Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-04-18
The Present /.
Political Situation
OF North Dakota
anA n G lesson in Sociology.
Nv vincent Wehrle, Bishop Of
Bismarck)

Z HEsTf 'rat GNF--4tfe. 'IE II o. 44E9'
Mani a social being, that means.
he cannot come into existence and
cannot develop his faculties.o attain
his destiny without being alIhember
~ .oriefv ~ @ -. & gl
There are three societies founded
nv the order of nature, namely, the
family; the civil society or state and
the religious society. -
/ The family is founded upon the
natural order insofar as the human
race cannot be propagatsd inta way
consistent with human dignity with
existing through. the family. The
same must be said in regard to the
bringing up of. children. .: y
The civil. society or state is founded
upon the natural order insofar as
large numbers Of families find( 1T ne
c~essarysin the interest of their tenn
poral welfare to! form larger. and
more extensive societies, Whose pur-
nose is the temporal welfare Of theseS
families.
The religious society is founded up
on the natural order in so faraas men
have by their very nature asknowl-
edge that they must serve God; their
Creator. and a presentiment' Ofsand a
desire for the eternal happiness in
God after this earthly life This
common natural knowledge and In
terest leads them also naturally to
common acts of worship and makes
them unite in, religious societies. "
Every society consists of persons,
united by a moral bond, and guided by
some authority. The purpose"of the
society may be called its moral. bond;
this purpose is always a common
good; for nan is naturaH so consti-
tuted that he cannot act unless he has
a good, real or imaginary: for his
motive. A, community or society OF
men must therefore, have a common
good for it's motive.
No society can exist without some
authority as it's head; the .artnorlty
must have the right and the.power
to enforce such regulationsSas are
necessary for the welfare of h So
ciety. Where a society is absolutely
built upon the will or consent of the
members, the authority may also re-
ceive all it's power inc right from the
members alone; in such case the
members 2. have the right to dissolve
the! society according to their own.
pleasure. But it is quite different
with societies founded upon natural
law; it can never be abolished; men
may change the form of a civil gov
ernt; but a civil government er state
they must have. From this fact it,
follows that Almighty God, the Gre
ator of man and, therefore, also of the
civil society or state, is the supreme
fountain and source of the authority
that must necessarily exist in. and
rule the civil society Of state. When
the Apostle says: Let every soul be
1 subject to higher powers; for there is
no power but from God; and those
| that ora ara nrSoirn1 IF Cn6p Rom
49,. L.. he simply declares a fact Of
the natural law and a duty thatrcomes
from the natural law. -,
In the just pride of our own repub-
lican institutions we are much ,inclin-
ed. to dwell so much upon the fact
that u authorities are responsible
to the people that we often lose sight
of the fact that they are responsible
to God, and that in obeying them, we
obey God, Even Kant who had K
tremely little religion realized that
no state can exist unless it be built
upon the moral order This he says:
THE state is essentially an ethic So
ciety. rooted and grounded FFin the
moral low; should this moral law
cease. all worth of human life on
earth would too" 80.
Tie lesson which the Catholic
church has drawn from these truths.
. Ieiccly gwen Ill tHe Tire Wn1Cn
Gregory the Great n every pope
after him has chosen for himself:
"Servus vor Del. servant, Of the
servants of Cod" Every official in
church and state who makes this
motto the leading principle Of his ad-
ministration and constantly acts ac-
cordingly, will truly work for the
common good, and will always have a
high respect and a loving interest in
every person under his authority;
and the people who see in their officials
truly the servants of the servants of
God, will obey lovingly, cheerfully
and trustfully. %%
How different when Gods rights
are denied in politics. and when off,
Gals attend to their duty without any
thought of Almighty, God and, with
gu n fear of His coming Judgment.
How unreliable is the obedience EN-
dered to the authorities when the
people at large have lost the knowl-
edge of their responsibility to God
Tor their political actions.
r. (TO Be Continued ::