His works were aimed at the everyday person and discussed Socialist principles in simple in practical terms, these included The Common Sense of Socialism and The Socialists: Who They Are and What They Stand For. He also took a position that one could be a Socialist and still be a religious individual, which he discussed in The Spiritual Significance of Modern Socialism.
While lecturing at Plymouth Spiritualist Church he clarified the goals of the Socialist Party: he explained that the goal of the Socialist Party of America was not to divide personal property, but to ensure that all individuals regardless of wealth had an equal access to resources to live their lives.
In 1912 Mrs. Lena Morrow Lewis spoke at Plymouth Spiritualist Church during a series of lectures the Church hosted on the subject of Socialism. Lewis was one of the most active leaders in the Socialist Party of America. She was the Socialist nominee for Lieutenant Governor of California in 1926, and the California Senate in 1928. In her lecture she explained that the principle aim of the Socialist party was to promote solidarity, equal rights, and the welfare of workers.
Both of these lectures were during Presidential elections where Eugene V. Debs ran for President as a candidate for the Socialist Party of America. During the 1912 election he managed to win 3% of the popular vote, the highest percentage ever achieved by a Socialist candidate, and remarkable given he lacked the massive financial backing that the Republican and Democratic Parties had.
Debs was highly critical that the Republicans and Democrats were financed by various businesses and banks, and pointed out that the Socialist Party was the only party actually representing the poor and working class.
During the 1920 Presidential election, a story was published in several newspapers that during a séance at the headquarters for the National Woman's Party in Washington DC the spirit of Susan B. Anthony had addressed a group of women through a Spiritualist Medium. Through the mediumship of Theresa Russell, the spirit of Anthony urged them to endorse and vote for Eugene V. Debs as President.
Although the labor movement and organized socialist groups fell in decline during the 1920s (largely due to government suppression and propaganda efforts) the economic disaster of the Great Depression would revive various labor movements and socialist principles which sought to focus on the welfare of workers rather than the interests of the wealthy.
In November 1929, a month after the stock market crash, Rev. Alexander J. McIvor-Tyndall, leader of the popular Central Spiritualist Church in Rochester, New York addressed his congregation with a call to action for Spiritualists.
He preached that all Spiritualist Churches (and all Churches in general) should strive to be social centers that benefit the welfare of those in need. He discussed a social and political reform of society, and listed the following points that should be promoted:
Abolition of child labor
Legitimizing of all children
An establishment of a mothers fund for all mothers, married and single
Prison reform and abolition of capital punishment
A government vacation fund of all workers,
Higher wages and shorter hours for labor of all kinds
Government ownership of public utilities
A percentage of profits for employees of all manufacturing plants, department stores, and all large commercial enterprises
Regulation of all private incomes
Free trade with all countries
Universal Women's suffrage
Abolish fines for the poor when arrested for any offence
Making the legal process of divorce more simple
Making the legal process of divorce more simple
The establishment of health homes for the aged, the blind, and incurably sick
Free medical, metaphysical, or osteopathic treatment for those who need it;
Free unhampered power of research in all department of the world's work
Free colleges, musical education, and free art schools.
Although Spiritualism has roots in progressive (and radical) social movements there seems to be a deep misunderstanding that one can be a Spiritualist and be detached from world events. That to be Spiritual, means that you need to avoid engagement with the political sphere of things and constantly be looking to the other-world. This position is not a Spiritualist one.
The foundation of Spiritualist philosophy is that our spiritual progression is not just individual, but is communal. That individual harmony is not only meaningless without societal harmony, but impossible.
Cora L.V. Scott rhetorically asked in one of her lectures, "How shall you have a temple of God when outside the door the starving wait for food? How can you have a temple when one in tatters and rags asks for alms? How can you have a temple when humanity is throbbing and pulsating with pain and anguish?"
The answer is that you can't. She explained that the only true Temple that can be built is one of good deeds, compassion, and care for those in need. That the elimination of suffering caused by a broken social and political structure would be the greatest Temple that could be built to honor God.
I'd suggest reflecting on these things, and listen to Cora's call to action for Spiritualists to work to uplift all people: "Let each one of you belong to the great army of workers - the millions of workers - the many millions of workers that are helping to carve out for humanity this wonderful Temple of perfect life and perfect love"
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