Article January 9, 1971 Issue

The Monitor's Role

[The following editorial from The Christian Science Monitor of September 19, 1970, entitled "Our Role and Our Readers," says things we feel would be of interest to all readers of the Sentinel. It is reprinted here in full]

It's been said that we live in an age of astonishing ferment—but such words seem too mild in these wild and apocalyptic times. Our world appears to be one of sheer fantasy in which every day gets crazier. The fantastic of today becomes the commonplace of tomorrow. Our generation grapples not only with crime, drugs, violence, immorality, war, assault on established institutions and breakdowns in the functioning of society, but also with deep and existential confusion within human thinking—the turmoil of upsidedown values.

In such a storm one yearns for a beacon light of sanity and moderation, a voice of calmness, stability, hope, truth. This is the role the Monitor seeks to fulfill. As a newspaper for thinkers, its aim is to tell its readers about events as fairly and objectively as possible, to analyze these events discerningly and impartially, and to encourage its readers to think for themselves.

All this is a difficult assignment in a complicated society where events are almost never what they seem. Even newspapers are manned by human beings. But the Monitor's staff seeks to draw its guidance and strength from an idea that transcends human frailties—the goal of its founder, Mary Baker Eddy. "The object of the Monitor," she writes, "is to injure no man, but to bless all mankind."^{ The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 353.} The paper has no other commitment than this—no commitment to advertisers, to any special interest group, or to a particular political or ideological viewpoint. Though owned and operated by a church, it seeks to keep any denominational bias out of its news columns. From the most compassionate of humanitarian motives it urges editorially the burying of the injustices, prejudices, and aggressions which have tyrannized mankind. It presses for acceptance of the simple fact of universal human brotherhood. It never loses faith that right answers to human tangles can be found. Fundamentally it is convinced that these answers do come to light through a clearer and more truly humble understanding of what God and man really are.