(Editor’s note: This article was originally on the Libertynet website.)
FATHER DIVINE
Speaking of politics and politicians and HIS participation with them, FATHER has said:
‘They have striven to keep the CHRIST completely out of politics, telling you GOD and religious people would not be in politics in the corruptibleness of the politicians and the wickedness of the wicked; HE would not function in their expression but HE came among them to convert them. For this cause I AM and have as much right in politics as I have in the church, and really, I have more right in politics than I have in the church. As politics elects officials to rule the people, GOD must be in it, as GOD must rule them. If GOD does not rule them, you are ruined.
‘Righteousness, justice and Truth among the politicians must be legalized. Non-partisanism is the great expression through which GOD can express. Even though you be of a special party, as I said the other evening, your only hope of expressing Truth, Righteousness and Justice, is to have non- partisan ideas and opinions-the same as a family. You may be of one family but you are not qualified to be an official elected by the people to serve the people unselfishly unless you leave that idea of your immediate family and serve all humanity.’
The followers of FATHER DIVINE belong to no one party or organization, though they may cooperate with many, under FATHER’S Leading, in the cause of Righteousness, Justice and Truth. They vote for the candidate who is best fitted to fill the office, regardless of his political affiliation, if they are convinced that he will deal justly, with Truth and Righteousness. If his public or private life has ever shown prejudice, bigotry or discrimination, vice, crime, or opposition to the reign of CHRIST; if his record shows tendencies of selfishness, graft, greed or political corruption, they don’t want him in office regardless of his promises.
A very efficient research department is maintained in the Righteous Government program, to gather this information and record the stand of the officials of our city, state and federal government on the various issues, and this information is available to all.
Through the Righteous Government Department’s political activities, FATHER has qualified many thousands to register and vote intelligently, who never had voted and never would have voted otherwise, and many more are being qualified now. Those who needed Citizenship papers and had no means to pay for them, FATHER has paid the fees Personally, provided they entered the country legally.
When the lower courts and the Board of Elections of New York refused the new names of the followers, FATHER carried them through the Supreme Court and had them legalized. The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the lower courts and now it is legal to register and vote in any name under which a person is known, regardless of how peculiar it may sound to the officials.
FATHER has caused millions to take a new interest in voting in the cause of Righteous Government, and though HE insists that they follow their own highest intuition as to whom they vote for, they would move as a unit at HIS slightest Command, or upon HIS endorsement of a candidate. Even without HIS Spoken Word, they are unified in the one Spirit and Mind, to vote the right man into office, and the wrong man out. This will be done anyhow, for FATHER’S Mind and Spirit have access in the hearts and minds of the masses.
For the advancement of Righteousness, Justice and Truth in the political world, we request the following:
PLANKS FOR POLITICAL SECTION
1. That all candidates, including candidates for president, be nominated entirely by the people, and that they be required to meet specified requirements, to prove their qualifications for office, not as politicians, but technical experts.
2. Immediate abandonment of the political patronage system and appointment of all Civil Service employees strictly according to their qualifications and service, and their standing on the list, without regard to party, race, creed or color, and without the intervention of political leaders.
BIGOTED OFFICIALS
Following FATHER’S Example, others of FATHER’S Movement endeavored to open licensed employment agencies and cooperate in the same work of helping the masses, but the commissioners showed every evidence of a desire to uphold and perpetrate the old system of squeezing small sums out of the poor and letting the employers go free, and they would not grant licenses. FATHER spoke in this regard as follows:
It has been distinctly understood that wheresoever there is an application put in for an employment agency, the prejudicial officials in connection with the administration are trying to keep MY co-workers or anyone who is connected with ME, from having an employment agency. It is because they know within themselves, I will cut the cost of living.
‘They know I AM here as a help for the meek and lowly. They know that I came as a swift witness against those who will oppress the widow and the fatherless, and will not come nigh ME. That is why they are trying to keep MY Connection Out of it.
‘I will put it through if I have to put them out of office! That is what I will do! Everyone who comes in opposition, everyone who will rise in an endeavor to oppose MY Endeavors, I shall put them to an open shame. Every prejudicial official who is in the commission, and connected in any way in this administration, who desires to prohibit ME from having an employment agency Personally, I shall put him out of office. There are thousands of people out of work, without food and shelter and I can see the oppressed-the widows and the orphans, the hireling in his wages-and I will bring swift judgment to the offender.’
EQUAL OPPORTUNITY FOR ALL
Unlike other plans-that have been declared economically unsound and impractical on account of the tremendous expenditures involved the Divine Plan requires nothing that is not already available. It is based on cooperation, equal opportunity, and the recognition of the Brotherhood of Man and the Fatherhood of GOD. Wealth, if it is to continue to exist and prosper in this New Day, must be continually used for the benefit of humanity, and not for selfish gains.
If all idle plants and machinery, and available lands now costing billions in taxes and upkeep, were immediately made available to the workers, they would soon become profitable, and the eleven millions now said to be unemployed in the United States would soon be employed. The Divine Plan means work, and more work, with prices of commodities reduced to a minimum.
As a sample and an example of how wealth should be used, FATHER is buying large tracts of land in one of the best parts of the State of New York and making home sites available to the people free. Speaking along this line at HIS Righteous Government Forum in New York City recently, FATHER spoke the following Words to the masses assembled:
The earth is the LORD’S and the fullness thereof, but yet HE does not claim everything Personally. . . . At the Day of Pentecost, they had all things in common, did they not?
‘I AM not asking you all to buy, neither to help ME buy a piece of property. I have purchased the property-several places-and they are all free and clear. . . . If perchance you have the means, or will have the means to build a home, the ground, the land, the lots will be given to you free of cost, and you will have your deeds for them without a string tied to them. This is an abstract expression of the idea of making all things common, claiming nothing for yourself as an individual, refusing to hoard up riches for yourselves for a selfish purpose, but give everybody a chance to enjoy some of it.’
The followers of FATHER DIVINE in every community, state, province, colony and nation, have the opportunity of becoming an example for all governments, by cooperative living and a universal pooling of all of their interests. They can become an independent unit even as these in New York City, according to the example set by FATHER’S Personal Activities. HE has made living accommodations of the best available in the world’s most expensive city, for from one to two dollars a week, bountiful meals of high quality for ten and fifteen cents, with dress shops, tailor shops, grocery stores, bus lines, boat excursions, special trains and other facilities available at similarly low prices.
Advocating equal distribution of opportunity, a chance for every man, plenty of work with good wages, prices reduced to a minimum, and all of the advantages for the masses, we are now enjoying these things and we know they can be enjoyed by all. Therefore, we request the following:
Planks For Political Section
1. That all candidates, including candidates for president, be nominated entirely by the people, and that they be required to meet specified requirements, to prove their qualifications for office, not as politicians, but technical experts.
2. Immediate abandonment of the political patronage system and appointment of all Civil Service employees strictly according to their qualifications and service, and their standing on the list, without regard to party, race, creed or color, and without the intervention of political leaders.