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The Spiritist Review - Journal of Psychological Studies - 1864 > June > A few refutations > Conspiracies against faith
History will register the singular contradictors of Spiritism of whom we will give some examples below. We got the ordination of Mr. Bishop of Langres from the Department of Haute-Marne, containing the following passage:
“…Faith, that is what people who call themselves friends of humanity, freedom and progress struggle to remove from the heart of Christian populations at any cost, people that in reality must be taken as the most dangerous enemies of society. It is our duty to warn you, dearest brothers, we that are in charge of watching your souls so that our warnings make you prudent and cautious since such a hateful, broad and dangerous conspiracy has never been seen before and more wisely, that is, more satanically organized against the Catholic faith than the one we see today. It is the conspiracy of secret societies that operate in the shadows in order to annihilate Catholicism if they could; conspiracy of Protestantism that through an active propaganda tries to sneak in everywhere; conspiracy of the rational and anti-Christians philosophers that reject without reason and fight against every reason, the supernatural and the revealed religion and that strive to make their false and dismal doctrine prevail in the literate world; conspiracy of the Spiritist societies that through the practical superstition of the evocation of the dead incite others to engage with the perfidious malice of the spirit of lie and sin; conspiracy of an impious or corrupting literature; conspiracy of the bad journals and books that fearfully propagate in the shadow or under the pretext of a freedom boasted to be the progress of the century as the conquest of what they call modern spirit that is not but an encouragement to the genius of evil, a fair reason for pain of a Catholic nation, a trap and a very imminent danger to all followers of every class that are not sufficiently instructed in matters of religion and whose number is large, unfortunately; finally, conspiracy of that practical materialism that only sees and seeks the interest of the body and the physical well-being; that is not concerned with the soul and its destiny as if it did not exist and whose pernicious example easily seduces and drags the masses. These are, dearest brothers, at first sight, the dangers that faith encounters today etc.”
We are in perfect agreement with Mr. Bishop with respect to the dismal consequences of materialism but it is a surprise to see him confusing in the same reproach materialism that denies everything: the soul, the future, God, the Providence – with Spiritism that comes to fight against materialism and succeeds through the material proofs that are given of the existence of the soul, precisely with the very support of those supposedly superstitious evocations.
Will it be because Spiritism triumphs where the Church is powerless? Would Mr. Bishop share the opinion of that cleric that said from the pulpit: “I prefer to see you out of the Church than with Spiritism” And the other one that said: “I prefer an Atheist that believes nothing than a Spiritist that believes in God and in the soul.” It is an opinion like any other and taste is not to be discussed. Whatever Mr. Bishop’s opinion is about that point we would greatly appreciate his answer to the following two questions: “How come the Church, despite all of its powerful means of making the truth shine to the eyes of everyone, could not stop materialism while Spiritism that was born yesterday converts hardened non-believers on a daily basis? Is the means by which a goal is reached worse than that by which it is not reached?"
Mr. Bishop enumerates a large number of conspiracies that loom against religion. He certainly did not think properly; through such a threatening image he works precisely against his own objective and may even provoke thoughts that are harmful. By hearing him the deduction is that soon the conspirators will be in larger numbers.
Now, what would happen to a State if the whole nation conspired? If religion sees itself attacked by such a large number of flanks that is not a testimony in favor of the sympathies that it finds. By saying that the orthodox faith is endangered is a confession of its argumentations. If it is founded on the absolute truth it must not fear any contrary argument. Sounding the alarm in such a case is a lack of skill.
“…Faith, that is what people who call themselves friends of humanity, freedom and progress struggle to remove from the heart of Christian populations at any cost, people that in reality must be taken as the most dangerous enemies of society. It is our duty to warn you, dearest brothers, we that are in charge of watching your souls so that our warnings make you prudent and cautious since such a hateful, broad and dangerous conspiracy has never been seen before and more wisely, that is, more satanically organized against the Catholic faith than the one we see today. It is the conspiracy of secret societies that operate in the shadows in order to annihilate Catholicism if they could; conspiracy of Protestantism that through an active propaganda tries to sneak in everywhere; conspiracy of the rational and anti-Christians philosophers that reject without reason and fight against every reason, the supernatural and the revealed religion and that strive to make their false and dismal doctrine prevail in the literate world; conspiracy of the Spiritist societies that through the practical superstition of the evocation of the dead incite others to engage with the perfidious malice of the spirit of lie and sin; conspiracy of an impious or corrupting literature; conspiracy of the bad journals and books that fearfully propagate in the shadow or under the pretext of a freedom boasted to be the progress of the century as the conquest of what they call modern spirit that is not but an encouragement to the genius of evil, a fair reason for pain of a Catholic nation, a trap and a very imminent danger to all followers of every class that are not sufficiently instructed in matters of religion and whose number is large, unfortunately; finally, conspiracy of that practical materialism that only sees and seeks the interest of the body and the physical well-being; that is not concerned with the soul and its destiny as if it did not exist and whose pernicious example easily seduces and drags the masses. These are, dearest brothers, at first sight, the dangers that faith encounters today etc.”
We are in perfect agreement with Mr. Bishop with respect to the dismal consequences of materialism but it is a surprise to see him confusing in the same reproach materialism that denies everything: the soul, the future, God, the Providence – with Spiritism that comes to fight against materialism and succeeds through the material proofs that are given of the existence of the soul, precisely with the very support of those supposedly superstitious evocations.
Will it be because Spiritism triumphs where the Church is powerless? Would Mr. Bishop share the opinion of that cleric that said from the pulpit: “I prefer to see you out of the Church than with Spiritism” And the other one that said: “I prefer an Atheist that believes nothing than a Spiritist that believes in God and in the soul.” It is an opinion like any other and taste is not to be discussed. Whatever Mr. Bishop’s opinion is about that point we would greatly appreciate his answer to the following two questions: “How come the Church, despite all of its powerful means of making the truth shine to the eyes of everyone, could not stop materialism while Spiritism that was born yesterday converts hardened non-believers on a daily basis? Is the means by which a goal is reached worse than that by which it is not reached?"
Mr. Bishop enumerates a large number of conspiracies that loom against religion. He certainly did not think properly; through such a threatening image he works precisely against his own objective and may even provoke thoughts that are harmful. By hearing him the deduction is that soon the conspirators will be in larger numbers.
Now, what would happen to a State if the whole nation conspired? If religion sees itself attacked by such a large number of flanks that is not a testimony in favor of the sympathies that it finds. By saying that the orthodox faith is endangered is a confession of its argumentations. If it is founded on the absolute truth it must not fear any contrary argument. Sounding the alarm in such a case is a lack of skill.