Candidate's Beliefs Do Matter

Beliefs of The Democratic Candidate in '08'
as observed by Torrey H. Brinkley

ON HARD WORK VS. LAZINESS
"In this country, more than anywhere else in the world, we appreciate the dignity of labor & understand that it is honorable to serve. And yet there is room for improvement, for all over over land there are scattered here & there, young men & young women--and even parents--who still think it is more respectable for a young man to spend in idleness the money someone else has earned than to be himself a producer of wealth. ....We must put the badge of disgrace on the idle person." (p. 201)

AS TO GOOD FORTUNE VS. INFLUENTIAL FRIENDS
"I have been a child of fortune from my birth. God gave me into the keeping of a Christian father and a Christian mother. They implanted in my heart the ideals that have guided my life. When I was in law school, I was fortunate enough to fall under the influence of men of ideals who helped shape my course. I have been abundantly rewarded for what little I have been able to do, and my ambition is not so much to hold any office, however great, as it is to know my duty and to do it, whether in public life or as a private citizen." (p. 167).

THE IMPORTANCE OF OUR FREEDOMS
"The Statue of Liberty was the gracious gift of a sister republic & stands upon a pedestal which was built by the American people. That figure --Liberty enlightening the world-- is emblematic of the mission of our nation among the nations of the earth. With a government, which derives its powers from the consent of the governed, secures to all the people freedom of conscience, freedom of thought and freedom of speech, guarantees equal rights to all, and promises special privileges to none, the United States should be an example in all that is good,and the leading spirit in every movement which has for its object the upifting of the human race." (p. 114)

CHOOSING BETWEEN WAR & PEACE
"Nation after nation, when at the zenith of its power, has proclaimed itself invincible because its army could shake the earth with its tread, and its ships could fill the seas, but these nations are dead, and we must build upon a different foundation if we would avoid their fate.
"I appeal to you to make your views known to the President, that he may be strengthened against the insolent clamour of those who ridicule peaceful methods, and, as if infuriated by the scent of blood, are bellowing for war. "I trust that a life devoted to the public, and overflowing, like a spring, with good, exerts an influence upon the human race & upon the destiny of the world as great as any death in war." (pp. 300, 302, 304)

CHOOSING THE RIGHT BEVERAGE
"All hail to the drink of drinks--to water, the daily need of every living thing."Men cannot afford to be drinking alcohol, for financial and physical reasons. The physical discomfort fails to compensate for any possible pleasure. Again, men owe to their progeny life without any inherited weakness, and lastly, 'man is his brother's keeper', and he is morally wrong in drinking alcohol, for the example it sets the weak." (pp. 314-315)

WHAT IS THE AUTHORITY FOR RIGHT DECISIONS?
"The attack being made right now upon those who stand squarely for the Christian faith of their fathers is not an attack on orthodoxy. It is an attack on religion. If you put the hypothesis of science above the Word of God, I don't expect you to tolerate me."The Bible is the Word of God, and the Bible is the only expression of man's hope of salvation. The Bible, the record of the son of God, the Saviour of the world, born of the Virgin Mary, crucified & risen again, that Bible is not going to be driven out of this court by experts who come in to testify that they can reconcile evolution with its ancestors in the jungle, with man made by God in His image & put here for purposes as a part of the Divine plan." (pp. 348, 361)

.........Yes, these were the thoughts of the Democratic Presidential Candidate who came to Denver, Colorado in 1908. Excerpts were from the biography written by Genevieve and John Herrick in 1925 "The Life of William Jennings Bryan".