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Show I Christian Scientists Working for Victory in the Great War I-(By I-(By James Arthur Seavey In tho New York Times for June 9, 1918.) "Onward, Christian Soldiers?" Why, bless your heart, they've been "on-warding" "on-warding" 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 van-guard of the army of Christian Scientists Scien-tists who arc going to help Pershing make tho world safe for democracy. And as every good American soldier is without reproach, so these Christian Chris-tian Science soldiers arc without fear. For every one of them knows and proclaims pro-claims as truths practical, undodge-able, undodge-able, hardscrabblo truth the words of the Ninety-first Psalm: Thou shalt not be afraid for tho terrdr by night; nor for the arrow that flleth by day, Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. noon-day. 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 toss-ed Into the ring, tho Christian Scien-1 tists went in after it. They hustled Into their fighting clothes, and they're i never going to shed them until the Sciencelcss and Godless and Gott-ln-1 voking German Emperor sees his I ppppn hosts of darkness broken and van- B quished by the battalions of light. Not Hj even Henry Ford is more determined H to "carry on" until the Allies have won the war than are the Christian Sclen- H tists. Their great organization is on Hl a war basis and their work is going on 1 in ever7 training camp In this country H and in the camps, the trenches and H the hospitals of Flanders and of H France. Hl But the world knows practically 1 nothing about Christian Science war- H riors and the war work of the organ - Hl ization, Everybody knows what the Red Cross and the Y. M. C. A. and H the Knights of Columbus and other H organizations are doing, but the Scl- H cntists have been working us the coral H insects work, and the reef of their la- H bor has received little notice. One ppppH reason for this probably may be found H in the fact that they ask no financial H assistance outside their own member- ship. While thore may bo individuals H in other religious denominations much H wealthier than any individual member H of the Christian Science denomination, H there probably is no denomination, in PPPH proportion to its size, which has the Hl aggregate wealth of this one. And this H is as It should be, if there is merit in H their metaphysics, for do they not de- H claro that they wcro .made In the im- H age and likeness of God, that He is PPPH all in all, that He is Truth and Love, PPPpH an Infinite Supply Station from which PPPPH to pour out' all good things to those PPPpHI who keep His laws? In other words: 1 "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, PPPPpi and His righteousness; and all these ppppH things shall be added unto you." H And this is the principle they applv PPPPpi in raising funds for war work. After PPPPH the United States declared war on PPPPH Germany the Mother Cnurcn in Bos- PPPPpi ton, on November 17, sent notices to PPPPH the three largest churches in each pppppHI state that, if a conference of churches PPPPH and societies in that state were called, PPPPH a representative of the Board of Di- PPPPpHj rectors of the Boston organization PPPPH would submit a plan for carrying on ppppH camp welfare work among the Chris - PPPPpH tlan Scientists in the army and navy pppppH camps in this country and in Europe. PPPPH Less than a month later the first war ppppH welfare work of American Christian PPPPpHI Scientists started at Camp Devcns, at PPPPpH Ayor, Mass. H Today, In tho thirty or forty camps pppppn rvrtd cantonments in tho United States, ppppH there are sixty-three Christian Science ppppH pamp workers, fifteen welfare room attendants, with forty-five automobiles and hundreds of others, as members here of local and stato camp welfare committees, are working to give all the aid .and comfort possible to the men who have been called to the colors. col-ors. There are plenty of persons who take no stock In the theory and practice prac-tice of Christian Science, and it Is not the purpose of this article to enter into any discussion of Christian Science as a roligious dogma. But when one examines ex-amines the machinery of their orani-zatlon, orani-zatlon, observes the smoothness and celerity with which it works, and sees tno 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 sizable special fund would havo to be raised. They just let the membership mem-bership in the churches of the country know that they wanted money and what they wanted it for, and, presto, tho money camo flowing in I Today the organization is spending $-40,000 a month in this work, and, as soon as I they need more dollars, they will send out a call a call only to Christian I Scientists, mind you and dollars will answer the call and keep on answering answer-ing until the war is over and the work lis done. For the edification of all and several sev-eral conscientious objectors (objectors 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 tak-en 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 got out of serving in the army, and finally said he was a Christian Scientist, and that the teachings of his church forbade for-bade him to fight anybody. The Chairman of the board inquired to which Christian Science church he belonged. Tho man named the church and tho Chairman got sdmo one in authority there on the telophone 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 now that no one who tells such a story is a Christian Scientist, or, with such views, could be. Tho Christian Science denomination is with the Entente En-tente Allies in winning thi3 war, and winning it just as quickly as possible. We are in it to a finish with our men and our money and all tho strength that the teachings of Christian Science can give to a just cause." The slacker ceased to slack. Every Christian Scientist I have met in this Investigation seems the happiest hap-piest individual I ever have encountered. encount-ered. 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 ho 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 a Christian Scientist" Sci-entist" arrives at a camp, one of tho workers makes his acquaintance. He is asked whether he is comfortable or needs anything, permitted by tho army or navy regulations, that can make him more comfortable. Whatever he asks for that is proper for him to havo 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 that his family docs or may need, "he tells the story, the address of the fam- s ily is taken, the address is forwarded to tho Christian Science Church nearest near-est tho boy's homo, somebody from that church is directed to visit the home, and, from that moment, that family will want for nothing 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 bo a soldier, put his education edu-cation behind the guns "over thero" and be happy. It Is possible to realize, and with no great mental effort that an Ameri-i can soldier overseas, certain in his mind that all is well at home, and having neither camp grouch nor trench grouch, will fight harder and more intelligently in-telligently than the soldier whose mind is troubled and distraught. If that be true, then the Christian Science brand of happiness handed over. to tho rookie rook-ie In the training camp makes for fighting efficiency. If it docs, more power to it! Congress ought to make a special appropriation for its general distribution. And these Christian Science soldiers meet another brigade of happiness purveyors almost as soon as they debark de-bark from the transports. The army welfare work in France and in Flanders Flan-ders Is in charge of Paul Harsch, nine lieutenants, and hundreds of secretaries. secretar-ies. 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 work-ers from the Schristian Scientists in France and in England. Tho combined force is formidable In numbers and contains many practitioners. To Mr. Harsch's committee is forwarded from this country the products of tho Christian Chris-tian Science Comforts Forwarding Committee. Branches of this committee commit-tee are working In every state in the Union, the headquarters of tho New York City branch being at 125 West Forty-third street. The Christian Science women work along lines similar sim-ilar to those of the women of other denominations and other organizations. organiza-tions. They knit socks and sweaters and helmets and wristlets and gauntlets, gaunt-lets, and they prepare comfort kits which carry real comfort to the Christian Chris-tian Science soldiers "over there." If all the Christian Scientists in Pershing's army wero bridged together, togeth-er, there would be, in tho 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 must be subordinated. subordin-ated. If the teachings of Christian Science aro 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, thero 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 docs. Applying the same kind of reasoning a little further, If the entire" American army, in the force that it will finally muster on the west front, wero composed com-posed entirely of Christian Scientists, Pershing would bo leading the grand march into Berlin before the Kaiser knew what had hit him. The total absence of fear on the part of Christian Chris-tian Science soldiers was emphasized in the Christian Science Sentinel in an editorial published on April 17, whictii In part reads: "Many of the members of this (Science) (Sci-ence) invincible army wear the uniform uni-form of their country and go where their duty calls them to be. finding no k 'valley of the shadow of death' to go through, because thoy maintain tho assurance that God is lifo and man cannot be separated from God. Consequently, Con-sequently, amid trials they aro not afraid and glvb courage to their comrades." com-rades." In a recent Issue of Tho Christian Science Monitor wo find this: "Now, in destroying an unreal mental phenomenon, phe-nomenon, thero is no difference whether whe-ther it be a torpedo In the Atlantic, a shell In No Man's Land, a wound in a dressing station, or a fever in a baso hospital. You do not turn aside a torpedo or a shell In flight, or a bayonet bayo-net thrust any more than you will turn a fever. What you do is to realize rea-lize that these things are 'not made of things that do appear.' You endeavor en-deavor to grasp the fact that, inasmuch inas-much as a lie cannot be about nothing, your torpedo, shell, bayonet thrust, or fever must be a lie about some truth, which, y.-hen, youjcl'.now it, rf rees you from thir effect of the Ignorance bred to tho material concept. When once you have grasped that metaphysically, metaphysi-cally, and attune your life to that precept, pre-cept, you will find how uttorly impossible impos-sible it is that the false concept of a He, whether in tho shape of torpedo, shell, bayonet thrust, or fever, shall ever come nigh you." If that theory works in Franco and in Flanders, it's all off with the Kaiser Kai-ser and the rest of tho Central Powers! Pow-ers! Or, rather, it would be, if we could havo more Christian Scientists in our army than anything else. For, If our shells and shrapnel and tho bullets bul-lets of our machine guns and rifles can anulhlliate, but the shells and shrapnel and bullets of the enemy can do no harm, then it Is absolutely certain cer-tain that the Germans can't win if they fight a million years provided the allied al-lied armies wero made up entirely of Christian Scientists. But the most mystifying and interesting inter-esting featuro of this theory is that it works. At least, Christian Scientists havo gone down into tho valley of the shadow in Flanders and in France and havo come back unscathed to tell their story, while soldiers 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 tho names and addresses ad-dresses of the men referred to. For instance, take the case of those two Christian Science boys In tho British army at the battle of Vimy Ridge. Tho fighting for the possession of that little elevation above the sand dunes of Flanders had been raging all day. Half tho regiment to which these English Eng-lish boys belonged had been cut to pieces. In the lato afternoon, when the western sky was brilliant with tho colors of the sunset, the Britishers found themselves entirely cut off from their comrades, with shrapnel and gas shells and machine gun bullots screaming and whistling all about them. They could neither advance nor retreat. They made their, way as best they could, first one direction and then in another along tho ridge, and finally dropped Into a deep shell hole. The shells continued to shriek and break above them, but-"nono came nigh unto them." After a little they pulled themselves together and one quietly drew from his pockcr the Sunday school lesson for the following Sunday and suggested to his comrado 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 of the west and the night shadows had fallen over tho field, although tho big guns were still booming, tho boys decided de-cided to attompt to get back to their own line. They affirmed to each other their oneness with God. Life; and, sometimes crawling, sometimes running, run-ning, sometimes lying flat on their faces, they eventually got safely back among their fellows in the British forces. for-ces. In the first raid made by the Germans Ger-mans on the- American sector near Toul a noncommissioned officer of tho old American regular army got a nasty wound in one of his arms between be-tween the wrist and the olbow. Ho was ordered to a front line dressing station, but had not gone far when ho 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 "rea-lized that God Is lifo, not death, that all strength 13 in mind, not in matter, and that it was not for me to bleed to t m ii i i 1 1 1 1 i in i ''Iff ' ' ' - iii ii TaMnr death when thero was good American flphting to bo done." In a short time the flow of blood stopped, his strength returned, and meeting another wounded American on his way to tho dressing station, he helped him along to it, had his own arm dressed, and promptly returned to the American trenches. neic is another caso that comes nearer homo and concerning which I havo first-hand knowledge. In the 107th regiment of the National Army, which, when it marched away to the war was New York's own gallant and Gallous Sovonth, there is a young top sergeant in ono of the lower-lettered companies. The regiment has been in France for several weeks. The young man has been a Scientist for several years. Ono evening, not long ago, he was seizor yith a violent pain in the region re-gion (iJs appendix, and was examined exam-ined by. 'tho army surgeon, who pronounced, pro-nounced, the attack acute appendicitis. The young sergeant was packed off to a hospital to be operated on tho first thing in the morning. Operate on him, did the surgeon say? Not if the sergeant ser-geant knew himself and his Christian Science, and he thought ho did. He kept his own counsel, but, as he lay there on his hospital cot, ho set his mind to working overtime. He treated himself as a regular practitioner practi-tioner would havo treated him, and soon he fell asleep. Ho was still sleeping when tho hospital orderly came along to toll him that everything was ready for the operation. The boy blinked his eyes a second or two and then remarked: "Operation? Nix. What I want is my clothes and some breakfast and then to get back on tho Job." And before the astonished orderly quite realized what had happened, the young New Yorker hopped out of bed and capered blithely around tho ward. The surgeon was summoned and, after looking tho sergeant all over, concluded con-cluded that, if the pain had not been caused by an inflamed appendix, it was probably caused from an affection of the kidneys. This was more than the risibilities of the boy could stand, and he laughingly exclaimed: "Say, doc, stop your kidding. I never had anything tho matter with my kidneys in my life. If you don't believe It, give me the kind of physical physi-cal examination you would give a chap whom you wanted to keep out of the service." The examination was made and Ser-Blank Ser-Blank of Company , 107th National army, received a clean bill of health. Some ono reading these lines, and knowing that Christian Science will I not mix with medicine, and that Chris-1 tlan Scientists will havo nothing to do with physicians, may observe that, be cause or the army anu navy regulations, regula-tions, sick or wounded Christian Science Sci-ence soldiers must go to army hospitals hospi-tals to be treated whether they llko It or not. That Is true, and, what is' more, every Christian Science soldier makes it his particular business to obey to the letter evory regulation of the service. If ho is ordered to be vaccinated against an attack of typhoid ty-phoid fever, he makes not the slightest slight-est protest. If he Is ordered to a hospital, hos-pital, he goes with a smile, He "takes his medicine" and ho takes his surgery, sur-gery, if those are the orders. But, if the sick or wounded Christian Chris-tian Scientists aro suffiently advanced to treat themselves, they let the physicians phy-sicians and surgeons do their level "worst" and, when they get well they give dovout thanks for having been healed in Christian Science. If they aro not sufficiently advanced in their study to heal themselves, thoy will manage, whether they are in France or In Flanders, in Plcardy or among the- Vosges, to got word to a war front practitioner and ho will find a way to glvo his soldier both present and absent treatment. Thus do these people, as an organization, organ-ization, carry on their war work in camp, on battlefield, and in hospital, and thus do their soldiers fight to make this world a decent place to live in and all men free. They not only supply funds for Iheir own work, but they work with tho Y. M. C. A. and tho Red Cross and have contributed of their wealth to both. Some may ridicule them and denounce and condemn con-demn their practice, but never a dent do the jeers make in the armor of the I Scientists, never one shadow do thoy 1 1 throw upon the smile that never comes I off. Whether they take stock in their I dogma or not, they are splendidly" helping to win this war that never, again may war scourge tho world. Fori this they should have, and, doubtless ; will receive, a nation's gratitude. j |
