In defense of spiritist research: a critique of schisms

It is time to recover Kardec.

A few days ago I got involved in a heated discussion – behind the keyboards – which ended up making me angry and indignant. The reason? The issue of tampering (or not) in Kardec’s two final works – Heaven and hell and The Genesis.

Here, the discussion itself about these adulterations being a fact or not is not relevant. My criticism goes towards the rude and sarcastic position with which some of the “partisans” of non-adulteration behave, directly attacking the people and the work of the researchers who raised this very important information and who gave strength to the need to investigate the past, with the mere intention of taking any and all credit or even the desire to study them with the seriousness that, I argue, deserve.

It turns out that, if, for some (but not for me) the adulterations of the cited works are still a reason for doubt, on the other hand, there can be no doubt about the adulterations that the Movement suffered after Kardec, with the total loss of direction of the initial purposes of the Spiritist Society and its means of communication - this is very clear in O Legado de Allan Kardec. It is an undeniable fact that Leymarie allowed, due to material interests, Roustaing's thoughts to take precedence in the Doctrine, promoting anti-doctrinaire ideals and disrespecting the immense and dedicated work of Kardec and his wife, Amélie Boudet, “the sweet Gabi”. The Spiritist Society of Paris, commanded by Leymarie, distanced itself from totally Kardec's purposes, letting this unfortunate gentleman succumb to the temptation of vanity and money. reached the point of kick out, from one of the apartments destined by Allan Kardec for charity purposes, an elderly couple, for simple delay in payments of the rent, when the same and the Society had large sums of possessions and money [Private, 2019]. Furthermore, put aside the plans for the continuity of the spiritist movement which, according to Kardec's project, should rely on the multiplication of study groups and spiritist "investigations", governed under the necessary methodology [ibidem] - well, how could those who would be denied by it apply such a medotology, right?

It is also a fact that Spiritism, since its arrival on Brazilian soil, has been affected by this line of thought, finding shelter even in Bezerra de Menezes, one of the first presidents of the FEB, an institution that, until 2019, had, as a clause stony, the orientation of the study of the Four Gospels, by Roustaing.

It is also a fact that today's Spiritism is completely mischaracterized and misrepresented. Spiritist centers, which were once meetings of confessed spiritists, dedicated to the study of mediumistic communications and their moral and scientific effects, today reproduce Catholic churches, where the faithful attend the sermon (lecture), receive the blessing (pass), say a prayer and leave. Mediums, in search of help, are placed in long courses, which sometimes reach 7 years in duration, almost always with complicated FEB primers, so that, at the end of that, if they are still minimally interested, they are “initiated” in the mediumistic group of the house. Honest mediums began to be persecuted for “animism”, while others are taken as oracles: everything they say, through mediumship or their own opinion, is taken as a summation of absolute truth and wisdom. And then we started to hear, left and right, the most outrageous ideas, which, continuously, have promoted scandals and the removal of people who, in the most diverse conditions, feel motivated to enter a spiritist center in search of hearing something different from what they say around.

The moment is serious. We have arrived, once again, at a new critical point in society, with materialism happily flourishing in the hearts of men. But, once again, the opposite movement begins to take shape, because, as we know, it is necessary for man to know the apex of evil in order to go back to seeking the good and the beautiful. And that's what these works are about. There are those who criticize Figueiredo for defending autonomy over heteronomy, that is, for defending the essence of the teaching of the Spiritist Doctrine: everything depends on our will and our choices, and not on the blind acceptance of punishments and rewards. Precisely he, the first researcher IN THE WORLD to look for the original works of several philosophers and scientists, in order to give a scientific and historical context to the birth of Spiritism, together with Magnetism, the sister science of Spiritism. Well, by not agreeing with your position – also based on proof and evidence – that there was tampering in Heaven and Hell, should we then discard everything else?

When I said that “it is time to recover Kardec”, I am not referring only to the very important study of his works, which are the basis of the Spiritist Doctrine, but I am objectively referring to “recovering Kardec” in his example, in his person, always, according to all records, so good and affable, but also so sensible and serious in the face of science studies. Kardec always recommended that, in order to criticize a certain subject, it was necessary to fully understand it, which is why, on several occasions, he failed to address in depth what he could not have given due attention to. When Kardec criticized The Four Gospels of Roustaing, he only did so after to read all four volumes. And he, with the time he didn't have, did it because he realized that it was a work full of important ideas, even if inaccurate or even contrary to the consistent teaching of the Spirits. Kardec always did that. And what we see today is that many do not want to reproduce the steps of the expert researcher. They cling to superficial issues and, with prejudice, stop delving into the content, going on to criticize or put such works into oblivion.

Before finishing, I would like to say that I read The Legacy of Allan Kardec from start to finish, with great attention and care. The facts presented there, regarding the adulteration of A Gênese, from the 5th edition onwards, I repeat, are too objective, complete and complex for such an opinion to be just the result of a misinterpretation. At the very least – and this is my position – it opens up a very large margin for suspicion that, there, there is a mixture of contents that Kardec would really change or insert, combined with contents inserted by another party, with the clear purpose of changing what was already established doctrinally.

I don't want, anyway, to force anyone to believe in anything. That's why our media, unlike many out there, will always be open to comments and the exchange of ideas. But I want to leave you, dear reader, an invitation to read the following works, so that you can take your position according to your own reasoning:

• The Legacy of Allan Kardec, by Simoni Privato
• Neither heaven nor hell: The laws of the soul according to Spiritism – by Lucas Sampaio and Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo
• Much Light, by Berthe Fropo (link to pdf on here).
• Autonomy: the untold story of Spiritism – by Paulo Henrique de Figueiredo
• About “the Genesis case” – article of my authorship.
• Tampering in Kardec's works and the "CSI of Spiritism" - article of my authorship