ONE man has at last appeared who favors the union of church and state in the United States, and who at the same time has the honesty to say so. He at the same time has the ability to discern, and the honesty to say, that the union of religion and the state is the union of church and state.
This open-minded man is Rev. Dr. Charles M. Lamson, the president of the American Board of Foreign Missions. In the reception and dinner of the Chicago Congregational Club, in Chicago, Monday night, January 17, 1898. Dr. Lamson spoke on “New-Englandism,” in the report of which we find the following:—
“Another tendency is toward the union of church and state, or, better, of religion and state. Congregationalism is democracy. It is an inherent part of all true republicanism. The church has a great opportunity to assert its love for the land and to become patriotic. The time is coming when we shall place the obligations of citizenship in the forefront of our principles and inculcate the on all sides in the church work.”
Another point in this to his credit, and to which we call the attention of the Christian Citizen is, that Dr. Lamson recognizes, and openly says, that the union of religion and citizenship is the union of religion and the state, which is the union of church and state.
That one such man is found, is a distinct gain. If there were about one or two thousand more such, the situation would be greatly relieved. We sincerely wish that every one of those who are so diligently working for the union of church and state in the United States would by some means get the courage to say so. Nothing is ever gained by trying to get one thing under pretense of something else.
A. T. J.