3.9 Equality Among People

Natural Equality

All people are equal before God. All tend toward the same goal, and God has made the divine laws for everyone. People often say, “The sun shines the same on everyone,” and in doing so they express a greater and more universal truth than they may realize.

All are subject to the same laws of nature; all are born with the same fragility; all are subject to the same sufferings. The bodies of the rich decompose like the bodies of the poor. Therefore, God has not granted natural superiority to anyone, either by birth or by death: all are equal before God.

The Inequality of Aptitudes

God has created all spirits equal, but each has lived for a longer or shorter time and has consequently developed more or fewer aptitudes. The difference lies in the degree of experience and volition—that is, in the use of free will—by which some advance more rapidly, acquiring a wider range of aptitudes. A diversity of aptitudes is necessary so that all may contribute to the designs of Providence within the limits of the development of their physical and intellectual powers. What one cannot do, another does, and thus each fulfills a useful function. Furthermore, since all worlds are united in solidarity, it is necessary for the inhabitants of more highly evolved worlds—most of which were created long before yours—to come and live here in order to set an example for you. (See no. 361)

In passing from a more evolved world to a lesser one, the spirit retains all its acquired faculties. A spirit that has progressed cannot regress. In the spirit state, it may choose a coarser envelope or a more precarious position than before, but always as a lesson and as a means of further progress. (See no. 180)

Thus, the diversity of aptitudes among individuals is related not to the inmost nature of their creation, but to the degree of perfection they have reached as spirits. God has not, therefore, created an inequality of faculties, but has permitted different degrees of development to remain in contact with one another so that the more advanced may help the less advanced to progress, and so that, in needing one another, all may understand the law of charity that should unite them.

Social Inequalities

The inequality of social conditions is not a law of nature; it is the work of humankind, not of God.

This inequality will someday disappear. Only God’s laws are eternal. Such inequalities are disappearing little by little every day. They are destined to vanish along with the predominance of pride and selfishness, leaving only differences in merit. A day will come when the members of the great family of God’s children will no longer regard themselves as being of purer or less pure blood, because only the spirit is more or less pure, and that does not depend on social position.

Those who abuse the superiority of their social position by oppressing the weak for their own gain are to be pitied, those wretched beings. They will in turn be oppressed, and they will be reborn into an existence in which they will suffer all that they caused others to suffer.

The Inequality of Wealth

The inequality of wealth does and does not originate in the inequality of aptitudes, which give some persons more means of acquiring things than others. Fraud and robbery must also be taken into account.

Inherited wealth may be the fruit of evil passions. One must go back to its origin to determine whether it is pure. It may not be known whether, at its source, it was the fruit of spoliation or injustice. But apart from the question of its possible evil origin, the longing for wealth, even when it is honestly acquired, and the secret desire to possess it as quickly as possible, are not laudable sentiments. That is what God judges, and the divine judgment is more severe than that of human beings.

If a fortune was wrongly acquired at the outset, the heirs are not responsible for the wrong committed by others, especially if they are ignorant of it. Yet a fortune is often destined for certain individuals in order to provide them with the opportunity to repair an injustice. Happy are they if they understand this. If they make reparation in the name of the one who first committed the wrong, the reparation will be taken into account for all concerned, because it is almost always the original wrongdoer who, from the spirit world, inspires them to do so.

One may dispose of one’s assets more or less equitably without breaking the law, and one remains responsible after death for one’s testamentary dispositions. Every action bears its own fruit: the fruit of good deeds is sweet, whereas the fruit of other deeds is always bitter. This should always be borne in mind.

Absolute equality of wealth is not possible and has never existed. The diversity of aptitudes and characters stands opposed to it.

Those who believe equality of wealth to be the remedy for all social ills are either system-builders or ambitious and envious persons. They do not understand that equality would quickly be broken by the force of circumstances. Selfishness must be fought, for that is the social plague. Chimeras must not be pursued.

If equality of wealth is not possible, the same does not apply to well-being. Well-being is relative, and everyone could enjoy it if human beings understood one another better, for true well-being consists in employing one’s time according to one’s inclination, and not in working at something one does not enjoy. Since everyone has different aptitudes, no useful work would be left undone. Equilibrium exists in everything; it is human beings who upset it.

Human beings will understand one another when they practice the law of justice.

There are persons who fall into deprivation and poverty through their own fault, yet society may also be held responsible for this. Society is often the primary cause of such wrongs. It is society’s responsibility to attend to the moral education of its members. It is frequently poor education that distorts such persons’ judgment rather than restraining their harmful tendencies. (See no. 685)

The Trials of Wealth and Poverty

God bestows wealth and power on some and poverty on others in order to test each person differently. Such trials are chosen by the spirits themselves, and they often fail in them.

Poverty and wealth are equally dangerous trials for human beings. Poverty provokes complaints against Providence, whereas wealth leads to all kinds of excess.

If the wealthy endure more temptations, they do not always make greater practical use of the means at their disposal for doing good. They become selfish, proud, and insatiable. Their wants increase with their fortune, and they never think they have enough.

An elevated position in the world and authority over one’s fellow beings are trials as great and risky as misfortune, for the wealthier and more powerful one is, the more obligations one must fulfill, and the greater are the means at one’s disposal to do good and evil. God tests the poor through resignation and the wealthy through the use they make of their wealth and power.

Wealth and power awaken all the passions that attach us to matter and keep us from spiritual perfection. That is why Jesus said, “Verily I say to you that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.”

Equality of Rights between Men and Women

Men and women are equal before God and have the same rights. God has given both the knowledge of good and evil and the faculties for progress.

The moral inferiority of women in certain regions comes from the unjust and cruel dominion that men have exerted over them. It is a result of social institutions and the abuse of strength over weakness. Among those who have not advanced very far morally, might makes right.

Women are physically weaker than men in order to assign special functions to them. Men are meant for rough work by being stronger; women for lighter work. Yet both help one another in the trials of a life full of bitterness.

Women’s physical weakness does not make them naturally dependent on men. God has given strength to some in order to protect the weak, not to enslave them.

God has fitted the organization of each sex to the functions it must perform. If God has given less physical strength to women, God has at the same time given them greater sensitivity suited to the delicacy of maternal functions and the fragility of the beings entrusted to their care.

The functions for which women are intended by nature are as important as those conferred upon men, and even greater in one respect: women give men their first notions of life.

Since all people are equal before God’s law, they should also be equal before human law. This is the first principle of justice: “Do not do unto others what you do not want them to do unto you.”

Equality of rights, yes; equality of functions, no. Each person must have a proper place, and occupations should reflect aptitude. To be just, human law must uphold equality of rights between men and women. Any special privilege granted to one and not the other is contrary to justice. The emancipation of women accompanies the progress of civilization; their servitude advances with barbarism. Besides, sex exists only in the physical organization, and since spirits may become either, there is no difference between them in this respect. Consequently, they should enjoy the same rights.

Equality in Death

The desire to perpetuate one’s memory by funeral monuments springs from the last act of pride.

The pomp of funeral monuments is most often determined by relatives who wish to honor the memory of the deceased rather than by the deceased themselves. It is the pride of the relatives, who seek honor for themselves. Such displays are not always made for the deceased, but for vanity, for social consideration, and for the display of wealth. The memory of loved ones is no less enduring in the hearts of the poor because they can place only one flower on their loved ones’ graves. Marble cannot save from oblivion those who were useless while on earth.

Funeral pomp is not altogether blameworthy. When it honors the memory of a moral person, it is just and may set a good example.

The grave is the meeting place of all humankind; all human distinctions come mercilessly to an end there. The wealthy try in vain to perpetuate their memory by means of ostentatious monuments. Time will destroy these monuments just as it destroys their bodies; nature has so willed it. The memory of their good and evil deeds will be less perishable than their grave, and the pomp of their funerals will neither wash away their meanness nor raise them a single degree in the hierarchy of spirits.