EVOLUTION THE MASTER-KEY 



more important. As we shall see in a later chap 

 ter, the synthetic philosophy teaches that ethics 

 or morality is older older by millions of years 

 than any religion. The confusion between re 

 ligion and morality is almost inextricable in the 

 modern mind. Yet, in point of fact, not only are 

 the beginnings of a true morality to be found long 

 before even the evolution of the vertebrates as 

 in the ant and the bee, both of whom do their 

 duty but ages elapsed before any moral or ethi 

 cal element entered into religion. Between re 

 ligion and ethics there is, therefore, no inherent 

 relation. 



It is easy to show, even on cursory analysis, that 

 the truly moral element is not really so important, 

 even in present-day religion, as is often supposed. 

 The whole essence of morality, its beginning and 

 end, is the subordination of self to others. The 

 performance of any act in self-interest is not 

 moral. 1 To save up money in a stocking or in 

 vest it in a commercial undertaking is to perform 

 an act of no moral value. A large part of re 

 ligion is concerned with acts that are precisely 

 on the same plane; such, for instance, as the per 

 formance of certain rites in order to secure a hap 

 py old age. Whether it is expected to spend the 

 happy old age in heaven or on earth in no way af 

 fects the moral value of the act. Similarly, when 

 the true moral element does enter into the act, 



1 Not moral does not mean immoraL 

 236 



