New Britain herald., 1928-02-27

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 convicts. It is . judge who render,
 tho verdict and 1t l. the hangmaI
 who pulls the noose-all because they happen to be agents of in. dividuals.
 There was governor in Massa. chusetts, Governor Andrews. who for 2 long. long period refused per sistently and consistently as . Chris. tian to render unto Caesar the things that are Gods. He said. I will not. so long as I am in office sign death warrant for any man. will not 50 long as I am in office give life to Caesar for no purpose. Such is true patriotism.
 And what about collective homi- eide? Wars usually begin by a group of men. There Is a poem by Alfred Moves to this effect. I can- not quote it. but it is about half a dozen men in shining coats sit around a table. and they determine that for the best interests of man. kind they ought to go into war. A | larger group of men-one hundred Congressmen - decide the same thing. Half a dozen officers carry on the war. and we are at it and into it. l say as 9 Christian or as religious man. as a patriot, can- not give that thing which belongs to God. and that is human life.
 What is another thing that be- longs to God and not to Caesar? What is the next thing to the hu- man body-and perhaps above the body-if it is not the human mind :? You remember from Genesis how God breathed his spirit into man SO that he should live. Mans mind. mans thought is the finest thing in this world: thereby We come nearer to God.
 There are three things as re- gards a human mind that belong to God and not to Caesar: One of these things is human thought. an- other Is the privilege of human speech and the third is the privilege of untrammeled assembly.
 "A good Connecticut Yankee once said Ca Hartford Yankee about whom every one knows Mark Twain) as a joke, but meant 1t quite seriously. that we have in America freedom of speech and freedom of thought, and we have in America the prudence to use neither: be- cause in America, despite a great deal of talk about freedom and liberty, the things that count the most, the things that are most im- portant are suppressed. The things that are the most important to the human mind and human linking are frowned upon.
 Ministers are cold. Human thought does not belong to God. Your place Is to talk about sex nor ality about gambling. etc., and to preach hell and damnation. to talk about the things that touch the vi- tality of our social life. say to you if ever there Is a place where human thinking ought to be un- trammeled. if ever there is king dom where human thought ought to be free. it ought to be right here in this church, in any church, in any house of worship. Human thought is holy.
 Some one said to me. Will you permit then. thought untrammeled? Will you permit, then. men to talk about the government and against the government without any restric. tion?' I say. by all means. There is only one thing against which a democracy can defend itself, and that is against injustice and un- righteousness, permitting the king dom of God to be disregarded.
 ''We are not interested in the safety of the democracy for the safety of a democracy depends upon the justice and the righteousness of that democracy. You will have revolution when there is un- righteousness, when there is no re- ligion or when religion does not count. But let these things function in your democracy and there is no