In our religion we find no law requiring uniformity of thought. Think
the same things. Be of the same opinion. These and like statements are
no part of our religion. Faith and opinion are not the same. All
Christians have one faith, "the faith of Christ." "Be of the same mind
and of the same judgment." "Speak the same things." These are to be
taken in their proper relations. The made up judgment is the result of
faith in the judgment of Christ. "I judge nothing by myself; he that
judgeth me is the Lord." The one great mind enjoined is the result of
thought upon the one great subject of the life of Christ, which is given
as the light of men. These imperatives are summed up in the beautiful
expression, "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus."
Uniformity of thoughts or opinions is a very different thing. A man
would be considered worse than a knave who would throw chains around the
human intellect, so as to put an end to progress in thought; it would be
the stagnation of all in which we are most interested. Christians are
not to be charged with any such wickedness, for they are using all their
powers to produce thought; money and talent are freely bestowed in many
ways to get men to think, and then decide, not in reference to opinions
but facts; not in reference to things which are matters of opinion only,
but of the living object of faith, Christ and Christian duty. There is
no system of things in which investigation, liberty of thought and
action, upon all matters of interest to our humanity, both as respects
this world and the world to come, is more encouraged and insisted upon.
Wicked and unholy thoughts only are prohibited.
Who would paint every flower of the same hue? Who would trim all the
trees of the forest into one and the same shape? Or, who is so foolish
as to want all faces cast into one mould? Who would chain human thought
or mould the opinions of men so that they should not only be one in
Christ, the greatest living fact in history, but one in every other
being known in the world's history--one in opinions? The freeist thing
in the universe is thought. The liberties of thought are charter
liberties from the King of Kings. The spirit of man is free in its
normal state. You can not chain it in slavery against its will. No. It
knows no servitude but the voluntary. But, then, its wanderings are
many. In the field of search after beauty, rectitude and truth, many
minds may come into collision. But greater evils would result from
chaining them all to one spot, and thus ending progress in many things
of interest lying in the realm of thought. Of all the varieties known
among men those of thought are the most sublime and useful.
This variety causes the investigation of every interest; it brings every
truth and every error to the surface.
Men have made many attempts to check the onward march of intellect. But
every attempt in that direction is marked by some great dread. Men are
not anxious to put on the brakes unless they are in fear of being
wrecked. Nothing is more dangerous in any government than perfect
indifference to public interests. Men in places of public trust always
need watching. Irresponsible power, it is said, would corrupt an
archangel, and is, doubtless, unknown among the inhabitants of the
better land. Among men there is great liability. Every political
candidate has his accusations, his promises, and scheme, with which he
confronts his rival and agitates the minds of the people. So we have
been saved from that stagnation of thought which has retarded progress
among other nations. Many men, seeking office, have been wise enough to
see the danger to their interests of an expose of corruption. So they
have been perfectly willing that mechanics, artisans and farmers should
investigate and expose to public view all the questions of interest
belonging to our government, but good Christians, "and especially
preachers, entering the field of political investigation, at once
forfeit their right to the crown of life.(?)"
But just how it is that lawyers, doctors and politicians will all reach
heaven in spite of political action, and preachers will sink to
perdition on account of the same, is a problem among problems that has
never yet been satisfactorily solved. Are we to conclude that such men
as Generals Hancock and Garfield, along with a great many more, had, and
have, no religion to be disturbed? Or is there a double portion of
sacrifice, the sacrifice of principle and liberty, demanded at the hands
of ministers of the Gospel of Christ? How is this? We are anxious to
know. Are the politicians of the country the voluntary scapegoats of the
nation, who risk their own salvation for political toil, which, from its
character, would, according to a very common opinion, kill out the
religion of all the saints in America? Surely we ought to feel grateful
to the political sinners who so willingly take all the risk of being
shut out of Paradise that they may have the exclusive right of
controlling the offices of the government. They seem to say to us
Christians, Hear us, ye hard-thinking toilers and aspirants to the
realms of bliss while we proclaim to you the perils of our position; we
warn you against the crime of accustoming yourselves to the
investigation of the political and civil interests of the day, and let
not your devout meditations be disturbed by secular pursuits. Read your
Bibles and other pious books; attend to all your prayer meetings and all
your philanthropic societies.
What is the object of all this pious policy? Is it to keep the national
mind as far as possible in a state of political stagnation, or,
otherwise, to ostracise politically the preachers of the land with
reference to party success? How is this? Are the preachers of the United
States a dangerous element in our land? If they are, then the fewer we
have of them the better we are off. Do any but infidels take that view
of the subject? It correllates with infidelity, but not with
Christianity.