DISCARNATE ENEMIES
5. The Spiritist has still other motives for being indulgent towards his enemies. In the first place, he knows that evil is not the permanent condition of mankind. This occurs due to the temporary state of imperfection, and just as children correct themselves of their defects, so the evil man or woman will one day recognise their errors and so gradually become good people.
The Spiritist also knows that death is only a relief from the material presence of the enemy, because this enemy can continue to pursue with hate even after leaving the Earth. They also know that the vengeance which was seized on fails in its objective, as it has the contrary effect of causing even more irritation, which is capable of continuing on from one existence to another. It was up to Spiritism to prove through experience and the law which governs relationships between the visible and invisible worlds, that the expression: extinguish hate with blood is radically wrong, and that in fact blood only feeds hate, even in the after-life. It is therefore up to the doctrine to offer a positive reason for this fact, together with a practical motive for forgiveness and for Christ's commandment: Love your enemies. There is no heart so perverse that it will refuse, even though reluctantly, to show itself to be sensitive to good behaviour. Through good comportment it is possible to take away all pretext for retaliation and , who knows, even make a friend out of an enemy, before and after death. Through bad behaviour Man only succeeds in irritating his enemy, who then becomes the instrument which God's Justice will use to serve as a punishment for those who are unable to forgive.
6. It is always possible to find enemies amongst both incarnates and discarnates. Our enemies in the invisible world manifest themselves and their malice by means of obsession and subjugations, as can be frequently seen. These represent a kind of trial, which as in other types of trials, help in the process of advancement, and for this reason the sufferer should accept them with a certain amount of resignation. These happenings are also a consequence of the inferior nature of this globe, for if there were no evil people on this planet then there would be no evil Spirits around it either. Hence, if we are to be benevolent with our incarnate enemies, we should also treat those of them who are discarnate in a like manner.
In days gone by it was the custom to make bloody sacrifices of innocent victims, in order to appease the hellish gods who were none other than evil Spirits. These fiendish gods followed on after the devils, who are the same thing. Spiritism shows us that these devils are merely the souls of perverse men and women, who have not yet disposed of their material instincts and that no one can succeed in appeasing them, except by sacrificing the hate that exists, that is to say, by being charitable towards them. This has the effect of not only stopping them in their evil practices, but also of recovering them and bringing them back to the path of goodness, thus contributing to their salvation. In this way the maxim: Love your enemies, is not circumscribed to the Earth ambient and the present life, but rather forms part of the great universal laws of solidarity and fraternity.
