Is Spiritism a religion?

Paulo Degering R Jr
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It is very common to hear that “Spiritism is religion”, including comparing it to other existing religions. Is it really a religion?

Well, for that, first, we need to conceptualize the term religion.

Contents hide
1 what is religion
2 Rational Spiritualism and Spiritualism
3 Spiritism was never a new religion
4 But Spiritism is a religion
5 Where is the problem then?
6 Conclusion
7 Reading Recommendations (Books)

What is it religion

Although many understand it primarily as a set of beliefs in one or more deities, there are even atheistic or agnostic religions. So, to avoid further confusion, let's stick to two main ways of understanding the term religion:

  1. A set of principles, beliefs and practices of religious doctrines, based on sacred books, commonly separated between priests and faithful, the former being organized through clearly distinct hierarchies that culminate, at the top, in a high priest, who represents all the Church and has the final, unquestionable word.

2. A system of rules and moral values established through beliefs that characterize a group of individuals.

In the first aspect, the religious doctrine is indisputable by the faithful and by the lower levels of the priestly hierarchy. A change, if it comes, comes from the top down. Very commonly, one finds in them ideas that are debated in front of human science, in an irrational way.

The second aspect is more in line with the idea of natural religion, which is understood by our natural connection to God and Spirituality.

And in which of these two aspects would Spiritism fit more?

We know very well that Spiritism, in its essence, never had any of the aspects of the first classification. But… What about the second? To discuss this, we need to conceptualize Spiritism in its historical moment.

Rational Spiritualism and Spiritualism

as we already talked in this article, Spiritism emerged in the midst of the movement called Rational Spiritualism, adopted in France from the third decade of the 19th century, mainly as an opposition to the materialist movement and the old religions that enslaved thought. According to Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo, in the work Autonomy: the untold story of Spiritism, the movement:

"is characterized by the adoption of scientific methodology, seeking to do with the human being what has been successfully achieved by studying the matter: the understanding of the natural laws that underlie it. In other words, it replaced blind faith with a rational faith, a requirement of the new times.”.

FIGUEIREDO, Autonomy: the untold story of Spiritism

And, in another passage, he highlights:

In their time, rational spiritualists, away from formal religions, made use of the concepts of religion and natural morals to study the acts of the human soul and its social relationships.

ibidem

Thus, the concept of natural religion was something studied in a scientific way (by the moral sciences) in that historical context in which Spiritism was born. And so, and only for that, that Kardec admitted a religious aspect in Spiritism, since he was born as development of Rational Spiritualism, as Kardec himself highlights:

[…] every defense of Rational Spiritualism opens the way for Spiritism, which is its development, fighting its most tenacious adversaries: materialism and fanaticism.

KARDEC, [RE] 1868, p. 223

Not only was Spiritism never been a religion – according to the first concept – but, on the contrary, it was born and grew up as a moral science with a philosophical aspect, based on the observation of facts to support the logical and rational deduction on which the theory is based:

All science must be based on facts; but facts alone do not constitute science; science is born from the coordination and logical deduction of facts: it is the set of laws that govern them. Has Spiritism reached the state of science? If it is a question of perfect science, it would undoubtedly be premature to answer in the affirmative; but the observations are, as of today, numerous enough to be able, at least, to deduce the general principles, and that is where science begins.

KARDEC, [RE] 1858, p. 3

Spiritism was never a new religion

We see, after all, that Spiritism, being a development of Rational Spiritualism, and with the aspects of a rational science, was born diametrically opposed to the ideas of religious dogmatism that have always prevailed in humanity. The main purpose of the Doctrine of Spirits is precisely to take control of human faith from religious groups that, acting for different interests, enslaved consciences to their sacred books and rituals.

However, it is very important to say that Spiritism is not a Doctrine that was born to fight with others. It does not come to cast anathema on other beliefs, but, as a science, to provide a neutral ground where people of all faiths can take shelter:

Spiritism comes, in its turn, not like a religion, but as a philosophical doctrine, to bring its theory, supported on the fact of the manifestations; does not impose; does not claim blind trust; he stands and says: Examine, compare, and judge; if you find anything better than what I give you, take it. He does not say: I come to know the fundamentals of religion and replace it with a new cult; he says: I do not address those who believe and who are satisfied with their belief, but those who desert your ranks through unbelief, and whom you did not know or could not retain.; I come to give you, about the truths you reject, an interpretation of a nature to satisfy your reason and which makes you accept it. (Ibid.)

KARDEC, [RE] 1862, p. 70

But Spiritism is a religion

The contradiction is purposeful, because I want us to force ourselves to understand the distinction that is given to the term religion according to the understanding given to it. This is imperative. Depending on how we understand – if by the philosophical aspect of natural religion, relating to the historical context of Allan Kardec, or if from the aspect of a religious system, which comprises rituals, priests and dogmas – then Spiritism can be said to be a religion or not. Kardec conceptualizes this distinction very well in the Spiritist Magazine of 1868:

[…] so Spiritism is a religion?

“Why, yes, no doubt, gentlemen; in the philosophical sense, Spiritism is a religion[1], and we glorify ourselves for this, because it is the doctrine that founds the bonds of fraternity and communion of thoughts, not on a simple convention, but on the most solid foundations: the very laws of Nature.”

"Why, then, have we declared that Spiritism is not a religion?? Because there is no word to express two different ideas, and because, in the general opinion, the word religion is inseparable from the idea of worship; because it exclusively awakens an idea of form, which Spiritism has no. If Spiritism called itself a religion, the public would only see there a new edition, a variant, if you will, of the absolute principles in matters of faith; a priestly caste with its procession of hierarchies, ceremonies and privileges; he would not separate it from the ideas of mysticism and abuses against which public opinion has so often risen.”

“Since Spiritism does not have any of the characteristics of a religion, in the usual sense of the word, it could not and should not adorn itself with a title about whose value people would inevitably have been mistaken. That is why it is simply said: philosophical and moral doctrine.”

KARDEC, [RE], 1868

Where is the problem then?

Arriving here, to close, I need to reinforce my thinking, which compacts with Kardec: we should not call Spiritism a religion, much less present it as one, because, in people's minds, there is no such distinction of understandings. – especially nowadays. It is said that it is a religion and, promptly, the adept of some religious line will ask himself: “but then can I be a spiritist, since I am Catholic/Evangelical/Hindu/etc?”. Or, worse, he will say: “I already have my religion. That other I do not care" .

Now, we cannot deny that, when treating Spiritism as a religion, according to the popular understanding given to the term, we will be creating a great difficulty expansion of the Spiritist Doctrine in the masses, since they will understand that, if Spiritism is other religion, so they cannot leave their own religions to study it. Let us present it, however, as a science with a philosophical aspect – that he is and the difficulties are resolved: everyone can study Spiritism, sipping from the knowledge given by the Spirits everywhere and from the studies of Allan Kardec and others, on such knowledge, without the need to leave your religion, their rituals, etc. In fact, about this, Spiritism, whether in Kardec's words or in the words of the Spirits themselves, has always been very clear: it does not force anyone to believe or change; logically presents his ideas about causes and effects and leaves everyone the freedom to change or not.

By the way, Spiritism does not even place the need to visit or attend a spiritist center – although, of course, we do not deny the great use that spiritist centers can have – because Spiritism is a Doctrine to be studied and lived individually and in the family nucleus.

Conclusion

Here, in conclusion, we come to a crucial point: the way in which Spiritism spread in Brazil. For a series of questions, the main one being the lack of knowledge of the real face of Spiritism, for lack of study of Kardec's works, but also due to ignorance of the tampering suffered after Kardec's death, the Doctrine gained several aspects of religion, "going to live" in temples, attending to rituals and hierarchies and, mainly, leaving behind all the methodology of studies based in the evocation of Spirits, as we have already in this article.

However, just as Jesus Christ never founded a religion, but, on the contrary, dealt with all the morals brought by him in a natural way - then, yes, acquiring the traits of a "natural religion" - Spiritism never was and never will be a religion as we understand it today. It is up to us to understand it deeply, seeking to restore its true face, applying it in our own lives and spreading it, in a fraternal and clear way, to all those who can benefit from it in their lives.

We add, to enrich, the interview in this regard with Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo:

  1. See that, when Kardec says that “in the philosophical sense, Spiritism is a religion“, he is referring to Spiritism as a moral science with a philosophical aspect, and such science, at that moment, addressed the natural religion, away from the dogmas of the old religions.
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