PERSPECTIVE ON THE NEWS April 2, 1979 Issue

Neutralizing violence Comment on current trends in the media

The current tendency to exploit violence has peaked in a recently released film, "The Warriors." This portrayal of gang warfare in New York, whatever its artistic merits may be, has reportedly provoked among its viewers a number of violent incidents—including killings. It is a matter for serious thought, therefore, that the box office success of the film is causing producers to eye the possibilities of bringing out more of the same kind. Five are currently scheduled for release.

As we consider the state of affairs in various corners of the globe where violence is rampant—in Rhodesia, for instance, and in Iran, Italy, Vietnam, and Northern Ireland—we must be deeply concerned that our thoughts and actions correct savagery of any kind—in the streets or in wider spaces of the world. Savagery is not merely a random happening. It is the outcome of animal magnetism, the supposititious source and action of all evil. Christian Science equips us to both uncover and neutralize it.

Rather than igniting violence by giving it hypnotic exposure on film, thinking people should surely be exerting their influence toward establishing peace. To them the fallacy must be obvious. Primitive brutality expressed in cruel stabbings and killings, kidnapping and kneecapping, is incapable of raising the standard of infinite Love and establishing the ideal government of divine Principle, which provides the only assurance of justice and well-being for all. The impossibility of taking the kingdom of heaven by force—of accomplishing any good, spiritual purpose by bestial means—must be plain. Violent displays of bestiality do not prove one's courage or manliness. Achieving one's goals through terrorism does not prove one is right. Such grotesque concepts drag down Truth's standard and postpone the longed-for prosperity of peace and fairness on earth.

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