Article May 22, 1909 Issue

CIVIC DUTIES

JUDGE JOHN D. WORKS

Christian Scientists are growing so rapidly in numbers that their influence in the affairs of government should be recognized as a power for good and a support for civic righteousness. Many seem to hesitate to take an active part in public affairs and the administration of government, national, state, or municipal, a hesitation based upon the theory that our work is spiritual, therefore we should take no part in material affairs or the administration of human laws. This, however, is a mistake that may deprive Christian Scientists of much of the influence which they might and should exert for the betterment and purification of politics and official service, and for the elevation of the public conscience. Human laws are, or should be, founded upon the divine law. Their enforcement should be with a view to the reformation of the criminal, the guardianship of the morals of the people, and the attainment of justice among men. The laws of a country may be just, equitable, and humane, but their proper administration and enforcement depend upon the election to public office of just, upright, and humane men. If this is not done, just laws in themselves amount to but little.

One of the greatest and most sacred duties of the electors of a country is the faithful and intelligent exercise of the elective franchise. In this country it lies at the very foundation of our free institutions, by which the responsibility of government is placed not upon kings or a selected few, but upon the people at large. Every man is himself a ruler, and his duty as a citizen of a country like ours is a sacred trust. This trust is shared by every Christian Scientist, and he should not, he cannot, escape it by the argument that his work is spiritual and not material. We are glad to make every exertion to improve our health, even in a physical way, and to free ourselves individually from sin and disease. This we do by the elevation and purification of thought, the overcoming of the propensity to do evil or even to think it. So we should do for the body politic. Our work for the public welfare should be for the elevation of thought in public affairs, and for civic righteousness. One of the means at hand, and of which we should make use, is the elective franchise. None but upright and trustworthy men should be elected to office. Thus only can the just enforcement of the laws making for civic virtue and righteousness, and against evil in all its forms, be secured.

Christian Scientists should not be partisans. Above all things, they should stand for righteousness and justice in public as well as in private life. When the Monitor was instituted, Mrs. Eddy was asked by the public press to make a statement of her politics. Nothing could be clearer or more succinct than her reply: "I have none, in reality, other than to help support a righteous government; to love God supremely, and my neighbor as myself" (Christian Science Sentinel, Nov. 7, 1908).

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