Chapter II - Imposition and Demonstration
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nications gathered from ignorance are pernicious in
nications gathered from ignorance are pernicious in
their tendencies; mediums describe disease, its symp-
toms, locality, fatality, etc., who know nothing about it,
warn people of death, and frighten them into it! This
obnoxious practice makes sickness. The case has been
proved that a man died from the belief he was being
bled to death, showing the cause of his death purely
mental; hence the danger of ignorant charlatans deal-
ing with disease. What science finds requisite to de-
stroy in order to heal the sick, mediumship strengthens
and perpetuates.
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Jesus cast out "spirits," error, did his work, confessed
Jesus cast out "spirits," error, did his work, confessed
the oneness of God, Spirit, and never described disease,
but healed it. If the sick are made more comfortable
through some error of process they are ten-fold more
the victims of disease in the end. The mysticism of
mediumship gives force to its words of doom, enabling
it to do more harm than drugs, for the sick are more
frightened by what a medium pronounces fatal, than
when an M. D. so decides; and this fear is the mental
condition that develops disease. Science would have to
go over the whole ground and uproot every seed of their
sowing to destroy disease. The evidence of belief is all
the medium has to rely on, while science repudiates
belief with the evidence of understanding, and demands
the Principle of being to bring out the harmony of Life.
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At one time a medium informed us we were ill, said
At one time a medium informed us we were ill, said
our brain was overtasked, and we must have rest. To
this we filed a vigorous objection, contending for the
rights of Intelligence, that mind controlled body and
brain, and the views she insisted on were the ones to
be rid of, in order to be well. Whereupon she stopped
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the conversation, exclaiming, "Dr. Rush is present, and
the conversation, exclaiming, "Dr. Rush is present, and
says you must use valganism;" (meaning undoubtedly
galvanism,) "and rest or be sick." But even this pre-
tended oracular warning failed to convince us, and the
consequence was we went on in a good state of health;
having strong doubts that fifty years of post-mortem
experience had so demoralized the orthography of that
learned man, or perpetuated his old beliefs of matter.
Thousands of our church members who are rational on
other topics, are sustaining and believing just this mum-
mery, while yet they send forth the cry against science
as dangerous to Christianity.
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In the summer of 1869, it was stated in the Banner
In the summer of 1869, it was stated in the Banner
of Light, published in Boston, that the late Theodore
Parker said, through a medium, "there never was and
there never would be, an immortal spirit"! At the
same time this paper was repeating weekly that spirit
communications were our only proofs of immortality!
While we entertain no doubt of the humanitarianism
of many spiritualists, we have strong proofs of the incor-
rect views of spiritualism. A man's assertion that he is
immortal, is no more proof of this than we would gain
of an opposite condition, were he to say, "I am mor-
tal"; Theodore Parker was beyond such vague hypoth-
esis. Life, Love, and Truth are immortal, and only
when these are realized will Life be understood. Truth
is eternal Life, and science the only medium of Truth,
or Life, hence the saying of Christ, "I am the Way,
the Truth, and Life, and no man cometh unto the
Father" (the Principle of being) "but through Me."
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Though the grass seemeth to wither, and the flower to
Though the grass seemeth to wither, and the flower to
fade, they reappear; erase the figures that express num-