Essays

SALVATION

The Treatise on Morality touches on the subject of salvation. It gives a broad indication of our life following the achievement of the Aim of the Society of Humankind. It does not however, discuss the stance or teachings of the Society on the issue of human salvation prior to that apocalyptic change in our condition. That omission will be corrected here.
These matters are important only in the early stages of the development of the Society. The vast majority of the other belief systems, religions and social theories presently dealing with the meaning and purpose of human existence have very clear teachings on the subject of salvation and our life after death. It is likely therefore, that the Society will initially be confronted on this issue, and have to answer questions about it. Once its views are widely understood however, it is to be expected that this Essay will become an anachronism.
The questions most likely to trouble the Society and its adherents are, first; who qualifies for salvation in the system of thought of the Society of HumanKind, and second; how do they gain that goal? The majority of presently existing and previous alternatives to the Society answer the first question with the bald statement that believers, within their own particular definition of that term, are the only qualifiers. That attitude has been both the greatest strength and weakest aspect of the systems of thought of the predecessors of the Society. The strength lies in the power of that rule to bind followers to their faith once they are committed to the movement. Its weakness is the resulting tendency of those belief systems to concentrate on recruiting the immature and the troubled, so that the fear of the loss of salvation can operate to retain them if and when doubts later emerge. Other movements may allow unbelievers to obtain salvation, but admission to that state is usually hedged with complexities and difficulty in order to maintain the strength of the grip...