登陆注册
5406800000178

第178章 GLADSTONE ON CHURCH AND STATE(4)

Mr.Gladstone conceives that the duties of governments are paternal; a doctrine which we shall not believe till he can show us some government which loves its subjects as a father loves a child, and which is as superior in intelligence to its subjects as a father is to a child.He tells us in lofty though somewhat indistinct language, that "Government occupies in moral the place of to pan in physical science." If government be indeed to pan in moral science, we do not understand why rulers should not assume all the functions which Plato assigned to them.Why should they not take away the child from the mother, select the nurse, regulate the school, overlook the playground, fix the hours of labour and of recreation, prescribe what ballads shall be sung, what tunes shall be played, what books shall be read, what physic shall be swallowed? Why should not they choose our wives, limit our expenses, and stint us to a certain number of dishes of meat, of glasses of wine, and of cups of tea? Plato, whose hardihood in speculation was perhaps more wonderful than any other peculiarity of his extraordinary mind, and who shrank from nothing to which his principles led, went this whole length.Mr.Gladstone is not so intrepid.He contents himself with laying down this proposition, that whatever be the body which in any community is employed to protect the persons and property of men, that body ought also, in its corporate capacity, to profess a religion, to employ its power for the propagation of that religion, and to require conformity to that religion, as an indispensable qualification for all civil office.He distinctly declares that he does not in this proposition confine his view to orthodox governments or even to Christian governments.The circumstance that a religion is false does not, he tells us, diminish the obligation of governors, as such, to uphold it.If they neglect to do so, "we cannot," he says, "but regard the fact as aggravating the case of the holders of such creed." "I do not scruple to affirm," he adds, "that if a Mahometan conscientiously believes his religion to come from God, and to teach divine truth, he must believe that truth to be beneficial, and beneficial beyond all other things to the soul of man; and he must therefore, and ought to desire its extension, and to use for its extension all proper and legitimate means; and that, if such Mahometan be a prince, he ought to count among those means the application of whatever influence or funds he may lawfully have at his disposal for such purposes."Surely this is a hard saying.Before we admit that the Emperor Julian, in employing the influence and the funds at his disposal for the extinction of Christianity, was doing no more than his duty, before we admit that the Arian Theodoric would have committed a crime if he had suffered a single believer in the divinity of Christ to hold any civil employment in Italy, before we admit that the Dutch Government is bound to exclude from office all members of the Church of England, the King of Bavaria to exclude from office all Protestants, the Great Turk to exclude from office all Christians, the King of Ava to exclude from office all who hold the unity of God, we think ourselves entitled to demand very full and accurate demonstration.When the consequences of a doctrine are so startling, we may well require that its foundations shall be very solid.

The following paragraph is a specimen of the arguments by which Mr.Gladstone has, as he conceives, established his great fundamental proposition:

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 梦幻西游之冰霜九州

    梦幻西游之冰霜九州

    被雷劈了,醒来发现到了梦幻西游的世界,然后莫名出了系统,一路打怪升级,泡妞装逼,西天取经吗?不,送精
  • 鬼胎山

    鬼胎山

    我叫钟石,是个外科医生。出了基地轮转后,我跟着老板去了漳州支医。去的时候刚好赶上夏季疫病高发期,县级卫生站要打发一个人再下基层,带着医疗队去村子里驻扎下来打疫苗。老板是不可能去的,这个活自然就落到我身上。第二天我就打包行李,出发去了林区里面的一个叫崔阳村的地方。崔阳村这一块,大部分的村落都算是重度贫困落后地区,不说网络信号、抽水马桶或者供电,光是饮水的安全都没法保证。我带着一个医疗队,共五个人,全都是男的,姑娘去不了这种地方。火车换小火车,小火车换大巴,大巴换电三轮,最后步行了三个小时才到。
  • 不如眠去梦中看

    不如眠去梦中看

    三十天四场手术九死一生,白槿湖病愈复出的首本作品,饱含温情,煽人泪下。“与世无争与己争,再多颓废,终将成为一个美好的存在。”生与死是每个人都无法忽视的话题,也是能叩击人内心柔软深处的话题,2016年的一场突如其来的恶疾,让作者以前所未有的勇敢战胜病魔,并记录下病房中的点点滴滴,用亲身经历打动了所有的人。
  • 回眸一笑

    回眸一笑

    八月中旬的雪域,夜雨绵绵,让清晨的山巅云雾缭绕。柏油路上车来车往,其中两辆手扶拖拉机“嗒嗒嗒”的轰鸣声响彻了整个大地。前一辆拖拉机车斗里装着崭新的家具,被一条长绳牢牢固定。驾车人是个五十岁左右的中年男人,身穿一件黑夹克,头戴一顶黑礼帽。他专心驾驶,睁着大眼,流露出一种自信与傲慢。紧跟其后的是他的大儿子,开着另一辆手扶拖拉机。车斗里堆放着被褥、草垫及锅碗瓢盆等,还有一个牛粪炉子。车斗的草垫上坐着两人,一位是四十五岁左右的妇女,是那中年男人的妻子,身穿暗褐色藏袍,头发挽成圆髻,饱满的圆脸上露着幸福的笑容,不时回头看看身后的小儿子尼玛。
  • 涅槃经游意

    涅槃经游意

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 网游之元星大陆

    网游之元星大陆

    华历2150年,一款全新的虚拟现实游戏《元星大陆》突然降临,而主角郭云卿的人生也在此刻发生了改变,让我们一起来看郭云卿在游戏中怎么引领风骚,走上人生巅峰,迎娶白富美
  • 超级星空领主

    超级星空领主

    星域世界降临,全球人类纷纷进入试炼。领主成为主流,村级,镇级,城级领地……重回降临前一刻,林潇把握住每一个机缘,凭借先知先觉,占尽先机。他誓要带领领民,将星空万族踏于脚下,成为超级星空领主。 群:862712246。
  • 单亲妈崛起

    单亲妈崛起

    每个家庭都会遇到不一样的烦恼,不一样的经历活出了不一样人生剧透:1.“我真的很爱你,一直都没超过,求求你不要丢了我好不好,女儿才1岁,她才1岁”杨平平啦住李天的手不停地哭诉和哀求“我已经说的很清楚了,即使现在不离,以后也会离”李天决绝的甩开了那只瘦弱无骨的手。2.“妈妈,不哭,我不要爸爸了”优优拿起小手,轻轻的给杨平平擦去眼角的泪水“优优怪,妈妈爱你”3.“对不起,对不起,我知道现在不管我说什么你都不会原谅我……”“你走吧,优优不想见你,我也不想”
  • 桥

    弋舟,1972年生,青年新锐作家。有长中短篇小说200余万字,见于《作家》《花城》《人民文学》《天涯》《青年文学》《上海文学》《大家》《中国作家》《山花》等文学刊物。著有长篇小说若干。
  • 公安局长杀人案

    公安局长杀人案

    省公安厅长罗长征这天刚刚起床,就接到一个打进他家里的电话。对方告诉他:昨晚十一点钟,泯江市公安局长黄河因开枪打死了刑侦大队长李连同而被逮捕了!罗厅长听说后竟然有四秒钟没有开腔。当他回过神来问对方究竟是咋个回事时,对方却挂断了电话。他忙拿过座机看上面的来电显示,发现区号是泯江市的,电话号码却很陌生。他马上用手机拨通公安厅技监处的王智华处长,请他马上查证这个电话号码。然后他拨打泯江市公安局长黄河的手机,却被告知户主已经关机。罗厅长又拨打泯江市公安局的值班电话,电话竟没有人接。