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A Defense of Human Rights
The rights of persons who elect to employ Christian Science to preserve or recover their health, do not depend solely upon the constitutional guaranty of religious freedom. For, as Chief Justice Clark has said, "this is a free country, and any man has a right to be treated by any system he chooses." Whoever thinks that spiritual knowledge is more effective and reliable in case of sickness than material knowledge, has the right to act accordingly. Liberty, Mr. Justice Brewer of the United States Supreme Court says, is "simply the right to do that which one deems best, subject to the limitation that it does not interfere with the equal rights of other members of the community." (American Citizenship, p. 87.)
The fact that the practice of medicine is not an exact science, but is confessedly a mere process of experimentation, and the fact that thousands upon thousands of persons—constituting a considerable and a respectable part of the community—hold to the opinion, based on their own knowledge, observation, and experience, and the known experience of others, that Christian Science furnishes the most effective and reliable curative method,—these facts alone, not to mention the other considerations weighing with them, should dissuade the members of legislatures from attempting, by law, to deprive these citizens of their freedom of choice. Any such law, whether attempting the result directly or by indirection, must necessarily be contrary to the spirit of free institutions, and deprive citizens not only of their religious liberty but of their individual liberty as citizens of a free country.
In 1899 Governor Thomas of Colorado vetoed a bill for an act designed to suppress the practice of Christian Science. In the course of his veto message he said:—
Enjoy 1 free Sentinel article or audio program each month, including content from 1898 to today.
September 26, 1914 issue
View Issue-
A Defense of Human Rights
JUDGE CLIFFORD P. SMITH
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"They shall never perish"
HELEN ANDREWS NIXON
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Spiritual Birth
GRACE SQUIRES
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True Sympathy
HON. MRS. FRANCES PORTER
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The Dream Dispelled
WILLIAM E. BROWN
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"Strengthen thy brethren"
ELSIE E. EDWARDS
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Grateful Praise
CAROLINE H. FISKE
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There is nothing in this world for which mankind has a...
Frederick Dixon
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In the Bible we are admonished to "overcome evil with...
Judge Clifford P. Smith
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Will you allow me to say a word with regard to the...
Algernon Hervey Bathurst
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An extract from a sermon by Professor—,published...
David Anderson
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In a recent issue the announcement of a public drama contains...
George Shaw Cook
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Credo
HERBERT H. YEAMES
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No Other Cause or Effect
Archibald McLellan
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Friends and Foes
Annie M. Knott
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Our Part
John B. Willis
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Admission to Membership in The Mother Church
John V. Dittemore
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The Lectures
with contributions from LeNoir White, John A. Luce, James F. Foster, Leigh Toland
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It is with a heart full of gratitude that I endeavor to...
Nannie P. Shankland
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For several years I suffered from rheumatism and nervous...
Louis Beauverd
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In the Christian Science text-book, "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures"...
Marianne Maude Metcalf
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Words cannot express our gratitude and thankfulness for...
Lydia J. Ingalls
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About six years ago a newspaper man who was stopping...
Florence C. MacFarland
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I will try to tell what Christian Science has done for...
Rosetta Kinkade
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I am frequently asked if Christian Science has healed me...
Minnie S. Millar
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From Our Exchanges
with contributions from W. E. Orchard, Cleland B. McAfee, John Thomas, Robert Bakewell-Green