The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1945-09-07
LOOKING
AHE4D
" GEORGE S. BENSON
\ presiaexf--Hardixg college
Sfarsy. ArkaxsGs
Freedom

Individual liberty is one of the
teachings of Jesus. It goes hand-in-
hand with personal responsibility.
How can man be held responsible
for his acts unless he is free to de-
termine how he shall act? The un-
derstanding that certain rights are
everybody's rights, and that no man
can rightly deprive another man of
them, is an idea for which the world
is indebted to Christianity.
Compulsion in religion is older
than history. Every nations lore is
colored with tales of forced worship.
In fact, the history Of Christianity
is marred with shameful record
of coercion. Just the same, obedi-
ence to Christ is voluntary or it is
not obedience at all, and (being an
everyday thing) Christianity lives
and grows best in surroundings of
personal liberty.
A Moral Duty
Opposing dictatorship, resisting
infringement by few upon the lib
critics of many, is reverent act OF
fidelity to the source of all freedom.
No government is perfect; no eco
nomic system is perfect. For that
matter, no church is perfect. All
are subject, more or less, to lead
ership by imperfect people. Never
theless some principles are right
and worthy of vigorous defense.
Harry Emerson Fosdick said,
"One of the great hours in history
struck when mankind ran into the
idea that all the people should unite
in making laws, which then all the
people should obey. Behind our
pitifully fallible experiments with
representative government stands
the Ideal, worth everything our IA
theirs gave for it and all that we can
give-the democratic state"
Goddess Laws
One-man governments traditional
ly become jealous of their subjects
loyalty to God; covetous too, per
haps, of their free-will offerings,
large or small. Rarely do totali-
tartan states begin at the church
when they start cutting off peoples
liberties. They get around to it in
the long-run, however. There are
about enough exceptions on record
to prove the rule.
Dictators usually start their tres
passes on freedom by presuming to
say who shall engage in trade. 1t
is the natural way to commence.
Never do they find a large class
in commercial pursuits, so they can
begin grabbing power without antag-
onizing a majority. The next big
strategy is to dominate the news.
BY this method a dictator can make
his people think what he pleases.
Step at a Time
With buying and selling pinched
under governments heel, one emer-
gency follows another, accidentally
or by design; either way serves the
purpose. Consumers, the class most
hurt by government in business, new
er learn the truth if press and radio
are under control. Selfish rulers
snatch away comforts and dole out
confusion and suspicion, the chains
of serfdom.
Traditionally tyrants work this
way; it has happened all along
through history. After business is
confscated and the news agencies
seized, the people are poisoned with
malice, and malice destroys living
souls. Americans who value their re-
ligious liberty have no choice but to
defend representative government,
free enterprise, free speech and free
press. They can fight on the front
line and win, or wait to fight in the
last trench and lose.