Editorial February 17, 1912 Issue

THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL

Archibald McLellan

As a basis in explanation of the efforts put forth each year to obtain legislation which will prohibit the practice of Christian Science, the proponents of such legislation usually try to show two things, first, that Christian Science does not heal; and second, that it is a menace, because, as they allege, Christian Scientists do not obey the laws in regard to the reporting of so-called contagious diseases. The persistence with which the first of these charges is preferred is unexplainable in view of the fact that it has been and is so easily disproved. Such a claim was perhaps excusable twenty-five years ago, but scarcely so today, when it is so well known that a very large proportion of the unnumbered thousands of the adherents of Christian Science continue to practise its tenets because they have been benefited by this healing truth; many of them, indeed, after years of fruitless doctoring, and not a few after they had been pronounced incurable by their physicians and given but a brief span of existence. Helpless and hopeless, from the standpoint of materia medica, these despairing ones turned as a last resort to Christian Science, there to find new life and hope, surcease from mental and physical ills; and these witnesses to the efficacy of Christian Science healing can be found in every community.

As to the second charge, that the practice of Christian Science is a menace to the community at large, because its adherents disregard the rules and regulations of the boards of health, we have no hesitation in saying that it consists entirely of allegation which has not been substantiated by proof. If it were true—and to claim that it is means the setting at naught of the testimony of multitudes of reputable witnesses whom Christian Science has restored to health and happiness—the courts would have been kept very busy trying and sentencing Christian Scientists who it is so freely alleged break these laws; but if there have been any such trials and convictions, they have not been reported in the newspapers of the country. Such cases as do occasionally find their way into the newspapers are largely of the kind recently reported in St. Louis. In this instance a Christian Scientist was called to see a man who claimed to be sick. She was then arrested, searched, and otherwise treated as a criminal. On learning that the alleged sick man was merely acting under orders from the health officer, and that the whole case was but a trick, the state's attorney refused to prosecute. It is scarcely conceivable that such a travesty of law and justice, such elaborate trickery, would have been resorted to if genuine violations of law could be found.

This second charge likewise seems unnecessary and uncalled for, in view of the fact that wherever Christian Science is established, fair-minded and unprejudiced members of the community openly admit that Christian Scientists are to be classed as respected and law-abiding citizens. It is but common justice to the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science to say right here that Christian Scientists have deservedly obtained the reputation of being law-abiding because of their endeavors always to govern themselves in accordance with the advice and encouragement to right doing which Mrs. Eddy both taught and practised. In The Christian Science Journal (Vol. XIX, p. 3) she writes: "I believe in obeying the laws of the land. I practise and teach this obedience, since justice is the moral signification of law." She also wrote in the Sentinel (Vol. III. p. 392): "On the subject of reporting contagion I have this to say: I have always believed that Christian Scientists should be law-abiding.... Rather than quarrel over vaccination, I recommend that if the law demand an individual to submit to this process, he obey the law; and then appeal to the gospel to save him from any bad results."

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