Article April 28, 1997 Issue

Politics today: what can we do?

Rita Hayes Hornbeak

From listening to discussions about politics, it's easy to conclude that there are angry citizens in many parts of the world. They are concerned about their governments and those who administer them.

Some individuals, for example, believe government in general is corrupt and that legislators are motivated only by greed and self-interest. Others think politicians are incompetent. There are also some who believe there are worldwide conspiracies to overthrow established governments and erode hard-won freedoms. Perceptions of this sort have engendered much fear, hatred, anger, and rebellion, but they have produced no positive solutions. To find a workable way to renew and uplift government, we need to look for spiritual answers.

In an article in the November 1908 Boston Post, Mary Baker Eddy offered these insights concerning government: "I am asked, 'What are your politics?' I have none, in reality, other than to help support a righteous government; to love God supremely, and my neighbor as myself" (reprinted in The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 276).