The Bible Speaks to You June 6, 1970 Issue

[The above is an abbreviated, postproduction text of the program released for broadcast the week of May 29-June 4 in the radio series, "The Bible Speaks to You." Heard internationally over more than 1,000 stations, the weekly programs are prepared and produced by the Christian Science Committee on Publication, Christian Science Center, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. 02115.]

RADIO PROGRAM NO. 426 - What You Can Do About Exploitation

with contributions from H. Dickinson Rathbun, Marni Politte

[The participants are H. Dickinson Rathbun and Marni Politte.]

Politte: People want to be treated fairly, but too often they can feel exploited, taken advantage of, manipulated, or mistreated. And when this happens, they feel resentful. These situations come up in many ways. A housewife may feel her children are expecting too much of her. A worker may feel he is required to do more than his fair share.
Rathbun: I can see how a situation like you describe could come into anybody's experience. Everybody at one time or another feels he has been mistreated in some measure. But we don't have to remain resentful or exploited. There is something we can do.

Resentment is self-defeating and destructive. It makes us become part of the problem rather than part of its solution. What is constructive is to consider the effect of our own thought on our relationships. This is hinted at in a Bible passage (Prov. 23:7): "As he thinketh in his heart, so is he." So if others have been treating us unfairly, viewing us as someone to be exploited, we can ask ourselves what our own view of ourselves is. A lack of genuine respect for ourselves may cause others to treat us without respect. There is something constructive we can do to remedy the situation. We can look deeper into our true nature to see ourselves as something other than the victim of exploitation.
Politte: So the solution has to begin with looking at ourselves? That is not an easy point of view for somebody who is in the process of being mistreated and feels resentful.

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