AT the time when people said one to another, "Is not this he, whom they seek to kill?" Jesus of Nazareth declared the right way of thinking when he said, "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." The very persons who were planning how they might destroy our Master, believed theoretically in their own law which forbade killing, since "whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment." Yet they were inflamed with anger due to their misunderstanding, and their thoughts were of murder. No wonder that in his Sermon on the Mount Jesus had said, "Whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment." The chief objection to sensational journalism is its constant tendency to induce anger without cause, unrighteous judgment, and hatred; to make as many as possible of the children of men active participants in the spirit of Cain.
Mrs. Eddy's words descriptive of the mission of The Christian Science Monitor in the field of journalism, sound the bugle-call to different action, denying forever that bearing of false witness against a neighbor which will induce other men to hate him. It requires rather that "speaking the truth in love" which will correct the erring, if need be, make wise those who are deceived, and in all men quicken the kindly sympathy whereby the best in others is called forth. "The object of the Monitor is to injure no man, but to bless all mankind" (The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 353). Verily the Leader of the Christian Science movement intended her followers to understand the world-wideness of her vision of healing, that they might change from any effort to hurt or destroy, and engage in the endeavor to bless and to redeem the whole world through knowledge of God as "the saving Principle, or divine Love" (Science and Health, p. 285). Christian Scientists are therefore climbing upward "on stepping-stones of their dead selves to higher things," being delivered from narrowness of view and hostility to others as they come to understand the life-work of the one who by her written word still guides the Christian Science movement, and as they rise to her vision of universal good will, which it will be the privilege of the Monitor to unfold to the world.
In the world of business activity, wherein products move from maker to transporter, thence to dealer and consumer, the sense of profit gained in each transaction has been termed the oil that lubricates the machinery of business. In the world of benevolent action, wherein satisfaction comes from giving rather than from getting, that which makes action comfortable and harmonious is good will. Jesus made clear what constitutes the right basis for good will when he said, "Freely ye have received, freely give." When the actual demonstration of a daily newspaper by Christian Scientists began, the movement had been receiving for about forty years the guidance and devoted labor of the Discoverer and Founder of Christian Science; and the workers in the movement having received, were themselves becoming able to give in a universal sense. There were the monthly and weekly periodicals as mediums for the message of good will, but the Monitor, when added as a daily messenger, made opportunity world-wide. This daily newspaper will grow in discernment of the movements and processes whereby manhood and womanhood appear out of the nebulous conditions of humanity, and will interpret human advancement anywhere for the greater encouragement and inspiration of all men everywhere.
