Editorial August 18, 1928 Issue

Prohibition: A Moral Issue

Albert F. Gilmore

It cannot be gainsaid that certain duties attend enjoyment of the incalculable blessings which result from the adoption of the way of life taught and exemplified by Christ Jesus. Christian Scientists are inexpressibly grateful for the blessings which have come to them from the study and practice of Mrs. Eddy's teachings; they are likewise, in some degree at least, awake to the obligation and duties which the gaining of this spiritual understanding entails. These obligations impose upon the adherent of divine Science certain moral demands—moral in that they necessitate that he shall live in accordance with its teachings, not alone inwardly, but outwardly as well; that in terms of human experience he exemplify before the world true Christianity.

Is not this obligation precisely what Jesus implied in the familiar admonition, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven"? How shall we glorify God except in good works? What are good works? Those which conform to the teachings of Christ Jesus, to the Ten Commandments and the Golden Rule; to divine Science. Any act which does not conform to this standard is not worthy to be classified as a good work. Therefore, to a great degree, the duty is imposed upon every Christian Scientist to examine carefully his thoughts and deeds in order the better to conform them to the divine demands. Mrs. Eddy's words on this object are most illuminating. On page 147 of "Miscellaneous Writings" she sets forth the standard with precision. "The upright man," she writes, "is guided by a fixed Principle, which destines him to do nothing but what is honorable, and to abhor whatever is base or unworthy; hence we find him ever the same,—at all times the trusty friend, the affectionate relative, the conscientious man of business, the pious worker, the public-spirited citizen."

There could scarcely be presented a more complete word picture of the true Christian. The "pious worker," who is public-spirited, must be alert to detect evil in every form and to oppose it with all righteous means. Otherwise, he is negligent in his duty, both as a Christian and as a citizen. In the situation facing the citizens of the United States to-day is a moral issue of tremendous significance, not alone to the United States in the present day, but to the whole world for the long future. Prohibition, as set forth in the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution and the Volstead law enforcing the provisions of the Amendment, constitutes an issue of the greatest moral significance. Why moral? one may ask. Moral, because it involves the customs and habits of the people; it deals with evil. Obviously, that which tends to degrade and debauch humanity, under whatever name the evil presents itself, constitutes a moral issue. And prohibition, forbidding the manufacture and sale of intoxicants, deals with a phase of evil which has brought more sorrow, misery, and suffering to the human race than has any other.

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