To begin, I hereby
register that part of
this text was copied
from one of Leon Denis’
works, entitled After
Death. Of course, it
is a very tight summary
of the chapter, as the
author extends many
philosophical
considerations and it
would be impossible to
discuss them all.
When we want to talk
about morals, it is
necessary to examine
what effects a
philosophical doctrine
has on social life.
Thus, let us talk about
two of them: Materialism
and Positivism.
From this point of view,
materialist theories,
based on fatalism, are
incapable of serving as
incentive to the moral
life, as a sanction to
the laws of conscience.
The idea, entirely
mechanical, that they
give to the world and to
life, destroys the
notion of freedom and,
consequently, that of
responsibility. They
make the struggle for
life an implacable law,
by which the weak must
succumb to the blows of
the strong, a law that
banishes the reign of
peace, solidarity and
human fraternity from
Earth forever.
Undoubtedly, there are
honest materialists and
virtuous atheists, but
this is not due to the
rigorous application of
their convictions. If
they are so, it is in
spite of their opinions
and not because of them;
it is because of a
secret impulse of his
nature, it is because
his conscience has been
able to resist all
sophistry.
With the conviction that
there is nothing more
than the present life,
and that no other
justice superior to that
of men exists, everyone
can say, “Why fight and
suffer?” Why piety,
courage, righteousness?
Why constrain and tame
our appetites and
desires?
If humanity is left to
itself, if nowhere is
there an intelligent and
equitable power to
judge, guide and sustain
it, what help can it
expect? What help will
lighten the weight of
your trials?
If there is no reason,
justice, love, or
anything else in the
Universe but the blind
force binding beings and
worlds to the yoke of a
fatality, without
thought, without soul,
without conscience, then
the ideal, the good, the
moral beauty there are
so many illusions and
lies. It is no longer
there, however, in brute
reality; it is no longer
in duty, but in
enjoyment, that man
needs to see the goal of
life, and, in order to
achieve it, he must go
beyond all vain
sentimentality.
If we came from nothing
to return to nothing, if
the same fate awaits the
criminal and the
dedicated man; whether,
according to chance
combinations, some
should be exclusively
devoted to work, and
others to honors; then,
hope is a utopia, since
there is no consolation
for the afflicted,
justice for the victims
of fate.
But thought and reason
shudder and protest
against these doctrines
of desolation, asserting
that man struggles,
works and suffers, not,
however, to end up in
nothingness; saying that
matter is not
everything, that there
are laws superior to it,
laws of order and
harmony, and that the
Universe is not just a
conscious mechanism.
Positivism, in turn,
moves away from any
metaphysical study.
(Metaphysics is a Greek
word and it means "what
is beyond physics" ...
the common foundation of
everything that exists,
the soul, God, the
purpose of existence and
the being while a being,
for example, are objects
of study of
metaphysics). It removes
any investigation of
primary causes, and it
establishes that man can
know nothing about the
beginning of things;
that, therefore, the
study of the world and
life is superfluous.
Positivism lies in the
impossibility of
providing conscience
with a moral basis. In
this world, man does not
only have rights to
exercise, he also has
duties to fulfill, being
the unavoidable
condition of any social
order.
To fulfill the duties,
it is necessary to know
them, and how can one
possess this knowledge
without asking oneself
the aim of life, the
origins and ends of
being? How can we
conform to the rule of
things, if we forbid
ourselves to explore the
domain of the moral
world and the studies of
the facts of conscience?
Having made these
considerations, let us
get into the matter
itself, the Moral
Crisis.
Many conquests have
taken place in the most
diverse areas. However,
unfortunately, moral
progress is very poor.
Our evils, despite the
progress of science and
the development of
education, lie in the
fact that man is
ignorant of himself.
How will Humanity get
out of this state of
crisis?
There is only one way to
find the path of
conciliation where these
two enemy forces,
Sentiment and Reason,
can unite for the good
and salvation of all.
Every human being has
within himself these two
forces, under whose
empire he thinks and
proceeds.
In order to end this
conflict, it is
necessary that the light
be made in the eyes of
all, great and small,
rich and poor, men,
women and children; it
is necessary for a new
popular teaching to
enlighten souls as to
their origin, their
duties and destinies.
Moreover, in this
regard, the Doctrine of
the Spirits appears as a
light to clarify the
shadows, to redeem the
wicked, to clarify the
ignorant, and to free
the human creature from
all its bonds.
With it, we know where
we came from. We know
that we will have a
continuation, because it
reveals to us the
immortality of the soul,
it makes us activate the
heart of our tired
souls, the Divine and
Universal Laws that
await us to observe
them. It has learned
principles that awaken
the feeling of morality,
which molds our
character and opens our
hearts.
Fiat-Lux!
If we rightly inquire
into the origin of the
great evils, which - in
their various modalities
- make men unhappy, we
find them in moral
blindness. Misery,
illness, crime, war, the
depravity of customs
contain problems that
can only be resolved by
the light of the spirit,
since such scourges have
their roots in the
darkness of conscience.
More than urgent, it is
necessary to light the
internal lamp, to
develop the visual
faculties of the soul.
This crooked path,
described above, through
which youth enters, is
the unavoidable result
of spiritual blindness.
If she had “eyes to
see”, she would not
wander at the disposal
of the passions, thus
falling down the slope
of corruption that
degrades and degrades
her. Moreover, it is not
just youth; mature men,
even gray-haired, from
whom it was lawful to
expect edifying
examples, present
themselves attacked by
the same pestilent
virus, the same
blindness that
completely disables the
organs of the light of
life.
We also know that evil
can be remedied. It can
be healed through the
restoration of
Christianity in hearts,
the one propagated by
our Master, who came to
bring the Light to the
world.
There is material sun
and there is moral sun.
One meets the needs of
the animal. The other
meets the needs of the
spirit. Just as animal
life is bound by the
influences of heat,
light and magnetism of
the one, so the life of
the spirit is directly
dependent on the heat,
light and magnetism of
the other. There is no
physical hygiene where
the sun's rays do not
penetrate freely. In
turn, there is no
hygiene of the soul
where the influx of
eternal morals revealed
by Jesus Christ does not
have free and open
access.
Jesus is the light of
the world. He is the
spiritual sun of our
world. Whoever follows
Him will not walk in
darkness. Whoever
despises Him condemns
himself to blindness of
the soul, that blindness
capable of plunging man
into the pelagoes of
unfathomable abysses.
Let us think about it!
|