Stiff prison sentences handed down recently to human rights activists in Czechoslovakia and to a leading dissident in China are stark reminders that accepted standards of human rights still are being flouted.

Yet the outcry touched off repressive measures is in itself a sign of a growing awareness of the dignity of the individual and of his fundamental rights.

Pressure of world opinion has aided in rectifying injustuces in some cases. And churchmen imprisoned as dissidents in some countries have told how prayer has sustained them in their ordeals and helped them gain their freedom.

The power of prayer to overcome unjust imprisonment is strikingly illustrated in the New Testament. When Herod thrust Peter into jail, "prayer was made without ceasing of the church unto God for him." Then "the angel of the Lord came upon him . . . and raised him up." The chains fell from Peter's hands, and the angel led him out of the prison to freedom. ^{See Acts 12:1-10;}

Christian Science has an indispensable message for the world on the subject of human rights. It goes beyond the usual definition of rights and raises the issue to a higher and broader level, requiring nothing less than humanity's liberation from all forms of bondage, including illness, sin, even mortality. Christ Jesus himself provides the example. And our task is to follow it.

The Christly understanding of the rights of man—accepted and brought to bear in our lives—will not only raise us up individually but will bless our neighbors, our communities, our world. And for all those who have been unjustly treated it will help lift the burden of repression.

In Science and Health Mrs. Eddy makes a series of stirring statements on freedom and rights. She points out: "God has built a higher platform of human rights, and He has built it on diviner claims. These claims are not made through code or creed, but in demonstration of 'on earth peace, good-will toward men.'" ^{Science and Health, p. 226;} And further: "Christian Science raises the standard of liberty and cries: 'Follow me! Escape from the bondage of sickness, sin, and death!' Jesus marked out the way. Citizens of the world, accept the 'glorious liberty of the children of God,' and be free! This is your divine right." ^{ibid., p. 227.}

True freedom, then, goes much beyond enjoying the rights society may confer. Liberty is a divine right, gained through a recognition of God's perfection and of man as His beloved son, imaging Him. This recognition involves our progressive shedding of mortal beliefs, a consistent denial that man is carnal, broken away from God, sin-driven. It demands reasoning and living based on the mightiness—even the all-power—of God, eternal good.

Under the government of God, divine Love, and His undeviating, beneficent laws, man is forever free, forever safe. Man's rights to health, holiness, and happiness can never be tampered with. What can we do to contribute to the proving of this? Bring our thinking into conformity with the Christ. Genuinely realize that man cannot be chained by beliefs of sin and inhumanity—imposed by a material mind—for the infinitude of God precludes the existence of an evil or opposing force. In the light of the Christ, Truth, every erroneous or imprisoning belief is seen to be illusion. And step by step it can be proved so in human affairs.

In reality man's movements can never be restricted, hampered, or interfered with, for he lives in the omnipresence of Life and Love. His dignity and nobility are inviolable. No fetters impede the full expression of his potential as divine idea, emanating from infinite Spirit, or Mind. No concepts of skin color, ethnic origin, or creed apply to man or hold him in bondage. God's man is glorified, cared for, and loved.

We will help expose to mankind the higher view of human rights as such truths become increasingly concrete across the spectrum of our private and public living.