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Show CHRISTIAN SCIENTISTS WORK AS WARRIORS DISCIPLES OF MRS. EDDY HAVE EFFICIENT WAR ORGANIZATION' ORGANIZA-TION' AND WORK FOR VICTORY WITH ALL THEIR MIGHT (By James Arthur Seavy in the New York Times for June 9, 1918.) "Onward, Christian Soldiers?" Why, bless your heart, they've been "onwarding" for months, and, in the last few weeks, they've been going onward "over there" by squads and companies and regiments. They are the vanguard of the army of Christian Chris-tian Scientists who are going to help Pershing make the world safe for democracy. de-mocracy. And, as every good American Ameri-can soldier is without reproach, so these Christian Science soldiers are without fear. For every one of them knows and proclaims as truth practical, prac-tical, undodgeable, hardscrabble truth the words of the Ninety-first Psalm: Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night: nor for the arrow that flieth by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for. the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not, come nigh thee. When the national bonnet was tossed into the ring, the Christian Scientists went in after it. They hustled hus-tled into their fighting clothes, and they're never going to shed them until un-til the Scienceless and Godless and Gott-invoking German emperor sees his hosts of darkness broken and vanquished van-quished by the battalions of light. Not even Henry Ford is more determined deter-mined to "carry on" until the Allies have won the war than are the Christian Chris-tian Scientists. Their great organization organi-zation is on a war basis and their work is going on in every training camp in this country and in the camps, the trenches and the hospitals of Flanders and France. But the world knows practically nothing about Christian Science warriors war-riors and the war work of the organization. or-ganization. Everybody knows what the Red Cross and the Y. M. C. A. and the Knights of Columbus and other organizations are doing, but the Scientists have been working as the coral insects work, and the reef of their labor has received little notice. One reason for this probably may be found in the fact that they ask no financial assistance outside their own membership. While there may be individuals in-dividuals in other religious denominations denomin-ations much wealthier than any individual indi-vidual member of the Christian Science Sci-ence denomination, there probably is no denomination, in proportion to its size, which has the aggregate wealth of this one. And this is as it should be, if there is merit in their metaphysics, meta-physics, for do they not declare that they were made in the image and likeness of God, that He is all in all, that He is Truth and Love, an Infinite Infi-nite Supply Station from which to pour out all good things to those who keep His laws? In other words: "Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you." And this is the principle they apply ap-ply in raising funds for war work. After the United States declared war on Germany the Mother Church in Boston, on November 17. sent notices to the three largest churches in each State that, if a conference of churches and societies in that State were called, a representative of the Board of Directors of the Boston organization or-ganization would submit a plan for carrying on camp welfare work among the Christian Scientists in the army and navy camps in this country and in Europe. Less than a month later the first war welfare work of American Christian Scientists started start-ed at Camp Devans, at Ayer, Mass. Today in the thirty or forty camps and cantonments in the United States, there are sixty-three Christian Chris-tian Science camp workers, fifteen welfare room attendants, with forty-five forty-five automobiles, and hundreds of others, as members of local and state camp welfare committees, are working work-ing to give all the aid and comfort possible to the men who have been called to the colors. There are plenty plen-ty of persons who take no stock in the theory and practice of Christian Science, and it is not the purpose of this article to enter into any discussion discus-sion of Christian Science as a religious relig-ious dogma. But when one examines the machinery of their organization, observes the smoothness and celerity with which it works, and sees the capacity for infinite detail, it must be admitted that, when the Christian Science organization has anything to do, it makes a good job of it, without any fuss, feathers, or horn-tooting. The board of directors realized that, to do the war work needed to be done, a very sizeable special fund would have to be raised. They just lot the membership in the churches of the country know that they wanted want-ed money and what they wanted it for, and. presto, the money came flowing In! Today the organization I (Continued on page four) I CHRISTIAN SCIENTISTS ! AS WARRIORS (Continued from page 1) is spending $40,000 a month in this work, and, as soon as they need more dollars, they will send out a call a call only to Christian Scientists, mind you and dollars will answer the call and keep on answering until the war is over and the w?ork is done. For the edification of all and several sev-eral conscientious objectors (objectors (object-ors on account of religious teaching) it should be stated that they cannot invoke Christian Science in any slacker stuff. A misfit young citizen was taken in the selected draft and came up before one of the New York exemption boards. He was hard as nails and physically fit as a "white hope." He trotted out a job lot of excuses to get out of serving in the army, and finally said he was a Christian Chris-tian Scientist, and that the1 teachings of his church forbade him to fight anybody. ' The chairman of the board inquired in-quired to which Christian Science church he belonged. The man named the church, and the chairman got some one in authority there on the telephone and told the slacker's story. Back came the reply: "Nothing that that man has told you about Christian Science is true, and your board may as well understand under-stand now that no one who tells such a story is a Christian Scientist, or, with such views, could be. The Christian Chris-tian Science denomination is with the Entente Allies in winning this war, i-.IMI winning 11 jusi da uik.tvij' aa i-.ua- sible. We are in it to a finish with our men and our money and all the strength that the teachings of Christian Chris-tian Science can give to a just cause." The slacker ceased to slack. Every Christian Scientist I have met in this investigation seems the happiest individual I ever have encountered. en-countered. Indeed, they hold that it is an error of mortal mind to be unhappy, and that it is absolutely impossible for a human being to be unhappy if he is in harmony with God. That happiness card is one of the trumps that the Christian Science workers play at the training camps. In just as short a time as possible after af-ter a Christian Scientist arrives at a camp, one of the workers makes his acquaintance. He is asked whether he is comfortable or needs anything, permitted by the army or navy regulations, regu-lations, that can make him more comfortable. Whatever he asks for that is proper for him to have he gets, gets quickly and gets with one of those persuasive and expressive Christian Science smiles. Then he is asked how things are at home, whether the home folks are likely to want for anything while he is fighting. If he can think of anything any-thing that his family does or may need, he tells the story, the address of the family is taken, the address is forwarded to the Christian Science Church nearest the boy's home, somebody some-body from that church is directed to visit the home, and. from that moment, mo-ment, that family will want for nothing noth-ing until the boy comes home. The boy in camp knows it, his mind is at rest, and he hasn't anything to do thereafter but to learn to be a soldier, sol-dier, put his education behind the guns "over there" and be happy. It is possible to realize, and with no great mental effort, that an American Am-erican soldier overseas, certain in his mind that all is well at home, ana having neither camp grouch nor trench grouch, will fight harder and more intelligently than the soldier whose mind is troubled and distraught. dis-traught. If that be true, then the Christian Science brand of happiness handed over to the rookie in the training camp makes for fighting efficiency. ef-ficiency. If it does, more power to it! Congress ought to make a special spe-cial appropriation for its general distribution. dis-tribution. And these Christian Science soldiers sol-diers meet another brigade of happiness happi-ness purveyors almost as soon as they debark from the transports. The army welfare work in France and in Flanders is in charge of Paul Harsch, nine lieutenants, and hundreds of secretaries. Mr Harsch was formerly First Reader in the First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Toledo. As soon as he and his fellows arrived in France they joined hands with the war relief workers from the Christian Scientists in France and in England. The combined com-bined force is formidable in numbers and contains many practitioners. To Mr. Harsch's committee is forwarded forward-ed from this country the products of the Christian Science Comforts Forwarding For-warding Committee. Branches of this committee are working in every state in the Union, the headquarters of the New York City branch being at 125 West Forty-third street. The Christian Science women work along lines similar to those of the women of other denominations and other organizations. or-ganizations. They knit socks and sweaters and helmets and wristlets and gauntlets, and they prepare comfort kits which carry real comfort com-fort to the Christian Science soldiers "over there." If all the Christian Scientists in Pershing's army were bridged together, to-gether, there would be, in the belief of many persons, a surprisingly large number of fighting Americans. But what kind of fighters do they make? That's the chief question and the one to which all others should be subordinated. subor-dinated. Tf the teachings of Christian Science are susceptible of practical demonstration, a Christian Scientist ought to make the most formidable fighter who ever opposed a boche. "Science and Health, with Key to the Scriptures." the textbook of the denomination, de-nomination, teaches that fear Is an error of the mortal mind. Once the mortal mind is brought into harmony with God. Infinite Mind. Truth. Love, there can be no such thing as fear. If a Christian Science soldier has no conception of fear, then fighting ought to be the best thing he does. Applying the same kind of reasoning a little further, if the entire American Ameri-can army, in the force that it will finally muster on the west front, were composed entirely of Christian Scientists. Sci-entists. Pershing would be leading tliu grand march into Berlin before the kaiser knew what had hit him. The total absence of fear on the part ut Christian Science soldiers was emphasized em-phasized in the Christian Science ! Sentinel in an editorial published on j April 27. which, in part, reads: 1 "Many of the members of this (Sci-; ence ) invincible army wear the uni-i form of their country and go where I their duty calls them to be. finding! no 'valley of the shadow of death' to go through, because they maintain the assurance that God is life and j man cannot be separated from God. Consequently, amid trials they are not afraid and give courage to their comrades." In a recent issue of The Christian Science Monitor we find this: "Now, in destroying an unreal mental phenomenon, phe-nomenon, there is no difference whether It be a torpedo in the Atlantic, Atlan-tic, a shell in No Man's Land, a wound in a dressing station, or a fever fe-ver in a base hospital. You do not turn aside a torpedo or a shell in flight, or a bayonet thrust any more than you will turn away a fever. What you do is to realize that these things are 'not made of things that do appear.' You endeavor to grasp the fact that, inasmuch as a lie cannot can-not be about nothing, your topedo, shell, bayonet thrust, or fever must be a lie about some truth, which, when you know It, frees you from the effect of the ignorance bred to the material concept. . . . When once you have grasped that metaphysically, meta-physically, and attune your life to that precept, you will find how utterly ut-terly impossible it is that the false conoept of a lie. whether in the shape of torpedo, shell, bayonet thrust, or fever, shall ever come nigh you." If that theory works in France and Flanders, it s all off with the kaiser and the rest of the Central Powers! Or, rather, it would be, if we couW have more Christian Scientists Scien-tists in our army than anything else. For. if our shells and shrapnel and the bullets of our machine guns and rifles can annihilate, hut the shells and shrapnel and bullets of the enemy can do no harm, then it Is absolutely certain that the Germans can't -win if they fight a million years provided the allied armies were made up entirely of Christian Scientists. Scien-tists. But the most mystifying and interesting inter-esting feature of this theory is that it works. At least, Christian Scientists have gone down into the valley of the shadow in Flanders and In France and have come back unscathed un-scathed to tell their story, while soldiers sol-diers of other beliefs and no beliefs passed into the land of silence. The Christian Science organization will cite many cases in proof of this and, if desired, give the names and addresses of the men referred to. For instance, take the case of those two Christian Science boys in the British Brit-ish army at the battle of Vimy Ridge. The fighting for the possession possess-ion of that little elevation above the sand dunes of Flanders had been raging all day. Half the regiment to which these English boys belonged had been cut to pieces. In the late afternoon, when the -western sky was brilliant with the colors of the sunset, the Britishers found themselves them-selves entirely cut off from their comrades, with shrapnel and gas shells and machine gun bullets screaming and whistling all about them. They could neither advance nor retreat. They made their way as best they could, first in one direction and then in another along the ridge, and fina-lly dropped into a deep shell hole. The shells continued to shriek and break above them, but "none came nigh unto them." After a little lit-tle they pulled themselves together and one quietly drew from his pocket the Sunday school lesson for the following fol-lowing Sunday and suggested to his comrade that they might as well study it together in that shell hole as anywhere else. And so they did that very thing, and, when the day had gone out o the west and the night shadows had fallen over the field, although the big guns were still booming, the boys decided de-cided to attempt to get back to their own line. They affirmed to each other oth-er their oneness with God, Life; and, sometimes crawling, sometimes running, sometimes lying flat on their faces, they eventually got safely safe-ly back among their fellows in . the British forces. In the first raid made by the Germans Ger-mans on the American sector near Toul a noncommissioned officer of the old American regular army got a nasty wound in one of his arms between be-tween the wrist and the elbow. He was ordered to a front line dressing station, but had not gone far when he dropped from loss of blood. He had been, a Christian Scientist for several years, and, as he lay there, he, to quote from a letter he sent home, "realized that God is life, not death, that all strength is in mind, not in matter, and that it was not for me to bleed to death when there was good American fighting to be done." In a short time the flow of blood stopped, his strength returned, and, meeting another wounded American on his way to the dressing station, he helped him along to it, had his own arm dressed, and promptly returned to the American trenches. Here is another case that comes nearer home and concerning which 1 have first-hand knowledge. In the 107th regiment of the National Army, which, when it marched away to the war was New York's gallant and gallous Seventh, there Is a young top sergeant in one of the lower lettered let-tered companies. The regiment has been in France for several weeks. The young man has been a Scientist for several years. One evening, not long ago, he was seized with a violent pain in the region re-gion of the appendix, and was examined exam-ined by the army surgeon, who pronounced pro-nounced the attack acute appendicitis. appendici-tis. The young sergeant was packed off to a hospital to be operated on the first thing in the morning. Operate Op-erate on him. did the surgeon say? Not if the sergeant knew himself an) his Christian Science, and he thought he did. He kept his own counsel, but, as he lay there on his hospital cot, he set his mind to working overtime. He treated himself as a regular practitioner prac-titioner would have treated him, and |