Americus times-recorder. [volume] (Americus, Ga.) 1891-current, 1924-07-21

THE most unfortunate alliance
that the CHURCHES of Jesus Christ
ever made was in the year 1923
when they accepted the offer OF
Emperor Constantine to make
Christianity the official religion
of the Roman Empire. 1t was
from this allience that the Ro-
man Catholic hierarchy was
formed, religion political organ
ization patterned after the old
Roman Empire. For twelve hur-
dred years the hierarchy held al
most undisputed mastery of Eu-
ropes political as we'll as her re-
ligious life.
In the sixteenth century came
the Protestant Reformation when
bold leaders Luther, TwinglL
Calvin and Knox led the people
in revolt against the hierarchy.
With the reformation began the
long struggle between Catholics
and Protestants which has
held such a prominent place in
life of Europe. In this strug-
gle the persecution and crime
was not all on one side. Taking
England as q representative conn
try, we find that when a Catho-
lie was on the throne he directed
most of his energy toward the
persecution of Protestants, and
when a Protestant assembled the
throne he Immediately set TO
work prosecuting the Catholics.
From such state Of affairs the
Puritans fled to this country,
where they could worship God
according to the dictates Of their
own conscienees. After securing
this right for themselves they
next decreed that everybody else
within the bounds of their terri
tory must worship God according
to dictates of the Puritan CON
science.
Not yet having learned the
meaning of true religious liberty,
they drove Roger Williams out of
the colony because he differed
with them in his religious belief.
1t was Roger Williams who
founded at Rhode Island, the
first government on earth whose
constitution guaranteed absolute
religious liberty to everybody
within it's bounds. This principle
of religious liberty was later
fought out in Virginia, and final
" was written into the Constitu-
ton of the United States. The
American Government thus be-
come world experiment in re-
ligious liberty, and separation of
church and state. Instead OF
having Catholics come into power
to prosecute Protestants and
Protestants some into power to
persecute Catholics, The Ameri-
can doctrine is that every man
shall be given perfect freedom
in the choice of his religion and
that his religion shall not pre-
jrrdice his standing in political
affairs. This doctrine which
sounded SO new and strange at
the time when our government
was founded, is now coming to
be generally accepted by liberty
loving people throughout tic
world who have thrown off the
yoke of political oppression dur
ing the recent war.
What shall we say of the
Roman Catholic church and its
position in America? There are
a great many honest and sincere
Americans who fear the Catholic
Church, because of its form OF
government. In the Catholic
Church all authority is vested in
the hierarchy. The laymen have
nothing at all to do with the gov
eminent of the church. The
hierarchy is a body Of officials
consisting of various orders, or
ranks, each order being subordi-
nate to the order Immediately
above it. At the bottom of the
hiefrarchy are the priests, above
these the bishops, above these
the archbishops, above these the
metropolitans, above these the
patriarchs, and at the top Of the
system, GROWING all, is the SUI
preme autocrat known as The
Pope. This hierarchy is a close
corporation; it perpetuates itself.
The laity cannot put anybody
into the hierarchy. The hierarchy
reaches down and chooses whom
it will. 1t is a military machine
in the sense that the supreme VIZ
tue of Roman Catholic officials
is obedience. The machine Is
tremendously efficient and it is
because of its efficiency that NIL
lions of men are afraid of it. 1t
is a well-nigh perfect engine,
created for the exercise of cor
quering power. Men are afraid
of it because they think it might
be manipulated for political ends.
The fear that the machine may
be maniulated for political ends
is deepened by the knowledge
that it has often been so mani
pulated in Europe. In Europe
the Roman Catholic church has
been in politics for more than a
thousand years. Nobody who
knows history would dispute that.
The Roman Catholics and Bap-
fists differ more widely than any
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