Scientific Privilege

Source: A Reflection of Goodwill taken from the book “Jesus e a Cidadania do Espírito” [Jesus and the Citizenship of the Spirit], October 2019.
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José do Patrocínio

A priori denial of the essence of what one intimately searches makes it hard for scientific thought to have the privilege of benefiting from the discovery of what one instinctively searches: the Spirit. But we will all get there; it is just a matter of time. On August 16, 1884, in his newspaper Gazeta da Tarde, abolitionist José do Patrocínio (1853-1905), one of the founders of the Brazilian Academy of Letters, described the role of oppositions: “As in the balance of nature, resistance is only good for applying and distributing force through regular movements; in the social world, oppositions only serve to turn ideas concrete and systematic, as well as to give them the most adapted orientation for development and victory.”

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At times of great challenges, I always remember these words I dedicated to the Christians of the New Commandment, Friends of Jesus: For those who are with God—a God understood as the Highest Good—obstacles are stimuli. Barriers can be the affliction of those who lack encouragement. They represent, however, the driving force for human beings who are obstinate in their Ideal. Let us move forward, Citizens of the Spirit, from all areas of knowledge!

José de Paiva Netto (1941-2025), a writer, journalist, radio broadcaster, educator, composer, poet, the President Emeritus and Consolidator of the Legion of Good Will, and Spiritual Leader of the Religion of God, of the Christ, and of the Holy Spirit. He was an effective member of the Brazilian Press Association (ABI) and the Brazilian International Press Association (ABI-Inter), a member of the National Federation of Journalists (FENAJ), the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), the Union of Professional Journalists of the State of Rio de Janeiro, the Union of Writers of Rio de Janeiro, the Radio Broadcasters Union of Rio de Janeiro, the Brazilian Union of Composers (UBC), and the Academy of Letters of Central Brazil. He became an internationally recognized author in the defense of human rights and in his concepts of Ecumenical Citizenship and Ecumenical Spirituality, which, in his own words, represent “the cradle of the most generous values that are born of the Soul, the dwelling of emotions and of reasoning enlightened by intuition; the atmosphere that embraces everything that transcends the ordinary field of matter and comes from elevated human sensitivity, such as Truth, Justice, Mercy, Ethics, Honesty, Generosity, and Fraternal Love. In short, the mathematical constant that harmonizes the equation of spiritual, moral, mental, and human existence. Now, without the understanding that we exist on two planes―not only on the physical plane―it will be difficult to build a Society that is truly Ecumenical, Altruistic, and Solidary, since we would still be ignoring that the knowledge of Superior Spirituality elevates the character of creatures and, consequently, leads to the construction of the Planetary Citizenship.”