KARDEC, RACISM AND SPIRITISM - A REFLECTION
Autor: HESSEN | Publicado: 2011-06-18T10:13:00-07:00

Special                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Portuguese                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Spanish                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Year 5 - N° 214                  - June 19,                   2011                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                JORGE HESSEN                                                                                                                      jorgehessen@gmail.com                Brasília,                  Distrito Federal                  (Brasil)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Translation                                                                   Leonardo Azzalin                             leonardoazzalin@btinternet.com                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Kardec, racism                  and Spiritism -                  a reflection                                                                                                       Do not speak nor                  write Something                  that degrades                                 or causes                  iniquity; Racism                  is an open wound                                 In the body of                  Humanity.                                                  (Cornelio Pires)                  (1)                                                                   Racism (2) is                  a topic seldom                  addressed in the                  hosts of the                  doctrine. The                  literature is                  scarce. The                  Brazilian                  spiritist                  writers and                  scholars have                  not yet offered                  more profound                  insights into                  the subject. For                  some, the few                  analyses on the                  issue of                  segregation and                  slavery of black                  people in                  Spiritism betray                  the influence of                  the Arian theory (3),                  the idealistic                  and positivistic                  view of history,                  ignoring the                  facts in their                  relativism and                  contradictions.                                                   For the                  Kardecian                  research                  regarding the                  black, one should take                  into                  consideration                  the historical                  context in which                  the subject was                  discussed. It                  would be a                  mistake, under                  the historical                  point of view,                  to consider                  Allan Kardec                  tainted with                  prejudice or a                  racist. This                  word has a very                  strong semantic                  load and would                  be unsuitable to                  define the                  ideals of the                  master from                  Lyon. There is                  no indication                  that he has                  discriminated                  against any                  individual or                  group of black                  origin or any                  individuals,                  whether in or                  outside the                  Spiritist                  movement. The                  journalist Dora                  Incontri, master                  and doctor in                  Education from                  USP, in her book Understanding                  Kardec brings                  us an                  interesting fact                  that will shed                  some light on                  who was Mr                  Rivail. Consider                  this: "It's good                  to remember that                  at the Society                  of Spiritist                  Studies of Paris                  there was a                  Camille                  Flammarion, an                  astronomer, and                  a paver (a                  labourer who                  made ​​the                  pavements of                  Paris, whose                  death is                  reported by                  Kardec) and both                  were members of                  the Society”. (4)                                                   Kardec's                  opponents rely                  on texts                  published in the Spiritist                  Magazine and                  especially in                  the Posthumous                  Works, Part                  1, Chapter IX, on                  the "Theory of                  Beauty."                  Strictly                  speaking, we do                  not consider                  this theory a                  doctrinal point                  and it is not                  part of the                  Basic Works.                  This is just a                  piece of                  research which                  Kardec did not                  publish. It                  became public                  after his                  disembodiment                  when some notes                  he left were                  gathered in the                  aforementioned                  book, whence it                  is inferred that                  that thought was                  not yet fully                  consolidated.                                                     Phrenology, for                  instance,                  advocated a                  relationship                  between                  intelligence and                  strength of the                  instincts                                                    For the sake of                  fairness, it                  should be noted                  that Kardec did                  not claim                  ownership of                  Spiritism. He introduced                  it to us as                  the Doctrine of                  the Spirits. So,                  the distinction                  must be done                  between what the                  Spiritual                  Benefactors                  revealed under                  the principle of                  universal                  consensus of the                  Spirits and what                  Kardec wrote and                  thought in                  private,                  including what                  was published in                  the Spiritist                  Magazine.                                                   Amid the basic                  literature of                  the Third                  Revelation, the                  Codifier notes                  that "with                  belief in                  reincarnation,                  the prejudices                  of race and                  caste fall dead,                  since the same                  spirit can be                  re-born rich or                  poor, lord or                  beggar, master                  or subordinate,                  free or                  enslaved, man or                  woman. If, then,                  reincarnation is                  founded upon a                  law of nature                  which is the                  source of                  universal                  brotherhood, it                  is based upon                  the same law as                  that of equality                  of social rights                  and of freedom." (5)                                                   Faced with the                  dictates of the                  plurality of                  existences,                  still according                  to Kardec, "the                  prejudices of                  race become                  weak, people                  begin to                  consider                  themselves as                  members of one                  big family." (6)                                                   As noted, these                  ideas radically                  mischaracterize                  a biased Kardec.                  However, despite                  the attitude                  (for some                  biased) imputed                  to Kardec                  regarding the                  black, as a                  result of the                  context in which                  he lived (we                  repeat) on                  discrimination                  and prejudice of                  a certain                  ethnicity, his                  work remains                  untainted by all                  the criticism in                  the ethical                  sense. In order                  to approach the                  issue, it is                  essential to                  contextualize it                  by considering                  the theories of                  racial                  superiority in                  vogue at the                  time.                                                   Phrenology, for                  instance,                  advocated a                  relationship                  between                  intelligence and                  strength of the                  instincts in an                  individual with                  his skull                  proportions, in                  a kind of                  pseudoscientific                  "unfolding" of                  physiognomy.                                                     If not the                  difference of                  spiritual                  evolution, then                  what                                                   makes men                  unequal?                                                    In an article in                  the Spiritist                  Magazine of                  April 1862,                  "Spiritualist                  and Spiritist                  Phrenology -                  Perfectibility                  of the black                  race," Kardec                  does a kind of                  replay of this                  "science" with a                  spiritualist                  focus,                  demonstrating                  that the                  "backward" of                  the blacks                  should not be                  due to                  biological                  causes, but                  because their                  incarnate                  spirits were                  still relatively                  young. (7)                                                   We wonder: are                  there people                  more advanced                  than others? Is                  it possible to                  ignore the gap                  between townsmen                  and savages? If                  not the                  difference of                  spiritual                  evolution, then                  what makes them                  unequal?                                                   Clearly, the                  terms to                  "complex or                  simple" cultures                  can be tailored                  so as to replace                  "advanced or                  backward," which                  in essence does                  not change the                  situation of                  either one. It                  is also known -                  and it is                  indisputable - that                  anthropology and                  sociology are                  born                  Eurocentric. And                  anthropology was                  a kind of                  sociology                  created to study                  the primitive                  people. (8)Nevertheless,                  the Spiritist                  Doctrine is                  broader than                  this whole                  issue.                                                   For us "there                  are not many                  species of men,                  there are merely                  people whose                  spirits are more                  or less backward,                  but all subject                  to progressing                  through                  reincarnation.                  Is this                  principle not                  more in                  conformity to                  the                  righteousness of                  God?" (9)                                                   In the book Renuncia                  (Resignation),                  a magnificent                  work of the                  mediumistic                  literature, we                  have identified                  a passage                  that caught our                  attention and                  made us reflect                  upon the                  subject. Robbie,                  the son of                  slaves and                  adopted brother                  of Alcione,                  after                  disembodying he                  told her:                  "provided that I                  sent the                  gendarmes (10) to                  free the                  coachman for                  realising that I                  was the one to                  blame (...) I                  feel that I no                  longer have the                  black skin, that                  my hand and leg                  are healed (...) (...) look                  Alcione and she                  explains: These                  are the                  redeeming proof,                  my dear Robbie!                  God has restored                  you the                  health of the                  soul for                  considering you                  worthy again."(11) Can                  one imagine the                  Spirit Alcíone a                  racist? And why                  would the blacks                  have suffered so                  much from                  slavery?                                                     Jesus, before                  the eyes of man,                  is the greatest                  archetype of                  perfection that                  a spirit can                  attain                                                    According to                  Humberto de                  Campos, the                  slaves were the                  "former fighters                  of the crusades,                  feudal lords of                  the Middle Ages,                  priests and                  inquisitors,                  rebellious and                  angry spirits,                  lost in the                  paths filled                  with darkness of                  their impure                  consciences." (12)                                                   The idea that a                  man can be                  re-born as a                  white, black,                  mulatto or                  indigenous                  substantiates a                  rupture with                  racial prejudice                  and                  discrimination.                  Do not forget,                  however, that                  even today in                  Great Britain                  many supporters                  of                  neo-spiritualism                  reject the                  theory of                  reincarnation                  for not                  admitting the                  possibility of                  having had                  incarnations in                  lower positions                  on race and                  social status.                                                   With this                  vision, a spirit                  reincarnated in                  a body of black                  origin, will be                  subject to                  discrimination                  and that will be                  for him a                  condition, an                  evolutionary                  contingency to                  be overcome. For                  some it may be                  an atonement,                  for others a                  mission. With                  the Spiritist                  principles "all                  distinction                  between men is                  extinguished                  according to the                  bodily and                  worldly                  advantages, on                  which pride                  founded caste                  and the stupid                  prejudices of                  color."13).                                                   As noted, a                  libertarian                  doctrine such as                  Spiritism does                  not condone                  under any                  pretexts with                  any ideology                  that seeks to                  ethnic                  discrimination                  among social                  groups.                                                   The truth is                  that in the                  great debates of                  sociological,                  anthropological,                  philosophical,                  psychological                  nature,                  Spiritism will                  cause the                  greatest                  historical                  revolution in                  the human                  thought, as it                  is registered in                  the questions                  798 and 799 of The                  Spirits' Book, especially                  when it takes                  the place it                  deserves in the                  human culture                  and knowledge,                  for its moral                  precepts will                  warn men of the                  compelling                  solidarity that                  will unite them                  as brothers,                  pointing, in                  turn, that the                  intellectual and                  moral progress                  in the life of                  all spirits is a                  universal law                  and having Jesus                  as a model, who,                  in the eyes of                  man is the                  greatest                  archetype of                  perfection that                  a spirit can                  attain.14.                                                                                       Sources:                                                   1. Xavier,                  Francisco                  Candido.                  Caminhos da Vida                  (Paths of Life),                  dictated by the                  Spirit Cornelio                  Pires, São                  Paulo: Ed CEU,                  1996.                                                                    2. Racism,                  according to the                  meaning of "Novo                  Dicionário                  Aurélio" is "the                  doctrine that                  supports the                  superiority of                  certain races."                  The Count de                  Gobineau was the                  main theorist of                  the racist                  theories. His                  work, "Essay on                  the Inequality                  of Human Races"                  (1855), laid the                  foundations of                  the Arian                  theory, which                  regards the                  white race as                  the only pure                  and superior,                  taken as the                  philosophical                  foundation by                  the Nazis,                  supporters of                  pan-Germanism.                                                                    3 Among                  the theorists of                  German racism,                  it was said of                  the Europeans                  supposedly                  pure-bred                  descendants of                  the Aryans.                                                                    4. Incontri,                  Dora. Para                  Entender Kardec                  (Understanding                  Kardec), Grandes                  Questões, São                  Paulo: Lachâtre                  Publications,                  2001                                                   5. Kardec,                  Allan. Genesis,                  Rio de Janeiro:                  Editora FEB,                  2002, p. 31.                                                                    6. Ibid                  pp. 415-416                                                                    7. Kardec,                  Allan. Spiritist                  Magazine April                  1862.                                                                    8. Primitive                  was all those                  people who had                  not reached the                  level of culture                  and technology                  as Europe's. It                  was certainly a                  point of view of                  the European in                  that time, which                  saw blacks and                  Latinos as                  savages.                                                                    9. Kardec,                  Allan. The                  Spirits's Book,                  text written by                  Allan Kardec and                  constitutes                  Chapter V item                  6, Rio de                  Janeiro: Editora                  FEB 2001                                                                    10. Soldier                  of the Force                  responsible for                  overseeing the                  security and                  public order in                  France.                                                                    11. Xavier,                  Francisco                  Candido.                  Renúncia                  (Resignation),                  7th ed. Dictated                  by the spirit                  Emmanuel, Rio de                  Janeiro: Ed FEB                  1973, p. 412.                                                                    12. Xavier,                  Francisco                  Candido. Brasil,                  Coração do Mundo                  Pátria do                  Evangelho                  (Brazil, the                  Heart of the                  World Land of                  the Gospel)                  Dictated by the                  Spirit Humberto                  de Campos, Rio                  de Janeiro: Ed                  FEB, 1980.                                                                    13. Kardec,                  Allan. Spiritist                  Magazine April                  1861 297-298).                                                                    14. Kardec,                  Allan. The                  Spirits' Book,                  Rio de Janeiro:                  Editora FEB,                  2003, 3rd party,                  q. 798 and 799,                  Ch. VIII Item VI                  - Influence of                  Spiritism on                  Progress.                                                                                       Note from                  Editors:                                                   We suggest the                  reader to read                  on the subject                  of an editorial                  issue 213,                  available at http://www.oconsolador.com.br/ano5/213/editorial.html as                  well as the text                  contained in                  section Spiritism                  answers published                  in the issue 68                  of 10.8.2008,                  available at http://www.                  oconsolador.com.br/ano2/68/oespiritismoresponde.html