Two Christian Scientists—Lamar S. Smith and Ralph Byron Copper—discuss how spiritual understanding can support the political process. They each have firsthand experience. Last year Lamar was elected county chairman for a major political party. Ralph's interest in politics began the summer before high school, when he worked as a volunteer in the I960 American presidential campaign.

Ralph: To many people politics is a dirty business. And at times, it seems, the dirt turns to mud in our own backyard—in the community where we live. Why, then, did you decide to run for local political office?

Lamar: A major reason was the satisfaction that can come from direct involvement in politics. Trying to raise the level of politics—to remove some of the dirt, the wrong thinking and acting, that gives politics a bad name—is very rewarding. So is helping advance causes one considers just and reforming laws one considers unjust.

To me participation in the political community is a way to exercise what Mrs. Eddy calls man's God-endowed inalienable rights, including self-government, reason, and conscience. ^{See Science and Health 106:7–9;} Even a small degree of success in doing this can be very gratifying.

But what about yourself? You've participated in different local campaigns over the years.

Ralph: Yes, but always as a volunteer—never as a candidate!

Lamar: But that's still active participation, isn't it?

Ralph: Yes. Actually, it's all a matter of right motivation. Basically I'm committed—first as a Christian Scientist, but also as a student of history—to the importance of each individual. I believe that one person, imbued with high ideals, can make a difference. I can think of three notable examples in the last fifty years alone—Mahatma Gandhi, Helen Keller, and Winston Churchill. To me they show what can be done by one who aligns himself with the power of right thinking and acting.

Christ Jesus taught God's love for the individual. "The very hairs of your head are all numbered," ^{Matt. 10:30;} he said. Whatever denies individual worth—the need for and usefulness of every person—is, in my book, anti-Christian. In this category I would put the following: "My one vote doesn't count"; "The problem is too big for one person"; "You can't fight city hall."

Lamar: Certainly nothing is gained by defaulting to the problem. And that's what someone is doing if he takes those attitudes.

Ralph: And there's no reason for it! There are plenty of positive ways an individual can participate in the world of politics. For instance, I try to stay informed on the issues, write letters to editors, make financial contributions, campaign for candidates on occasion, and, of course, vote.

But, above all, I pray.

I see direct participation as an effective way of overcoming the defeatist notion that a man or a woman is simply a cog in a complex modern world. In this way I hope to bring out something of man's spiritual uniqueness as a child of God.

Lamar: Participation in community affairs gives us an opportunity to prove that spiritual-mindedness yields positive results—that with God governing our motives we can help raise the accepted standard of action. But to be most effective, civic participation needs to begin with prayer.

Ralph: I often say, not everyone has to go out and ring doorbells for a candidate, but everyone can and should pray for good government.

Lamar: Right. There is no limit to what prayer can do. Prayer reveals the presence of God's goodness and power. And this is important to realize because power seems so crucial to politics. Through prayer we can be shown what is right or wrong about a given issue. Like Solomon, we can pray for an understanding heart to "discern between good and bad." ^{I Kings 3:9;}

One of my favorite prayers is Mrs. Eddy's "Prayer for Country and Church," especially this part: "Pray that the divine presence may still guide and bless our chief magistrate, those associated with his executive trust, and our national judiciary; give to our congress wisdom, and uphold our nation with the right arm of His righteousness." ^{Christian Science versus Pantheism, p. 14;}

Ralph: But what do you say to the person who thinks that praying is an easy out for the citizen who doesn't want to get involved?

Lamar: A citizen is no less effective, and has lost no influence for good, because he chooses to pray rather than run for Congress—or for any elected office. Either way one is still actively involved in the community.

Ralph: I agree. But there may be times when prayer prompts a person to become active in other ways as well. To have a social conscience is fine. But needed to energize a social conscience is the spiritual consciousness that empowers us to accomplish the good we hope for. St. Paul said, "It is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." ^{Phil. 2:13;}

This is where prayer comes in. Prayer brings the recognition that not only is God the sole incentive power for good, He is also the power that annihilates whatever is wrong. For example, God, as Love, impels us to love our neighbor, and this impulsion is a constant rebuke to prejudice and injustice, whether found in the legislation of a nation or in the hearts of its people. Truth motivates the highest ethics for both public and private behavior. A person motivated by God spontaneously opposes bribery and corruption wherever it appears. Valuing the worth of each individual as an essential manifestation of divine Life, we are divinely impelled to combat crime and brutality in the world around us. The point is, God works in us both "to will and to do."

Lamar: And what God wills us to do, He gives us the means to accomplish. In the political process perseverance and patience are a potent combination. A community's problems are seldom solved overnight. Good laws don't always get passed the first time around—and sometimes bad laws aren't changed without repeated effort. But that shouldn't dampen anyone's desire to do right and to see right done. And it's certainly no justification for feeling helpless—or hopeless. We can always find encouragement in Mrs. Eddy's statement, "Justice waits, and is used to waiting; and right wins the everlasting victory." ^{Miscellaneous Writings, p. 277;}

Ralph: Earlier you spoke of the satisfaction of trying to raise the level of politics. Does that include doing away with partisanship? To be blunt, is it possible for a politician not to be partisan?

Lamar: What a question! It's one I try to resolve every day. And some days I'm more successful at it than others. It seems to me that narrow partisanship inevitably appears when one's actions are based on emotion or reaction to the personality of another. By looking to God for guidance, we take the sting out of partisanship. The spiritual fact is that God is always in control, and we can prove this, regardless of what political party or office-holder is "in power" at the moment.

Ralph: But aren't all politicians working to get elected—and then to stay elected?

Lamar: Yes, but if political opponents are working with honest motives, they share a common goal: support of better government. To me this transcends all other reasons for acting. "A righteous government" should be our aim. When questioned about her politics, Mrs. Eddy replied, "I have none, in reality, other than to help support a righteous government; to love God supremely, and my neighbor as myself." ^{The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 276;}

However, partisanship isn't the exclusive domain of politicians!

Ralph: Agreed—wherever self-interest enters in, partisanship is quick to follow. A partisan spirit polarizes families, communities, nations. It serves to divide, never to reconcile. Viewing the world in terms of "us" versus "them," this tunnel-vision mentality loses sight of God as the only I, or Ego. It denies the Scripture, "Have we not all one father? hath not one God created us?" ^{Mai. 2:10;} I often think of Lincoln's famous reply to a deputation of Southerners during the American Civil War. His retort pops the balloon of blind partisanship. When told, "We trust, Sir, that God is on our side," the President answered, "It is more important to know that we are on God's side."

Lamar: But we're not saying, are we, that to be less partisan is to be less committed?

Ralph: Not at all. A lack of partisanship doesn't imply a lack of conviction. But it does involve a lack of rancor. Released from partisanship, we find our reward in promoting the larger good. I love Mrs. Eddy's tribute to President William McKinley, because it points out the possibilities open to us all. Eulogizing McKinley's work, Mrs. Eddy said, "It began by warming the marble of politics into zeal according to wisdom, quenching the volcanoes of partizanship, and uniting the interests of all peoples; and it ended with a universal good overcoming evil." ^{Miscellany, p. 291;}

Lamar: That quote has often helped me. One of the most common temptations in politics—and a sure sign of an unquenched volcano of partisanship—is to speak disparagingly of others or to repeat unjustified criticism.

Ralph: Or to fudge the facts a bit in our favor!

Lamar: The basis for all this is the belief that the only way to promote oneself or one's cause is to harm others by our words and actions. Fear would persuade us that someone else's gain will be our loss.

We can combat this temptation by understanding that evil has no power, that real success results from right thinking and right acting. On this basis we can achieve the "universal good overcoming evil" that Mrs. Eddy spoke of. Under God's government there is room for all right activity. Spiritually based motives can uplift—like a rising tide—the thoughts and actions of everyone concerned.

Ralph: But what about honest differences of opinion?

Lamar: Well, there are many times when these will occur. But even when they do, we can disagree without personal animosity. And we should never expect the worst! On one occasion I was to preside at a political meeting of about sixty people. Much divisiveness was anticipated by others. A week prior to the meeting I began carrying a statement by Mrs. Eddy in my wallet. I would often read the passage to myself and apply it to the upcoming meeting. The last thing those present thought possible was a unanimous vote on the controversial subject—but that's exactly what happened!

I left the meeting knowing that Mrs. Eddy's statement had been practically applied and that a genuine healing of a political situation had occurred. The statement included these words: "One infinite God, good, unifies men and nations; constitutes the brotherhood of man; ends wars; fulfils the Scripture, 'Love thy neighbor as thyself;' annihilates pagan and Christian idolatry,—whatever is wrong in social, civil, criminal, political, and religious codes...." ^{Science and Health, p. 340;}

Ralph: That's a great experience! Of course, there's so much more we could say. But before we stop, I think we should make clear we realize that political government is not the ultimate statement of reality! It is, after all, a human institution. At its best, political government represents mankind's emerging concept of God's government—a partial shining in this present world of what is real. The prophet caught the higher vision, which supports everything that is worthwhile in politics: "For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us." ^{Isa. 33:22.}

Lamar: The fact is, there's no conflict between our love for God and our love for humanity—which is what politics should be. Our love of humanity should spring from our love of God.

Ralph: Christian Science shows us that there is more to government than what the political senses define, just as surely as there is more to an individual's identity than what the physical senses depict. But—and a key point, I think—this spiritual understanding never promotes neglect of our civic duties, any more than it promotes neglect of our bodies. Instead, it works for the betterment of both the human body and the body politic. As a result, neighborhoods and nations alike are bound to feel the benefit that comes from a spiritually alert citizenry.