Editorial July 29, 1922 Issue

Christian Duty

Albert F. Gilmore

The human mind, itself a simulation, a counterfeit of divine Mind, appears very loath to be instructed out of its fallacies, since by its very nature it partakes of evil and falsity, having no relation to or traffic with Truth, for Truth and falsity never mingle. Among many fallacies to which it clings, at times with a tenacity apparently born of desperation, is the assumption that, by some possibility of transmutation or transformation good can result from evil,—that some enterprise can, perchance, bring good and lasting results even though it springs from evil motives rather than the desire to do good and to promote it. Mankind's duty to seek good through the knowledge of and love for the one God and the necessity of establishing His reign was comprised in the Hebrew Decalogue not less than the stern prohibitions, Thou shalt not kill, nor steal, nor bear false witness.

The student of Christian Science learns that the evil acts of mankind originate in the dark caverns of mortal thought, whence emanate all that "defileth or maketh a lie;" and he becomes assured that reform and healing begin in mortal belief. Under the marginal caption, "Motives considered," Mrs. Eddy says in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 104): "Our courts recognize evidence to prove the motive as well as the commission of a crime. Is it not clear that the human mind must move the body to a wicked act? Is not mortal mind the murderer? The hands, without mortal mind to direct them, could not commit a murder." In these words, our Leader traces the cause of all wrong to its lair, mortal mind. Resolving acts into thoughts, she affirms that the motive plays the chief part as the procuring cause of all evil and crime; hence with one examining the problem metaphysically, the search for motive becomes a necessity. A testing of motives consists in the main in squaring them with divine Principle, through comparing them with the right ideas of Principle. If they reflect Him who is supreme and all good, then will the results be worthy, for the tree of Spirit can bear none but good fruits.

Moreover, in the judgement of human motives and acts, it must be recognized that a community of individuals, termed a state or nation, is no less under the necessity of obedience to and conformity with the rules and governance of right than the most humble person. The nation is no more absolved from the penalties for wrongdoing from evil motives than the individual. Just at present the world is witnessing a manifestation of the activity of collective evil that is almost without parallel in the annuals of history. What appears to be a determination on the part of the rebellious fragment of a nation to literally exterminate a portion of the inhabitants who adhere to the teachings of Christ Jesus, so far as they understand them, perhaps because of this very fact, seems too appalling to believe. Yet the evidence from a variety of reliable sources is conclusive, and the world stands aghast at the awfulness of the crime now being enacted in stricken Anatolia. A group of belligerents is so far mesmerized by the lie that good results from evil, that desirable results can eventuate from massacre and rapine, that the deliberate destruction of a great number of Christians of various races is being carried out. Meanwhile, the responsible nations of the earth, leaders of modern civilization, are standing supinely by, if not helpless to prevent, yet assuming the attitude of helplessness,—and the atrocities go on.

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