02/26/2022
Very clear thoughts for the needs of today's world. And I'm posting the entire article so that all my have access to read it.
In Defense of Freedom
By Carl J. Welz
From the July 1966 issue of The Christian Science Journal
The man of God's creation is spiritual. He is free of material limitations, free of disease, free of fear, free of sin and its deadly effects, free of death itself. But if we are to know of this spiritual freedom, we must have a certain moral sense of freedom. We must desire freedom not only for ourselves but for all mankind.
God is always imparting to men the truth of man's freedom as the idea of the divine Mind. Throughout the history of civilization individuals have felt this impartation, lifted their thoughts above their material surroundings, and glimpsed spiritual reality. Some of these became leaders who delivered others from bo***ge or commanded armies in support of their highest sense of right at the time.
The Biblical demand, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself,"1 sometimes causes individuals to feel that they cannot conscientiously participate in warfare. But Christ Jesus' parable of the good Samaritan tells us that it is hypocrisy to claim to love our neighbor while ignoring the plight of an unfortunate one. If we truly love our neighbor, we shall do whatever we can to show him that freedom is a spiritual reality. And in this world we show our neighbor what freedom means to us by our willingness to make sacrifices in defense of freedom. And by the unselfed love we express we ourselves gain a sense of freedom which more nearly demonstrates the spiritual.
We fall into error when we reason that because there is no bo***ge in spiritual reality, we need not fight to free men from enslavement. As long as aggression against freedom-loving people appears to be part of our experience, we have before us the need to express those qualities which tell the world that such aggression cannot succeed. If we really believe evil forces are powerless, we should have no fear of participating in the human effort to demonstrate their powerlessness. And if we understand the Christianly scientific basis of our participation, we shall work prayerfully to improve our method of demonstrating evil's powerlessness; but we shall never forsake our post in the process.
In the current history of the world each of us has a post to take in defense of freedom. That post is primarily a mental one, the expression of our recognition of man's spiritual status and of our desire that all men shall know of it. As we claim for ourselves the status of an idea of Mind, divine Love, we take advantage of every means at hand to express love toward others. If a neighbor is in need, we try to supply that need. If a neighbor's freedom is being taken away from him, we give of our services in a way that will help him to maintain his freedom. The practical nature of the love we express shows our faith in our own spiritual status.
If we fail to be alert to inroads on mankind's freedom or courageous in defense of it, we may lose consciousness of freedom and our right to it. But if we recognize and improve every opportunity to show that we love freedom for others as well as for ourselves, we shall feel the support of Truth at every step. Taking up our post of duty according to our present demonstration of the truth of being, we can progressively work out our identity as Truth's free ideas.
The nation of which we are citizens is part of our demonstration of freedom. It is the human situation in which we must live, and it is the set of circumstances in which we can express what freedom we have earned. When we improve our consciousness of nation, our nation will improve. As our love of self yields to our love of freedom for all, our nation will express our better concept of Life and its expression. But while our nation still finds that it must deal with other nations in terms which include the possible use of armed force, our demonstration of freedom is still on the level where our services as members of, or in support of, the military may be needed. As much as we should like to assume that we have risen above such a need and can see man as divine Love's idea, never at war, we have no right to assume humanly a position higher than we have demonstrated. To do so is to evade the responsibility for using the means at our disposal for expressing the truth.
When the freedom of any people is threatened by aggression, the Christian Scientist can give practical help. This Science is available in all free countries, and free people are free to acknowledge and to use its powerful truths in behalf of themselves and others. By denying all claims of the carnal mind to power and by affirming the power of the one Mind to govern man everywhere, the law of divine Love can be applied to the situation. Through persistent prayer, bearing mental witness to perfect God and perfect man—man moved by the one energizing Spirit which excludes all mortal motivation—the so-called forces of aggression can be overcome. And the Christian Scientist will heed Mrs. Eddy's words: "Whatever weighs in the eternal scale of equity and mercy tips the beam on the right side, where the immortal words and deeds of men alone can settle all questions amicably and satisfactorily. But if our nation's rights or honor were seized, every citizen would be a soldier and woman would be armed with power girt for the hour."2
Carl J. Welz
1 Matt. 19:19;↑
2 The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 277.↑
The man of God's creation is spiritual. He is free of material limitations, free of disease, free of fear, free of sin and its deadly effects, free of death itself. But if we are to know of this spiritual freedom, we must have a certain moral sense of freedom. We must desire...
