Article July 12, 1913 Issue

UNIQUE MISSION OF THE MONITOR

AGNES M. BISHOP.

Referring to the establishment of The Christian Science Journal in 1883, Mrs. Eddy says: "It is not alone the mission of Christian Science to heal the sick, but to destroy sin in mortal thought. This work well done will elevate and purify the race" (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 4). On page 7 in the same article she says: "Looking over the newspapers of the day, one naturally reflects that it is dangerous to live, so loaded with disease seems the very air. ... A periodical of our own will counteract to some extent this public nuisance."

To present the merits of the Monitor in a manner that shall enlist the interest not only of the Christian Scientist but of the whole world, we must ourselves first come to an appreciation of it from the broad outlook of our Leader's standpoint. Her prophetic vision saw that a change of great magnitude must take place in human thought before mankind at large would be ready for the spiritual teachings of Christian Science. Though we today have reason to rejoice at the great growth of our cause, the number who are as yet consciously influenced by Christian Science is relatively small, and when our daily paper is more generally circulated, it will care for the unprepared thought by lifting human thinking up to that plane upon which it may become receptive to a higher understanding of man's destiny.

There is no agency of thought which today reaches the multitude as surely and with the same influence as the daily newspaper. That this influence has not always been used in the interest of the good of mankind cannot be gainsaid. That it is sometimes used in the interest of most pernicious influences and purposes is generally acknowledged. Now the Monitor stands for the very antipode of all these influences. It is not subsidized by any financial control. It is not contaminated by any commercial interest. It is not the agency of any ecclesiastical despotism. It is not fettered by political ambition. It is not a publicity bureau for the criminal nor a press agency for the pugilist. Neither does it mercilessly hound the wrong-doer until he may be goaded to greater crimes. It does not measure its news by the standard of the counting-room nor by the degree of human misfortune it entails. It does not disseminate in human thought pictures of crime or disease. It has no dividendproducing affiliations to be palliated by the suppression or the falsifying of news. It stands for truth and an unbiased discussion of subjects engaging the thoughtful interest of mankind. It stands for honesty in business, and accepts no advertisements which will not pass inspection on that basis. It stands for the inculcation of right thinking and right living for the individual, of integrity in social and business affairs, of peace and honorable advancement among nations. It stands for the regeneration of human thought and for the counteraction of existing forces of evil.

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