Article December 29, 1917 Issue

Individuals unite in their efforts to protect their civic and...

The Christian Science Monitor

Individuals unite in their efforts to protect their civic and religious rights, and these efforts result in governments of state and church. According to the ideals entertained will the quality of the governments be, for the latter can rise no higher than the understanding of the individuals who form them. True government expresses Principle, but if a concept of God is entertained which is incompatible with Principle, the quality of government will straightway be lowered. Mrs. Eddy has pointed this out unmistakably on page 94 of Science and Health: "The eastern empires and nations owe their false government to the misconceptions of Deity there prevalent. Tyranny, intolerance, and bloodshed, wherever found, arise from the belief that the infinite is formed after the pattern of mortal personality, passion, and impulse."

How can the consecrated Christian Scientist best support his government? Is it not true that he must do this by upholding constantly the right idea of government in thought and deed? To protect the weak, to correct public mistakes, to instruct the citizen in ways of helpfulness, to safeguard religious liberty and the right of all men to choose the method of healing in which they have confidence, to insure justice, and to beautify existence,—these are some of the duties and privileges of good government. As humanity grows more honest and learns the lesson of unselfish cooperation, government is enabled to develop further activities, but it must ever repose upon the one cause, upon God, as its sure foundation. Therefore, the study of the nature of God elucidates the basis of true government and makes obedience scientific and gratitude natural. In proportion as men gain a clearer understanding of God, they can pray for their own countries under arms without wishing evil to enemy countries, and their prayers can produce repentance where it is needed and alertness where mesmerism has induced sleep.

Mortal fears, mysticism, spiritism and spying, hypnotism and electricity used for transmitting evil messages, hasten a human government to its own destruction. The same destruction will attend the methods of persons who use their official authority to play a game of "hold up" for financial rewards, mentally blindfolding the unwary private citizen and sandbagging him with threats, to hold him at their mercy. Such criminal "hold ups," whether exercised through so-called business investments, food supplies, or public works, imperil the rights of rich and poor alike. Ignorant people are sometimes tied to individuals who bleed them of their well-earned savings by the lure of "get-richquick" schemes.

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