The Llano colonist. [volume] (Llano, Calif.) 191?-1937, 1922-12-16

tlon OF England makes the startling
statement that he has discovered thru
his study Of history that ''The prevail
ence of certain Opinions causes the
decay of the people among whom they.
predominant" He also says that The
progress of mankind depends on the
success with which the laws of pheno-
mena are Investigated, and on the ex-
tent to which a knowledge of those
laws is diffused among the great mass
OF the population = The great enemy
Of this movement" (progress) accord
ing to Buckle, and therefore the great
enemy of civilization, is the protective
conservative or reactionafy) spirit;
by which mean the notion that So
clety cannot prosper, unless the affairs
OF life are watched over and protected
at nearly every turn by the state and
the church; the state teaching men
what they are to do, and the church
teaching them what they are to be-
llieve.'
1t is well-known fact that the do
mlnant religious cults of the world or
lglnated in the orient and Buckle saws:
The old tropical civilizations were ac-
companied by remarkable features
which have termed aspects of nature
and which, by inflaming the imagina-
ton, ENCOURAGED SUPERSTI-'
lion. and prevented men from daring
to analyze such threatening physical
phenomena; in other words, prevented
the creation of the physical sciences.
(the establishment of verifiable accur-
ate knowIedge.)
In the mental science class at Llano
colony on Sunday night, December 8,
the statement was made, that the true
business of human life is accurate
scientific thinking, which is quite true,
but precedent to possessing the ability
of doing such scientific thinking the
natural method of learning must have
occupied the attention of the would
be thinker and must have been faith
fully and thoroughly pursued and at
tended to, because the essential and
reliable data for scientific thinking can
be gained only by the most painstak-
ing and exhaustive learning Of all the
factors that are in any way related to
the solution of every problem that is
encountered by every human being in
the life here and now. And each pro-
bIem is a problem of right Individual
living and right social conduct here
and now. Buckle says that Education
is pre-eminently the civilizing agent of
the world Some call this life here and
now great school. Now if this life
is school, and if it is essential to our
happiness that we learn the lessons of
the present grade of school that We are
in now, how dare we neglect the
subjects of study of the life here and
now, day by day on the assumption
that by neglecting the requirements of
our well-being here and now we place
ourselves in line for especially favor
able consideration and preference in
hypothetical heaven after our demise
from this plane of existence. If life is
school, then the best preparation for
for the next grade consists in faithfully
learning the lessons of the present
grade.
Learning is essentially the work of
the student and cannot be done for
him. The natural philosopher gains his
data and learns to apply them by OBJ
serving Individual facts carefully. pa
tiently, accurately with all the instru-
ments~ and resources at his command,
before Venturing upon statement of
a general law. Precedents for appli-
cation in human affairs are only then
unobjectionable when they are based
upon and in harmony with natural law
and do not violate the right of the In
dividual to think in advance of his CO.
temparies. Only when the individual
is free to investigate, discover and e
duce the truths of nature in general
and human life in particular, is free to
gain knowledge and to disseminate
that knowledge. can civilization adj
vance. But such additional saving
knowledge is quite often looked upon
as being dangerous. condemned as
harmful ideas.
Jesus of Nazareth tried to teach the
Jewish nation nineteen hundred years
ago that they must give up their wrong
ideas and must adopt the practice of
the golden rule in their domestic af-
fairs. They crucified him and persecut-