It is well stated in the Constitution of the State of Illinois that "A frequent recurrence to the fundamental principles of civil government is absolutely necessary to preserve the blessings of liberty." Recent events have shown Christian Scientists that this admonition may well be heeded at this time, since it would appear that some people in our country deem it desirable so to regulate Christian Science by law as to prohibit its practice as a means of healing. The consideration, in a general way, of some of the fundamental principles of our government which bear on the question of the right of the State to interfere with the practice of Christian Science, will be undertaken, but no attempt will be made to review the decisions of the different courts bearing on the question. The consideration of the subject involves the limitations of what is called the police power of the State, in other words, the extent to which the legislative branch of our State governments can go in passing laws to regulate the affairs of the citizen. This calls into prominence the very foundations of our national life. A short statement, therefore, of some of the well-known facts which led up to the creation of our government and some of the purposes of its creation is necessary.
The Pilgrim Fathers and early settlers came to this continent and founded colonies, because, among other reasons, they here sought release from oppressive laws which enforced upon them duties and observances in religious and political matters which were intolerable to a liberty-loving people, a people who thought they had been endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, and who thought that no government, because it had the power, could rightfully force its ideas upon them in matters where they were competent to decide for themselves, and which it is now conceded every man should decide for himself.
These colonies were not the children of a loving parent. In fact, of the original thirteen States, Georgia, alone, received aid from the Mother Country. "The others were permitted, not established, oppressed indeed, rather than encouraged." And yet they were the offspring of the most liberal government then in existence, a government where individual freedom had greater sway at that time than in any other nation in the world. It might seem strange, therefore, that the exodus should have been from this nation, were it not remembered that the reason the British government granted the freedom it did, was because the people, on account of their inherent love of liberty, demanded it, and when it was not granted with the rapidity desired, they naturally sought it elsewhere.
