THE FIGHT FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM

　THE FIGHT FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM 

　THE Witchcraft Act of 1735 was brought out of its dusty archives and utilised in the prosecution of Helen Duncan, a materialisation medium. Under the same archaic Act she was sentenced to a term of imprisonment. Further persecution of genuine mediums followed; police interference prevented certain meetings from being held. The religious freedom of all Spiritual-ists was menaced. A fight became necessary in order that Spiritualists might be allowed the same rights as other religious bodies in this country—the right to continue to serve God in accordance with their own principles and ideals.

　Soon after the persecution began, Silver Birch declared:

　"There is no power on earth that can halt the march of truth. There is no man who can thwart the power of the spirit as it is now pouring through countless instruments. There is no official, no government, no nation that can banish the power of the spirit from your world.

　"That is too late, for there are countless instruments, sensitives, mediums, through whom it is streaming into your world and bringing in its train comfort, help, guidance, healing and cer-tainty about spiritual realities. It is too late to imagine that the forces of spiritual truth can now be vanquished. All who attempt to do so will find that their efforts, in the end, will be frustrated, for the mighty tide of spirit surges on.

　"All kinds of methods have been tried. There has been the crucifixion. There has been the inquisition. There has been the burning at the stake. There have also been the rack and the screw and all the hideous means of torture devised by bigots who thought that the soul could be saved at the expense of the body's agony. But all these methods have failed, for always there have arisen pioneers, faithful to the light which they have seen, confi-dent of that power which guided and directed them, conscious of their mission to aid blind, groping humanity towards the light of eternal truth.

　"There is no longer any question of crucifixion, torture, the rack, the screw, or the stake. Now you are confronted with im-prisonment. But, before now, the gates of prison have proved powerless against spiritual reality. Do you think that after nearly a century of effort it can be stopped by any man in your world? No!

　"As long as there are faithful instruments who will defy all attempts, be they by police or government, to stop us, we will continue our task. We have returned to your world to put an end to all the inequalities caused by the materialism which has spread selfishness and the false religious teachings which have encouraged ignorance and superstition. The two combined help to produce a darkness that could engulf mankind. Now the light of spirit truth is in your world and it will not be ex-tinguished.

　"Go on fighting, for truth is on your side, and truth will in-evitably triumph, no matter through what difficulties you have to pass. There is no need, now, for those who are witnesses to this truth to slink in corners, to walk with heads bowed, or with stumbling gait.

　"Let them stand erect, proud that they are instruments of the spirit, called upon to play their part in the regeneration of man-kind, to help usher in the New World where there shall be liberty and toleration for all, and everything that restricts and crushes and prevents the spirit of man, which is the spirit of God, from finding expression, will have disappeared."

　Commenting on the attacks made on mediums, Silver Birch said:

　"One after another the instruments of the spirit will be assailed, for there are many who have no love for them in their hearts. But it is too late now to think that the mighty, restless surge of the spirit will be dammed by such manoeuvres. The tide is flowing and none on earth can stay it. If they could not succeed when it was but a trickle, they will not succeed when it has become a mighty ocean. 

　"One of the things I have learned is to keep a sense of perspective. I am, in the words of the book you quote, 'In your world, but not of your world.' I am not moved as you are by passing events. You are, naturally, because you are in a world of matter, swayed by day-to-day happenings, but my home is in the spirit world and I have had experience of the operations of laws not understood by you. I see the mighty power of the spirit breaking through, and I know that it will succeed.

　"Some will suffer, but that is the price you must pay for being pioneers. You must stand at your posts and not desert them. That is all you can do. Guard the precious jewel of truth which has been vouchsafed in your keeping. Let your lives be examples so that none can point the finger of scorn and say, 'Look, this is the result of their so-called spiritual teaching.'

　"But, whatever happens, whoever is assailed or attacked, the work will go on; the sick will be healed, the broken-hearted will be assuaged, inspiration and truth will continue to descend, and men will go on finding themselves. There is no power on earth that is strong enough to stop that; whether it be a power that dresses itself in the robes of religion, or not, it is too late.”

　While the persecution of mediums and Spiritualists continued, Silver Birch remained the other-world commentator on mun-dane events.

　"It may get worse before it gets better," he warned the mem-bers of the circle, “but I am not concerned. This time we are here to stay—that I have always said. It is good that you have more and more restrictions placed upon you, for that will be the means by which you earn greater freedom.

　"Always it is best when persecution comes from those who dislike you—it acts as a unifying measure, it welds together in one main force all sections who have to face the common foe. It is not possible to imprison all the instruments of the Great Spirit. It is not possible to close down all the places that are dedicated for the purpose of spreading the truths of the spirit.

　"There is no church that is powerful enough to banish the truth of the spirit. You are not back in the Dark Ages when such a power was vested in the hands of a few. No, you are living in an age of greater enlightenment, when men and women have tasted freedom, the freedom that is the life of the spirit. That freedom cannot be denied, and it will grow.

　"Part of our task is to keep the flame of freedom burning, to teach all people how thay can be fired with zeal and enthusiasm, how they can rekindle the love of liberty, how they can be re-newed and energised by the power of the spirit.,

　"Once you liberate the minds of people they lose their desire for servitude. We have been the means of liberating many who have wandered away from the fold of priestcraft, away from the manacles of theology, away from the gyves of creedalism. There are thousands who no longer feel that they are manacled. They are now free; they have felt the breath of freedom; they have lived in the sunlight of its liberating influence.

　"No, I see nothing to cause anxiety. This movement will go from strength to strength as more and more mediums surrender themselves to the power of the spirit. It is our purpose to bring as many as possible within the radius of spirit power. That has the twofold task of releasing their own spiritual dynamic and also enabling them to be subject to the influence of those who love them. 

　"I am one of those who believe that the love of those who desire to serve far transcends the love that is based upon a family tie. The love that is based upon the desire for service is a far greater love. Always when your heart and mind and soul are dedicated to the single purpose of improving the lot of the many, you attract a shining host who have no desire to enjoy any beauty or glory that is part of their reward, as long as there are millions who are denied the faintest glimpse of that beauty on earth.

　"If it were possible for you to see with the eyes of the spirit, you would see the link within the link that goes throughout all spheres of being; you would understand that no individual in your world is cast off, removed, neglected, overlooked, but that the tie of the spirit persists from the lowest that you know to the highest that you can visualise.

　"Throughout all the spheres of being, there are the radiant ones who pass their power down, link by link, until it filters through earthly channels. It is a mighty power that the spirit wields, far more potent than ever I can explain.

　"We have travelled a long road together and the end is not yet. Much has been done, much will be done. There is far more done in the unconscious method than people realise; the influence of the spirit pours itself upon many unconscious instruments who perhaps realise at the best that it is a power outside themselves, a power they cannot explain, a power they do not associate with a world of spirit or a life beyond the physical grave. Yet, neverthe-less, they are more receptive towards you because they are con-scious of this super-physical happening in their own lives.

　"The great thing that has been accomplished is the way in which old ideas that the world is bounded by five senses have gone and the new ideas now reign uppermost practically amongst all who live in your world today."

　"There is no evidence," said a member of the circle, "that the orthodox Church has changed its opinion."

　"There is plenty of evidence,” said Silver Birch, "to show the gradual whittling away and the attempts to harmonise old ideas with new knowledge. The history of the orthodox churches for the last century is one long record of an effort to interpret fixed creeds in terms of modern knowledge, to show that things were not really as they were said, but rather that they were symbolic. You will see that has been happening for a long time.

　"The more enlightened ones go the whole way and say: 'No, this is no longer true. Science and research and knowledge and discovery and invention have revealed a much larger world than our forefathers were aware of'. But others temporise, trying all the time to pour new wine into old bottles. Thought has become more fluid. Doctrines are not stated in the fixed terms of yesterday.

　"All those who are wedded to an inflexible, orthodox outlook are constantly dwindling. Remember that those who try to bring a modern outlook into that authority are always growing: It is part of the inevitable process of evolution. There are still those who, because of their peculiar psychological make-up, will not advance. There are still those who are wedded to the rigid formalism. They are not the majority and there are not as many as there were fifty years ago.

　"There has been a healthy spirit of rationalising at work. The old pictures and ideas of a personal god have had to go with the advance of knowledge. All that has been revealed about the vastness and intricacy of the universe, of the teeming life that exists, of the vibrations and radiations which are beyond your ken, have completely changed the whole of people's outlook on religion. You cannot believe in the old ideas of the heaven and the hell when science has revealed a world of four dimensions.

　"We are on the winning side, for truth is always on the winning side. What you must guard against always is that those who come to you shall not attempt merely to steal your thunder as part of a process to resuscitate old theology. It is the life of the spirit that must be spread in all its radiant beauty as more and more instruments are provided, instruments who are capable of giving expression to the gifts of the spirit. So, growth will come. Once this knowledge has touched a soul it can never depart.

　"Here is a vast world of the spirit with eternal means of inspiring and enthusing millions. None need turn away empty-handed. There is succour and strength and guidance for all who care to come. Never was there such an offer made to your world to come and drink of the living water of truth, to come and share in all the wonders of infinite wisdom and to know that this store-house is inexhaustible, that it is capable of meeting every demand made upon it, that no matter who you may be, where you may be, you still have access to this world of spirit.

　"It is not dependent upon your birth or station, your rank, your calling, your race, your nationality, the work that you do; whether you be in the bowels of the earth, in the depths of the sea or flying in the air; whether you be in a train or in a ship, whether you be in factory or office or workshop, whether you be in your home, you always have access to the power of the spirit.

　"If you will learn how to place yourself in tune with it, all its riches can be poured out upon you and the limitation is your capacity to receive. What a wondrous truth that is, and yet there are some in your world who deny it."

　Then, on a later occasion, after the imposition of a police ban because of the Witchcraft Act, Silver Birch declared: “I can say now what I have always said, that this is a fight you cannot lose. Those are the words I addressed to you when last you confronted me with examples of persecution.

　"That which has been known as Christianity in your world did not cease because its disciples were persecuted. According to your records they were called upon to endure a martyrdom which is not your lot today. Yet, despite all that enmity and hostility wreaked upon those propagators, the message of Christianity has survived. Indeed, there are many who believeーand I am among themーthat the persecution played a tremendous part in helping to disseminate the message.

　"Always those who persecute achieve an effect far different from the one they intend. And so it is in your own time and generation. You have made many enemies and these foes, as I have often said, will stoop to all kinds of shady means to try to halt your progress.

　"Even those who call themselves religious, and who should be aware of the sacred obligations that religion entails upon those who claim to be its adherents, behave in a manner that is foreign to every ethical and moral principle. Their behaviour is the very reverse of any association with the word religion, but all their combined efforts are powerless to halt the descent of the spirit.

　"It is too late for any body of individuals to imagine that they can put an end to the power of the spirit. They may invoke ancient laws and prohibitions, they may have at their beck and call the whole of the forces of state and police, but they cannot prevent the power of the spirit from being made manifest. 

　"Far too many have been touched by its beneficent, guiding, loving influence, and these will endure no matter what the penalty may be. The power of the spirit has descended through thousands and thousands of channels. What was at first a tiny trickle has become a broad, flowing river. Soon it will be a mighty ocean, and it will sweep away all the forces which at present are obstacles.

　"I see nothing which has happened or that will happen to cause fear or terror to be struck in the hearts of any. With loyalty, with confidence, with knowledge of the power that supports, maintains and sustains all the instruments, you should go forward, confident that truth will resist all the forces of reaction, and be-cause it is truth will endure.

　"I always enunciate the eternal principles that cannot be shaken by the happenings of yesterday, today or tomorrow. These principles are part of eternal realitiesーrealities based upon the operation of immutable laws. With this knowledge at your command, you can be strong, fortified in your resolution, fear-less and unafraid, knowing that the truths of which you are the bearers must triumph.

　"This truth is here to stay, and all of you who so loyally play your parts should rejoice at the light that is thrown upon you. It means that we are disturbing those who should be disturbed. The new broom is sweeping out much that should have been removed a long time ago. The process is a salutary one and naturally those you are sweeping away will not retreat without a struggle.

　"It is all part of the great fight, a fight in which legions are enlisted in your service and with that multitude of shining hosts you cannot fail."

　Silver Birch reminded the members of his circle, on another occasion: "I told you a long time ago that our enemies would try to vanquish you with ancient calumnies dressed in respectable garb, and would assail you, supported by all the forces and majesties of law and state.

　"But the power of the spirit will not be quenched this time. It is too late. We are a mighty army of liberated men and women who return to prove that life is infinite, that each survives, that love is deathless, that mourning need not be, that there is a vast fountain of divine wisdom and love and inspiration available to all.

　"None has any special prerogative except the sincere in heart, the humble in mind, the ones who desire to know, those who will cast aside all ancient fable and myth with a yearning to have the truth, prepared to follow it, once they have accepted it, free, worthy to be citizens of a new and better world.

　"There is no church, there is no law, there is no judge who can dry up the fountain of inspiration. This living stream will con-tinue to flow. You must go on fearing no one, determined to be crusaders for a truth which will make all men free from the thraldom of superstition and deliver them from the bondage of ignorance."

　In these words, the wise teacher, Silver Birch, has encouraged all those who have fought, and continue to fight, for religious freedom.