Askov American. [volume] (Askov, Pine County, Minn.) 1914-current, 1936-12-10
Freedom of Religion

Speech by GOV. HJALMAR PETER
SEN at Corner Stone Laying of Ar
lington Hills Lutheran Church, st
Paul, December 6, 1886.
Participating in the leying of the
corner stone of your new church
am going to take my cue from let
ter which your good pastor, the Rev
Clarence T. Nelson, wrote to me about
my being here. In the course OF this
letter your pastor remarked as fol-
lows:
whose protection we have the price
less privilege of worshipping God ac-
cording to the dictates of our con-
science. When so many nations In
the world are withdrawing that in
alienable right, we are more appre-
ciative than ever of this blood bought
prerogative.
These are wise and timely COM
ments. AS one observes the history
of progress he notes a sort OF un-
even and shifting balance between
two extreme tendencies, one toward
tyranny and the other toward anarchy
Rarely is the pendulum evenly bal,
anced between the two. Either il
swings too far toward tyranny or toe
far toward anarchy. In Germany and
i'm Russia today it is swinging too far
toward tyranny and in Spain too far
toward anarchy.
In Russia it would hardly be pos
sible today to lay the corner stone
of a new church, much less to dedi-
cate it. The Russian intellectuals
it seems, regard religion as an opiate
of the people and the BOlsheviks hOlG
that religion is mostly superstition
myth, fable, deserving of ridicule and
contempt.
OF course i'm this connection, we
must remember that the only church
turtles to the Russian people were pow.
erful, tyrannical, cruel and self-seek-
ing. For years they deliberately kept
the people in ignorance. Centuries
ago the church of Russia sowed the
wind of selfishness and greed. In this
wind
In Germany, a different sitr a ion
prevails, but the condition of the
church l understand is deplorable
The forces which brought about this
sad state of affairs for the church in
Germany are a revival of racialism
and Pan-Germanism, the rebirth of an
intense and fiery nationalism.
Under the fires of these passions
and hatreds, freedom has been eXtir-
pated in Germany. The Jews there
have been singled out to bear the
impact of this horrible fanati ism
The Jews are not the only ones to
suffer. Today there are many Chris
tians refugees from Germany who feel
that freedom there is at an end for
some time to come. They realize that
terror and propaganda are making
the church into an agency of race
hatred and horde passion
In this fair State of Minnesota and
in our happy land today we gather
to lay the corner stone of a new
church, a new Lutheran church. In
this connection it should be observed
that the Lutheran church has ever
been the alder and abetter of democ-
racy in the Northwest and wherever
the church has flourished in this
country. 1t has been so because oil
the polity of the Lutheran church
and the ideals of Martin Luther it:
founder, who labored for universal en-
lightment.
In this great fellowship, the congre
cation is the unit of church organiZa
tion, the source of all authority exer
cised by the church and the fina
court of appeal. Congregations organ
ize and combine into synods for th'
sake of conducting their work on ;
larger scale and for mutual assist
ance and oversight; but the synod
have no power except what the con
gregations confer upon them. Thu
synods are purely advisory bodies
The congregations are the centers ant
Ccllo VI POWCi dllu putty WlIHIH III
Lutheran church. These congre a
tions are parts and parcels of neigh
borhoods, they are concrete, definite
democratic units. Congregations hav
been and still are the very founda
ton stones of our democracy.
You and l are able to assemble her
this afternoon and lay the corne
stone of this new church, withOu
being refugees, and being totally fire
from mOlestation, because of two o
three great principles written into tn