, let every American whose income is not ex- empt, act now and write his name on the records of the nation as one who is willing and glad to pay the price of lib- erty and of honor
 Loyalty. Loyalty to the government. While I have been speaking of these things it has been hard for me to re- member always that I was speaking of loyalty to the government. l coulG not help but visualize as I went along some of the forms of disloyalty that are eat ing at the foundations of church life to- day, because in these two distinct spheres of human endeavor the sin of disloyalty is the same, and finds expression in pre- cisely the same way. One almost never finds open rebellion in the church any more than we do in the nation; but we do fiHd that same old spirit or crtti- cisrl continually al work, forever trying to undermine the organization that the church's appointed leaders have estab- lished.
 RUNNING A CHURCH
 I do not know whether it is harder to run a government than it is to run church or not, for I have never tried to run a government. but I do know that 1t is impossible to run either one to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. know Gin a government that what pleases the democrats Is the republicans poison; that what makes the capitalist turn anarchist almost is as balm to the laboring mans soul. And yet. this fact impresses me more and more and makes me think that after all running the gov ernment is the easier task; this fact im- presses me: that no matter how badly the republican may feel, nor how bitter the capitalists hatred may be, the nation law has authority behind it that compeis obedience and demands the outward form of loyalty no matter what the state of the heart may be. In the church, we have no such authority. Those who gos- sip and slander are beyond punishment Those who undermine the influence of the church's leaders with secret criticism. whispered comment that dares not lift its ugly head into the light of day may be damning their own souls and leading others away from the comfort and hope that the church alone can give, and yet there is no penalty for them this side of the judgment seat of God!
 Disloyalty to the government (we have seem does not consist necessarily of leaving the Jurisdiction of the govern ment. That would be the best thing that could happen from the governments g point of view Disloyalty that ended that way would be a blessing. The dis loyalty hat hurts the government most is that which poses as loyalty, and yet thwarts the governments every endeav- or, condemn1 the. governments every policy. points the finger of suspicion at the governments every program and gen. eralIy gives itself to undermining the government in the confidence and esteem of other men. That is treason which deserves and will one of these days re- ceive the firing squad and prison wall.
 DISLOYALTY THAT HURTS
 And what is true of the government is true of the church as well. Disloyalty to the church does not consist of leaving the church. That would be the best thing that could happen from the church's point of view. Disloyalty that ended that way would be blessing. The disloyalty that hurts the church the most is that which, posing as loyalty, endeav- ors to block the church's endeavor; is that which Is quick to condemn the church's declared policies: is that which gives itself to the praiseworthy task of undermining the church's officers and leaders in the confidence and esteem with which other men and women regard them. This is nothing more nor less than treason to the church. Of course, it is not so regarded by those involved. and yet it must be Judged, and named, not by the good intentions whence the criticism springs. but by the evil which such crit cism invariably works. It results in severed friendships. It gives the lie to the love and fellowship for which the church claims to stand. It creeps like poisonous gas along the battlefront, through the rank and file of the armies of the living God. and does more harm in month among the people of a par ish than the minister can repair in a lifetime.
 Now the government can cope with this form of disloyalty. The authorities and ministers of the church cannot It must run its course until the bitter hearts hara nsed I'D all their hitterness If