INFLUENCE OF SPIRITISM.

At first the adversaries of Spiritism employed against it the weapon of ridicule and dubbed, without ceremony, all its partisans as madmen. This weapon not only loses its force, but begins to become ridiculous itself, both because of the increase in the number of these supposed madmen in every country, and because of the necessity of sending to asylums the most eminent men, whether for their learning or for their social position. So they changed their weapons and, adopting a more serious tone, took pity on the lot reserved for Humanity by this doctrine, whose dangers they exalted, without reflecting that to proclaim the danger of a thing is to confirm its reality. If Spiritism is a chimera, why so much labor in combating it? It is to tilt at windmills. Leave it in peace and it will die a natural death.

But behold, instead of dying, it spreads with incredible rapidity, and its adherents multiply at every point of the globe, to such a degree that, if this continues, there will soon be more madmen than sensible people. Now, who contributed to this result? It was the adversaries themselves who carried out the propaganda without wishing to. Their diatribes produced the effect of the forbidden fruit. Since they so obstinately rail against this monster, people deduced, it must be, then, that there is a monster. A very logical reasoning! And, excited by curiosity, they wished to see, even if it were through their fingers, covering their eyes. And so did many people who, without this, might never have heard Spiritism spoken of, or at least would not have concerned themselves with it. If Spiritism is a reality, it is because it is in Nature; it is not a theory, an opinion, a system: they are facts. If it is dangerous, it must be given a direction. One does not suppress a river, one directs its course. Let us see, then, in a few words, what these supposed dangers are. It is said that it can produce a deplorable impression upon the mental faculties. We have already explained ourselves sufficiently in the course of this work concerning the true origin of this danger, which proceeds precisely from those who think to combat it by inoculating in weak brains the idea of the devil or the demon. The exaltation—it is true—may also come in the opposite sense. Yet, setting aside any idea of Spiritism, do we not see some brains disturbed by a false appreciation of the most sacred things? Recently, the newspapers reported the case of a young country woman who, taking literally these words of the Gospel: If thy hand is a cause of scandal, cut it off, severed her wrist with blows of an axe. Should one conclude from this that the Gospel is dangerous? And that mother who killed her children to make them enter paradise sooner, does she prove that the idea of paradise is dangerous? In support of this accusation against Spiritism, figures are cited and it is said, for example, that in the United States, in a single region, four thousand cases of madness are counted as caused by these ideas. To those who advance facts of this kind, we ask, first, from what source they gathered them, and whether the statistic they establish is in fact authentic. We judge it drawn from some newspapers of that country which, like all the adversaries, believing they have the monopoly of good sense, treat as deranged brains all those who believe in the manifestations of the spirits. It is no wonder that, with such a system, four thousand cases were found. This figure even seems to us very modest, for it is by hundreds of thousands that they are counted today. Build asylums, then, for all these people! But enough of this subject, which does not deserve a more serious examination. Let us look at a much graver accusation. Certain persons say that Spiritism destroys religion. One is quite right in saying that nothing is more dangerous than a foolish friend. These persons do not consider that, in saying this, they themselves attack religion at its fundamental base: its eternity. What! a religion established by God himself would be compromised by a few rapping spirits! Do you then believe in the power of these spirits which, at other times, in your opinion, are no more than chimeras? Be at least, then, in agreement with yourselves. If these spirits are myths, what have you to fear? If they exist, it is one of two things: either you judge them very powerful or you judge religion very weak. Choose! But, you will say, we do not fear the spirits, we do not believe in them; we dread only the false doctrines of those who advocate them. So be it! But, in your view, those who believe in the spirits are madmen. Do you then fear that madmen will shake the Church? Choose again. As for us, we shall say that those who employ this language have no faith, for it is not to have faith in the power of God to judge vulnerable, through such fragile causes, a religion of which Jesus is said to have declared: “The gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Let us see, however, in what the Doctrine is contrary to religious principles. What do these spirits, so dangerous, teach? They say this: “Love God above all things and your neighbor as yourself. Love one another as brothers. Forgive your enemies; forget injuries; do unto others what you would have them do unto you; do not content yourselves with doing no evil, do good; bear with patience and resignation the trials of life; banish from your heart egoism, pride, envy, hatred, jealousy.” They also say: “God gives you the goods of the Earth for you to make good use of them and not to enjoy them like misers; sensuality lowers you to the level of animals.” But Jesus said all this; their morality is, therefore, that of the Gospel.

Do the spirits teach the dogma of fatality? No! They proclaim that man is free in all his actions and responsible for his works. Do they say that it matters little how one behaves here on Earth and that the destiny is the same after death? Absolutely not! They recognize future punishments and rewards; they do more: they make them manifest, for it is the very beings, happy or wretched, who come to describe to us their sufferings and their joys. It is true that they do not explain them exactly as is done among us; that they do not admit a material fire to burn immaterial souls eternally. But what matters the form, if the substance exists? Unless one means to claim that the form should prevail over the substance, the figurative sense over the proper sense.

Have not religious beliefs been modified in many passages of the Scriptures, notably in the six days of Creation, which are very well known not to be six times twenty-four hours, but, perhaps, six times a hundred thousand years? in the antiquity of the terrestrial globe, in the movement of the Earth around the Sun? What was formerly regarded as a heresy worthy of the terrestrial and celestial fire, and as the subversion of religion, is it not today admitted by the Church, ever since positive science came to demonstrate, not the error of the text, but the false interpretation that had been given to it? The same occurs with hell, which it no longer places in the bowels of the Earth, since an investigating gaze was cast there. High Theology perfectly admits the existence of a moral fire; it no longer assigns a determined place for purgatory, since the depths of space have been sounded, and it thinks that it could be everywhere, even at our side. Religion, far from suffering from this, has gained by not obstinately resisting the evidence of the facts. It must not be judged by what is still taught in village schools, where superior doctrines would not be understood. The high clergy is more enlightened than the world generally judges it to be, and has proved, on many occasions, that it knows, in case of need, how to abandon the difficult situations of tradition and prejudice. But there are persons who wish to be more religious than religion and who debase it by the pettiness of their vision. For them the form is everything, even above the morality of the Gospel, which they practice very little. These are the persons who harm the Church most. In what, then, would the Spiritist Doctrine be pernicious to them? It explains what was inexplicable, demonstrates the possibility of what had been judged impossible, proves the usefulness of prayer. It merely says that the prayer of the heart is the only efficacious one and that that of the lips is a vain simulacrum. Who would dare maintain the contrary?

The non-eternity of punishments! Reincarnation! There is the difficulty. But if one day these facts become as manifest and as commonplace as the movement of the Earth around the Sun, they will have to yield to the evidence, as they did with the rest. And then, by researching carefully from now on, perhaps it will be easier to reach an agreement than is thought. Let them not be hasty, then, in pronouncing a judgment that could be too precipitate, and let them profit from the lessons of History.

The greatest enemy of religion is materialism, and this has no ruder adversary than the Spiritist Doctrine. Spiritism has already led back to spiritualism numerous obstinate materialists who, until then, had resisted all theological arguments. It is that Spiritism does more than argue: it makes things manifest; it is, therefore, the most powerful auxiliary of religious ideas, for it gives man the conviction of his future destiny, and must, for this reason, be welcomed as a benefit to Humanity.

It has revived in more than one heart faith in Providence; it has caused hope to spring up in the place of doubt. It has done better: it has snatched some victims from suicide, reestablished peace and concord in families, calmed hatreds, cooled brutal passions, disarmed vengeance, and brought resignation to the soul of the sufferer. Is it subversive of the social order and of public morality? A doctrine that condemns hatred and egoism, that preaches disinterestedness, love of neighbor, without exception of sects or castes, cannot excite hostile passions and would be desirable for the tranquility of the world and the happiness of the human race. If all men understood and practiced its principles, they would have nothing to fear from one another.

This is where the madness of Spiritism leads in those who, delving into these mysteries, see in the manifestations something more than turning tables and demons that give raps.