[The participants are Judge Jerome Franke and Rob McKinnon.]

McKinnon: There is plenty of domination around today, even though it may be harder than it once was for people to get away with being tyrannical, overbearing, or arrogant. In many family situations someone may be domineering—a wife, a husband, a son or daughter, an in-law. On the job, too, one can encounter domination. Nobody likes to be dominated. But what can a person do about it other than just walk out?
Franke: Well, walking out certainly isn't the answer, whether it is a situation in our family or on our job. The problem will go right along with us, because it exists in thought.

What's needed is to face up to the situation, not ignore it or evade it. Wherever we find ourselves, we can deal with domination effectively.
McKinnon: Often the one who is being dominated is afraid to say anything for fear of making things worse.
Franke: Yes, it's usually fear or timidity that allows tyranny or domination to go on. But there is an answer to fear, and it is found in the God-given dominion or control spoken of in the Bible —dominion to be the man that God has created, to express Godlike qualities. This doesn't mean that we can dominate others or be dominated by them.

As we claim our God-given dominion—our ability to express Godlike qualities—strength and courage begin to replace fear and timidity.

A verse in the Bible states (Dan. 10:19), "O man greatly beloved, fear not: peace be unto thee, be strong, yea, be strong."
McKinnon: Sometimes when a person is subject to domination, he's inclined to react by being domineering to others. A chain reaction of tyranny can take place in a family or at work. A husband may feel that his boss is domineering. He doesn't face the situation but carries his hostility home with him and is domineering in turn.
Franke: I know what you mean. This is why all of us need to claim our God-given right to be free ourselves and to help free others from overbearing dispositions.

The Scriptures bring out the importance of this. We read in one place, for example (Titus 1: 7): "A bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not self-willed, not soon angry." Elsewhere the Bible says (Prov. 16:32), "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city."
McKinnon: Wouldn't you agree that anger, aggressiveness, and hostility often indicate that we have lost a sense of dominion?
Franke: Yes, we may find that our response to some person or situation is a reaction rather than an action that indicates dominion. A passage in the Bible touches on this point. It says (James 1:19), "Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath."

Now Christ Jesus didn't ignore domination. He exercised his God-given dominion and overcame all forms of tyranny. And his prayer to God, the one Father, was, "Thy will be done" (Matt. 6:10).
McKinnon: But how do we actually deal with a domineering relative or a willful acquaintance or employer?
Franke: I've found that getting ourselves squared away is a helpful first step. And what really frees us from domination is to begin waking up to the spiritual fact that man is governed not by human will or by many conflicting minds but by the one divine Mind, God, the Father. Since divine Mind is continually in control, love, integrity, stability, intelligence, order, and justice are always present.

Governed by this one divine Mind, man is not subject to fear, hate, or injustice. He is loved, needed, and cared for. As the likeness of infinite Spirit, God, man is spiritual, not material; therefore he is complete and free.

All this indicates how we can begin to deal with domination. As we realize what it means to be man, the likeness of the one divine Mind, our true selfhood comes to light. This gives us more than mere freedom from domineering situations. It enables us to express and experience a greater measure of understanding, warmth, and brotherhood.

In Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures Mary Baker Eddy says (p. 205), "When we realize that there is one Mind, the divine law of loving our neighbor as ourselves is unfolded; whereas a belief in many ruling minds hinders man's normal drift towards the one Mind, one God, and leads human thought into opposite channels where selfishness reigns."

Let me tell you of a housewife who gained a deeper expression of her God-given selfhood and dominion. Her mother-in-law had lived with her and her family for some time. Although some mothers-in-law learn to live happily and peaceably with their married children, this one had not. She made many of the decisions in running the home, criticized the children, and tried to run the lives of her son and his wife. For quite a while the housewife reacted to all this in very recognizable ways— resentment and outbursts of temper. But the situation did not change.

About this time she was healed of a serious illness through prayer in Christian Science. At that point she saw that she had to face up to the domination in her home and really deal with it. She asked a Christian Science practitioner for help, and together they prayed to see that man's home is actually governed by the one divine Mind, not by many ruling minds. The housewife realized that she had to see her mother-in-law and herself in the true selfhood of each as spiritual and completely governed by this divine Mind.

The change in her attitude brought changes in the household. She no longer lost her temper when criticisms were made. She became firm but loving and kind about her decisions in raising her children and running her home. She could acknowledge gifts from her mother-in-law with genuine gratitude.

In learning how to deal with domination in this way she gained a measure of warmth and brotherhood she had never known before. This didn't happen all at once. But gradually the mother-in-law responded to her daughter-in-law's change of character, domineering attitudes ceased, and the family now gets along very well together.
McKinnon: It seems that this results in a removal of the need to compete for dominance; it points to the need to share in dominion.
Franke: Yes, these traits of domination, arrogance, and thoughtlessness often come in the guise of people. But actually they are no part of anyone's real nature. As we realize that man is the likeness of the one governing divine Mind, we're able to help replace ugly dispositional traits in ourselves and others with the Christlike qualities of patience, stability, love, forgiveness, and compassion—to express more of our God-given dominion. These qualities really heal a situation.

Speaking of this, Mrs. Eddy writes (Miscellaneous Writings, p. 354), "A little more grace, a motive made pure, a few truths tenderly told, a heart softened, a character subdued, a life consecrated, would restore the right action of the mental mechanism, and make manifest the movement of body and soul in accord with God."