The Bible Speaks to You June 27, 1970 Issue

[The above is an abbreviated, postproduction text of the program released for broadcast the week of June 19-25 in the radio series, "The Bible Speaks to You." Heard internationally over more than 1,000 stations, the weekly programs are prepared and produced by the Christian Science Committee on Publication, Christian Science Center, Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A. 02115.]

RADIO PROGRAM NO. 429 - Crime and Christian Concern

with contributions from John Lewis Selover, Marni Politte

[The participants are John Lewis Selover and Marni Politte]

Politte: There is so much crime these days that people are disturbed and frightened by it. They cannot understand why there are so many crimes against the person, why people seem to feel a need to hurt other people.
Selover: Often criminal acts of this kind represent a lashing out against poverty, discrimination, injustice, or frustration. But they certainly cannot be regarded as normal. There really is something we all can do about it. It's not enough to try to contain crime by dealing merely with its symptoms. The underlying causes need to be corrected.

It is important to consider how we react as individuals to crime and those involved in it. To be motivated by fear is one thing, but the Christian concern —the brotherly love, compassion, and trust—that the Bible, for example, calls for is another.
Politte: What about the criminal type, the kind of person who makes crime his way of life?
Selover: There were plenty of criminal tendencies, such as hate, greed, and despair in the time of Christ Jesus, but he didn't accept them as irreversible. Nor did he label people with these tendencies. Rather, he called for a radically different approach. For example, he said (Matt. 5:44), "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which de-spitefully use you, and persecute you." Politte: Is this what you mean by Christian concern?
Selover: Yes it is. Through intelligent love and concern many people today are learning how to "do good to them," rather than withdrawing fearfully from the situation or opting out by saying they don't want to get involved.
Politte: "Do good to them." Do you mean something more than enlightened justice and penology?
Selover: Yes, as important as they are. To me, doing good to them means being willing to take a new view of the criminal, to see him not as an alien but as a brother. A distinctive way that we can help hold crime in check and do good to one involved in it would be to really reach out to God and ask Him to reveal to us how He sees our brother.