Editorial August 11, 1956 Issue

HOW TO COMBAT CRIME

Harold Molter

In Christian Science we learn that the First Commandment (Ex. 20:3), "Thou shalt have no other gods before me," gives the basis for meeting and destroying crime. Obedience to this commandment requires us to acknowledge God as the one and only cause and power. It reveals that God is infinite good, perfect Mind, and that therefore, in reality, there can be no evil. God is Spirit, and His creation is spiritual. In this infinite All of divine goodness there is no evil mind, no crime, and no criminal.

The fact of God's allness and all-inclusiveness is the starting point from which the Christian Scientist proceeds to annul every false claim of evil in himself and in the world. Mary Baker Eddy writes in her book "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 102): "The looms of crime, hidden in the dark recesses of mortal thought, are every hour weaving webs more complicated and subtle. So secret are the present methods of animal magnetism that they ensnare the age into indolence, and produce the very apathy on the subject which the criminal desires." This passage is of great importance to the Christian Scientist, because it shows that every criminal act originates in what is called mortal thought or animal magnetism—the belief of a mind apart from God. Therefore, in every instance, the actual criminal to be met and overcome is evil thought and not evil persons or material conditions.

Evil claims to be universal and to challenge the omnipotence of God, good. This universal lie is proved to be a lie through the recognition and proof of God's allness. Mrs. Eddy tells us (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 113): "He who refuses to be influenced by any but the divine Mind, commits his way to God, and rises superior to suggestions from an evil source. Christian Science shows that there is a way of escape from the latter-day ultimatum of evil, through scientific truth; so that all are without excuse." Everyone who understands the power of scientific truth must use it daily for his own protection as well as for the protection of his fellow men; and he is not excused from this responsibility.

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