Article May 15, 1920 Issue

Political Preferment

PERCY PHILLIP VYLE

During the turmoil, in the United States, of quadrennial political activity, it is essential that those who exercise the franchise preserve that equanimity of thought which enables them to differentiate between the precept and the practice of those who seek elective honors. Preferment involves more responsibility than a mark on the ballot. The X on the ballot is the power of attorney by which the individual rights are delegated to another who acts for you by proxy. The world has need of clear, keen, analytical thinkers who perceive motives instantly, whether expressed through the spoken or the printed word. It is here that Christian Science is proving itself of great value to mankind; for in elucidating divine Principle, by which the true man is governed, this Science also outlines the rules for uncovering the magnetism of personality and prejudice which envelop so many discussions and problems of the current time.

When mortal mind's reasoning is metaphysically analyzed, it is seen that its tenacity is illogically based on wrong premise; namely, that of the human personality and its likes and dislikes. Mortal mind is deliberately stubborn, though often unconsciously so. It abhors changes which threaten to divert its activities into unaccustomed channels or to deprive it of something it supposedly now enjoys. This refusal of the carnal mind to yield itself to the truth regarding everything contrary to its inclinations, this self-blindness to the eventual benefits of new modes of procedure, is especially noticeable in the realm of government, where personality seeks to establish false premises in the communal mind by vehement oratory and fallacious writing. This, in turn, warps the judgment of those who do not possess the knowledge whereby to classify deductions and conclusions that have been magnified under the lens of individual bias. Thus the non-thinker is brought into agreement with unsound and illogical reasoning.

It is granted that many honest differences arise on important subjects, but the phases to which Christian Scientists should be alert are the wily methods of mortal planning to defeat meritorious and constructive measures and innovations, whether they emanate in legislative or corporate circles or arise in the affairs of some Church of Christ, Scientist. As there can be no bias in fact or truth, you may say that a truth needs neither an accuser nor a defender, for it is in itself impartial; it is true in both the abstract and the concrete, but its practical application is too often relegated to the background by the national consciousness. A modicum of truth is an error of statement. Truth is indivisible. There can be no separation of that which is false into parts, calling one part true and the other part untrue. It is an attempt to do this and to consider actual truth merely a matter of opinion which has led men into the morass of conflicting opinions and originated the many unstable plans for establishing a modus operandi. The only foundation for constructive action must be in constructive, truthful thinking. It must be divine Principle before human precedent. Principle, being absolute, fixed, it cannot be swayed by the diverging of many opinions.

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