248 THE THRESHOLD OF EVOLUTION 



neighbour. Each sect or individual must be tolerant to 

 the other and make allowances for differences in nationality, 

 in social scale, in the occupation of life, wealth or poverty, as 

 all more or less influencing the religious ideals that most tend 

 to produce the least amount of irritation to one's neighbour, 

 and give at the same time the greatest satisfaction to ourselves 

 without injury to others, as the form of belief most suited 

 to our advancement. We must not deny equal liberty 

 to our neighbour to that which we claim for ourselves. Hence 

 as the world advances, religions and governments will be com- 

 pelled by Science to modify their teachings and alter their 

 laws to suit the customs of the country or class of society 

 for which they cater. Hence all must try and work and 

 interweave into their creeds and dogmas such improvements 

 as science proves to be true revelations and also the best way 

 to worship the Almighty Creator of the world, by making 

 tolerance their first dogma and the seven revelations their 

 first teachings, thus they will learn the true way to wor- 

 ship God is to perform every act of life so as to make the 

 best use of every moment of it for the public good, and, after 

 this, the next most important thing is to avoid injuring the 

 good name of others. The next virtue is to obey the rulers 

 of the state and community to which you belong, and your 

 masters and superiors, and to strive to work out your duty 

 in the evolution of the world by performing the duties of youi 

 state of life in the best manner possible. 



The only way the preacher can in future keep the pews of 

 his church full will be by becoming more practical in his 

 teachings, and basing his sermons, not on some old, musty 

 text of long-forgotten superstition, but rather on some new 

 discovery of science, some practical demonstration of the 

 duties of honour and respect due by the lower classes of 

 society to their superiors, and the duties of the superiors to 

 study the welfare of their dependants. The evils of greed of 

 wealth, profiteering, either by wages or prices the necessity for 

 the creation and veneration of high principles rather than ac- 

 cording honour to wealth, and condoning the amassment of 

 wealth by unjust or dishonourable means, be it in the form 

 either of capital or wages. The future preacher must be pra- 

 tical rather than eloquent. 



It is by such reforms in religion, and a system of 



