The Spiritist Review - Journal of Psychological Studies - 1863

Allan Kardec

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Struggle between past and future

There is right now a real crusade against Spiritism as we have been informed. Articles are produced everywhere containing speeches and even acts of violence and intolerance. Every Spiritist must rejoice for this is a positive proof that Spiritism is not a farce. Would they make such a noise for a flying insect? The prodigious speed with which the new idea propagates is what drives such a rage, despite everything they did to stop it. Our adversaries, forced by the evidence to acknowledge that such progress invades the most enlightened layers of society and even the persons of science, are now reduced to deplore this fatal attraction that leads the whole society to the psychiatric hospitals.

Mockery has run out of jokes and sarcasm in its arsenal and their weapon, which is believed to be so terrible, has failed to attract more jesters to their side of the fence, proving that, in this case, there is no matter for laughter. It is no less evident that not a single follower of the Doctrine was converted but, much to the contrary, their numbers increased visibly. There is a very simple reason: people promptly recognized the profound religious principles of this Doctrine that touches the most sensitive fibers of the heart; that elevates the soul to infinity; that brings those who had forgotten to acknowledge God. It has rescued so many people out of despair, it has mitigated so much pain, healed so many moral ulcers that the silly and vulgar jokes against it inspire more disgust than sympathy. The scoffers unsuccessfully struggled to make people laugh at it. There are things that we instinctively feel that should not be laughed at without profanation.

If there are people, however, who only know the Doctrine from what they hear pranksters of bad taste hence believing that it is no more than a useless dream, no more than elucubrations of a sick mind, then it is too bad that they are deceived. After hearing so many furious declamations, they must say to themselves that it is more serious than they thought.

The population may be divided in three classes: the believers, the unbelievers and the indifferent. If the number of believers is hundreds of times higher in a few years, they must have come out of these two other categories. However, the Spirits who oversee the movement still believed that it was not fast enough. There is still, they say, a lot of people who have not even heard of Spiritism, particularly in the country. It is time for the Doctrine to get there. Besides, it is necessary to wake up the torpid indifferent ones.

Scorn has played its role in the involuntary propaganda but it has used up all the arrows from the quiver and the only darts left now are harmless. Now it is just a little faded flame. Something more powerful is needed, something noisier than small comments printed in the newspapers ; something that is heard even in solitude. It is necessary that the last hamlet hears about Spiritism. When they hear the uproar of the artillery they will ask: What is it about? They will be willing to see.

When we wrote the brochure “Spiritism in its simplest expression” we asked our spiritual guides what would be the effect that it would have. They responded: it will have an effect that you do not expect, that is, your adversaries will be furious when they see a low cost publication spreading within the masses, penetrating everywhere. You have already been announced large scale hostilities and the brochure shall be the sign. Don’t worry, you know the end. They are upset due to the difficulty to refute your arguments. – If that is the case, we say, the brochure that should be sold for 25 cents will now be 2 cents cheaper. The events justified the forecast and we congratulate ourselves for that.

As a matter of fact, everything that is happening was foreseen and was to be for the good of the cause. When you see some great hostile demonstration, far from scaring you, rejoice-in, because it was said: the rumbling of thunder will signal the approach of the predicted time. Pray then, my brothers; especially pray for your enemies, for they shall be taken by a true vertigo.

But it is not all done yet; the flames of the pyre of Barcelona did not rise high enough. If it happens again somewhere else refrain from putting it out for the more it rises the more it can be seen from afar, like a lighthouse, and it will remain in the memory of the ages. Let it be and do not oppose violence with violence in any way. Remember what Christ said to Peter to put his sword back in the scabbard. Do not imitate the sects that destroyed one another in the name of a God of peace, that each invoked to support their own fury.

Truth is not proven by persecution, but by reasoning; the persecutions have always been the weapon of bad causes, and by those who take the triumph of brute force by that of reason. Persecution is a bad way of persuasion; it may temporarily bring the weakest down but it can never convince because even when plunged in distress he will cry, like Galileo in prison: “e pur si muove!”[1] Resorting to persecution is to prove that one does not rely much on the power of logic. Retaliation, never! Oppose violence with kindness and unalterable peace; pay back the bad actions of your enemies with good; you will then belie their calumnies, and force them to recognize that your beliefs are better they what they say.

Slander! You will say. Without emotion can you see our doctrine unworthily stained by lies? Accused of saying what it does not say, of teaching the opposite of what it teaches, producing evil while it does so much good? Can’t the authority of those who hold such a language distort the opinion and delay the progress of Spiritism?

That is, undoubtedly, their objective. Will they achieve it? That is another issue and we do not hesitate to say that they meet a completely opposite result: discredit themselves and their own cause.

Without contradiction calumny is a dangerous and perfidious weapon but it cuts both ways and always hurts the one that employs it. Resorting to lies is the strongest proof that they do not have good reasons to provide otherwise they would not go without showing their arguments.

If you believe that something is bad, say it; scream from the rooftops if you can. It is up to the public to judge if you are right or wrong. However, altering something to support your feeling is unworthy of any self-respect.

In the criticism of literary works, it is common to see opposing views. One critic praises what is attacked by another. It is one’s right. But what do think of someone that made believe that the author said what he did not say and attribute bad words to him just to sustain his attacks and demonstrate that the poetry is horrible?

That is how the detractors of Spiritism proceed; through their calumnies they demonstrate the weaknesses of their own cause and discredit it showing the regrettable extremes that they are forced to get at to sustain it. What weight can an opinion founded on clear mistakes have? It is one of two possibilities: either the errors are voluntary and the ill-faith is proven or they are involuntary and the author demonstrates inconsequence by speaking of something that is ignored. Either way there is no case for trust.

Spiritism is not a work that hides in the shadow. It is known; its principle is clearly stated with precision and without ambiguities. Hence, calumny could not harm it. To convince of the imposture it is enough to say: Go and look for yourself. There is no doubt that it is useful to unmask calumny. But it is necessary to do that with calm, without the acrimony of recrimination, limiting to oppose without superfluous words, showing what it is and what it is not. Leave range and injury to the adversaries and keep the role of the true force to yourself: dignity and moderation.

By the way one must not exaggerate the consequences of those calumnies that carry the antidote to their own poison and are definitely more advantageous than dangerous. They forcibly provoke the examination by serious people who want to assess things on their own, dragged to them by the importance the matter has achieved. Far from fearing examination Spiritism provokes it and just regrets one thing: that so many people talk about it like the blind talk about colors. But thanks to the efforts employed by our adversaries to make it known soon such inconvenient will no longer exist and that is all we ask. Calumny that results from such examination exalts instead of diminishing Spiritism.

Therefore, Spiritists are not sorry for such falsities. They do not subtract any quality from Spiritism. On the contrary they will make it stick out shinier due to the contrast and will confuse the slanderers.

Such lies can certainly have the immediate effect of abusing and even confusing certain person but so what? What are a few individuals before the masses? You yourself know how insignificant their numbers are. Which influence will it have in the future? You may rest assured of that future: the facts carried out by Spiritism respond to that and bring every day the proof of the uselessness of the attacks of the detractors.

Wasn’t Jesus’ Doctrine slandered, qualified as impious and subversive? Wasn’t Jesus himself treated as mad and impostor? Has it affected him? No because he knew that his enemies would pass and his Doctrine would stay.

That is how it is going to be with Spiritism. Singular coincidence! Spiritism is nothing else but the return to the pure doctrine of Jesus Christ and it is attacked with the same weapons! But its detractors will pass; it is a necessity that cannot be taken from anyone.

The current generation extinguishes every day and with that the persons full of prejudice of another time. The one that blossoms is fed by new ideas and in fact you know that it is composed of more advanced Spirits that in the end must have Earth governed by the law of God.

Hence look at things from above and do not see them from the narrow point of view of the present but stretch your eyes towards the future and say: future belongs to us! What are the personal issues? People pass and the institutions stay.

Keep in mind that we live a transition period; that we watch the struggle between past that pulls back and the emerging future that pushes forward. Which one shall win? The past is old and outdated – we talk about ideas – while future is young and walks towards progress that is in God’s laws. Gone are people of the past; there come those of the future. We must learn, however, to wait and trust and congratulate ourselves for pioneering the ground preparation. If we have work, we shall be compensated. Hence let us work but not through a weak and thoughtless propaganda instead with the patience and perseverance of the worker who knows the time needed to wait for the harvest.

Let us spread the idea but without compromising the crop by an unseasonable sowing and by our own impatience, anticipating the correct season for each thing. Let us cultivate particularly the fertile plants that only need to be planted. They are in numbers large enough to occupy our time without spending our energy with the unyielding rocks that God will shake and remove when the time is right for if he can raise mountains he can also take them down.

Let us speak without dissimulation and clearly state that there are resistances and that it will be useless to try to overcome them that are more adamant due to self-love than conviction. They will not give in but through the power of persuasion of general opinion. Let us recruit followers among people of good will and there are many; let us grow the phalanx will all those who are tired by the doubt and horrified by the materialistic idea of the void and only wish to believe; their number will soon be so great that others will surrender to the evidence. The result can already be seen. Wait and you will soon see in your ranks those that you expected to join in the end.



[1] Yet, it moves! (TN)


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