From the Editors March 11, 2013 Issue

Lincoln and a lesson in liberty

The Editors

The recent hit film Lincoln depicts the mighty struggle that took place behind the battlefields of the United States Civil War, in the political and legal arena of the United States Congress in 1865. The film has resonated deeply with audiences—maybe because they have recognized striking similarities between the political climate of 1865 and of today. The issues might be different, but the impassioned political polarization is very much the same.

After seeing Lincoln, readers of this magazine might gain new appreciation for this sentence from Mary Baker Eddy’s book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures: “Legally to abolish unpaid servitude in the United States was hard; but the abolition of mental slavery is a more difficult task” (p. 225).

You might ask, what could possibly be more difficult than the arduous political battle that took place in the US to legally abolish slavery? Lincoln makes clear just how daunting this struggle was. And another question: just what constitutes “mental slavery” in the first place?

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