Divinity seems to have put within the grasp of man's Intelligence (if he _chooses and wills_) an almost infinite range in power, variety and application, of that subtle and basic Principle of affinity, balance and equilibrium, that unites the atoms in a molecule, or a chemical substance; that law of attraction and repulsion--the Parallelogram of Force--that holds the planets in their orbits. Divinity seems to have taken man into council and offered him, not only the Kingdom of Nature, but the royal domain of his own soul, as a reward for co-operation and loyal service, on condition that he shall use wisely, intelligently, loyally, and kindly, and not misuse or abuse.
Is it _worth while_? Will it _pay_?
Nor is this all, beneficent as it seems. The whole journey of life on the physical plane here below is so designed and planned as to make the natural aging and decay of the physical body supplement, unfold and develop the Spiritual Body, through the right use of the faculties, capacities, and powers of the Human Soul--the Individual Intelligence.
These are aspects, uses and powers of that subtle _something_ we call _Life_; that _Principle_ that
"Runs through all time, extends through all extent, Lives undivided, operates unspent."
Normal use that insures growth and development, range and power of action, is also, from first to last, a _refining_ process; while misuse and abuse of these powers degrade and brutalize _inevitably_.
It follows, therefore, as the bodily structure and functions fail _under normal use_ those of the spiritual body open, develop and unfold. First the seed, then the plant, then the flower and finally the fruit "of a well-spent life."
There is no "theory" or "guess-work" about it. It becomes, step by step, a matter of conscious, intelligent, individual experience. We know it just as we know that fire will burn or that we are here now, living, breathing, and acting.
If I thrust my finger into a flame, all the philosophers and metaphysicians of the world could not "argue" me out of the experience of the fact of "burn" and "pain"; nor could theologians succeed any better by quotations from Scripture! Man is so constituted that the _facts_ of _experience_ are stubborn things; and the more open to reason the individual the more convincing the facts of experience. Ignorance, superstition, and fear recede in the presence of these Lights of man's intelligence, as do dogma and despotism, that seek to enslave the human soul.
Theologians tell us that it is exceeding dangerous to take all this responsibility upon ourselves, thus appealing to ignorance, superstition, and fear.
I would answer: I refuse to take the responsibility of _disregarding_ or _disobeying_ the Law which the Divine and Universal Intelligence has placed at the _very foundation_ of man's being; and I am so _un_orthodox as to imagine and believe that God knew what he was about, even better than the theologians, or the "Infallible" Italian who misinterprets God, Nature, and Man.
To-day, as I write, "God's Vicegerent" is instigating and promoting a "Holy War" in Priest-ridden Spain, over the temporal power of the Vatican, angered to the point of murder over the "posting of notices of places of public worship," other than Catholic.
They would rather turn the world into one "City of the Dead," than yield _one point_ of Freedom, Enlightenment, or Self-government to man.
And men still call this _Religion_, and cast aside the crucifix for the sword, the gun and the firebrand. The _Inferno_ has never yet been portrayed or even outlined. Its name is Priestcraft and Intolerance under the name of "Religion."
And is this a "Study in Psychology"? Yea, verily! Scientific Psychology is the only thing that goes to the very bottom of it, and defines and classifies every element, every fact in human experience. Man cannot build a _home_ on a piece of ground where a slaughter-house disputes every square yard of ground with the tombstones of a graveyard. Clericalism is ever the one or the other, and frequently both; denying to man the right to build a _home_ for himself anywhere, except by its permission and according to its plans and specifications, fixing the rent and the revenues for all future time.
The Premier of Spain to-day is disputing this prerogative of Rome, and the graveyard has been thrown open. The pity, the marvel of it all is, that the people generally do not seem to care, and call any statement of facts "sensational" or "panicky."
I am told by some very good people that these references to Popery seem irrelevant, and by others, that they mar the symmetry of my essay.
They are reminded that we are dealing with real and permanent values, and with what man may do and ought to do for himself.
Lying squarely across this upward pathway of man, to be pursued by free choice and personal effort, is the dogma of the Vicarious Atonement and the forgiveness of sin, of which "His Holiness" claims to hold the _exclusive agency_.
Through appeal to superstition and fear this preposterous and sacrilegious claim to-day, as in all the past, paralyzes the will and discourages the personal efforts of millions of men and women. Between that blind credulity which makes personal effort unnecessary, and the miracle and dogma which make it seem useless, the upward and onward march of man is hindered or annulled, notwithstanding the fact that many men and women lead noble lives who are yet communicants of the Church, both Catholic and Protestant. True, they may, with little thinking, reason and reflection from early education and "lip-service," give intellectual assent to these dogmas. But the lives they lead and the personal effort put forth prove them "better than their creeds." They say with the lips, "Christ has forgiven us," or "Jesus will save us," and while they are _saying_ these things they _go to work saving themselves_ by "leading the life" through personal effort and experience.
In other words, they "save themselves" in spite of their creeds and superstitions.
It is, therefore, with this exact "measure of values," that we are dealing; and the necessity and value of these considerations are nowhere so plain to-day, or so imperative, as just here, in the face of these demoralizing dogmas and pretensions of men, who contradict all natural law and steal unblushingly the prerogatives of God, as his "Vicegerent." The marvel of it is that it excites neither surprise nor protest, but is treated with a smile of good-natured complacency outside its circle of dupes.
He who treats it seriously, as a thing that, more than any other, demoralizes, discourages and paralyzes _millions_, is regarded as "sensational," "emotional," or an "alarmist."
In the face of all the facts, of which the daily papers are full, and the record of the Vatican crowded, I prefer that my own arraignment _shall stand_. No one who knows half these facts can dispute or gainsay them. We are making history here to-day, as mankind has had to make it in all the past, in the face of these "Lions in the path" of civilization and progress.
If I must choose between being superficial, ignorant and insincere, or being an "alarmist," I certainly and unhesitatingly choose to be an _alarmist_! The strongest ally of Superstition to-day is credulity, or indifference. The average man says, "I do not _believe_ there is any danger"; and if he "spoke his heart" would add, "if there is, I do not _care_."
I would only reply, "If you mean to be honest, read, observe, and see."
You may wait too long. Spain and Portugal are just awakening from the priest-ridden lethargy of centuries, and are making history anew. May a just God and all the angels help and protect them.
The great daily newspapers of the country are very conservative wherever Rome is concerned. She is too powerful and her resources too well organized and available to be disregarded.
It is therefore very significant that an editorial in one of the largest and most influential of these papers to-day gives a clear, concise, and impartial epitome of the "_Row in Spain_," clearly locating its cause and animus in the Vatican, and showing how unbearable this tyranny and exploitation had become to a large portion of the people of Spain.
I refer to this here for a special purpose, which involves and lies at the foundation of all other issues and considerations. And that is the statement in this editorial, that while the Church of Rome has held practically _undisputed sway_ in Spain _for centuries_, with immense tracts of land, houses and revenues, independent of civil authority, with 20,000 priests, 5,000 communities with 60,000 inmates in a population of only 20,000,000 of people--_Seventy per cent. of the people are entirely uneducated._ With every opportunity, plenty of time and almost boundless resources, _Rome has kept the people in ignorance, the easier to rob them_; determined to _own_ the land, the resources, and the people--body and soul--as the _Autocrat_ of heaven and earth! A slavery in the name of "Religion" found nowhere else on earth to-day.
So much for Spain and the Vatican to-day. For the sequel, watch the daily papers.
And what has this to do with America? With Psychology? With the Measure of Values?
Simply this: Is anyone so dense as to suppose that the _Seventy per cent._ of dense ignorance in Spain is an accident, or an oversight of the Vatican and its servants? There lie the "policy" and the secret of the power of Rome.
In America our foundations, our bulwarks, and our hope and security of Freedom, Enlightenment, and Progress lie in our Free Public Schools. These Rome hates, condemns as "Godless," and would destroy if she could, as continually proved by the letters and edicts of the Popes.
Seeing, however, that she cannot do this, and fearful of losing her hold on her thirteen or fourteen million of communicants in America, she rushes the building of Parochial Schools, and threatens her people with dire penalties who patronize any other. Since she cannot _prevent_ education here, as in Spain, she must "educate" _in her own way_, in order to retain her power over the rising generation. The basis of this education are ignorance, superstition, and fear; its crown, the slavery of conscience and the "Dogma of Obedience." The brutality of Ignorance in Spain is the sophistry of Priestcraft under the name of "Religion," in America.
The Genius of the Vatican is "Infallibility." It not only never errs, but it never changes. It dons another mask, adopts another slogan, and is now engaged in a great crusade to _educate_!
Constructive Psychology, the building of Individual Character, means the _precise opposite_ of every principle, proposition, and practice of Popery. I desire to make this plain and unmistakable.
Nothing on earth transcends in importance this basic, universal, and _eternal antithesis_. It marks and monuments, in all time, the _Parting of the Ways_ between Good and Evil; between Liberty and Despotism; between Light and Darkness; between Evolution and Devolution; between "Modernism"
and Paganism; between Civilization and the Dark Ages; between the "Sermon on the Mount"--the Beatitudes, and the _Spanish Roman Vatican Inquisition_!
And this "antithesis," this issue, is as imminent, as active, as burning in America to-day, as it is in Spain. It only faces different ways.
Spain is _compelled_ to redeem her _past_; America to guard and protect her _future_.
It is, from first to last, a Psychological Problem.
It is an analysis by fire, in the crucible of fate and destiny, to determine _accurately_ the measure of values to the Individual, to Society, and to Civilization.
No man, woman or child, no society, no civilization ever has, or ever can, escape this issue.
It is the design on the trestle-board of Time.
It is the Modulus of both God and Nature regarding Man.
It is the Theorem of Psychology.
It involves the Evolution and Destiny of the Human Soul.
As civilization in many places showed an advancing tendency from the darkness, despotism and brutality of the Dark Ages, the "Robber Barons"
began to disappear. Their slogan was, "He may seize who hath the power and he may hold who can." Serfdom also began slowly to recede. Popery and Priestcraft assumed the role of these Barons, changed the slogan from brute force (reserving that for emergencies) to "Divine Prerogative,"
"Infallibility" (later), and pagan mummeries in the name of "Religion."
_The result, to the common people, remained unchanged_ to the present day--poverty, ignorance, and oppression.