We sum up in this. Man will never feel the need of that which he does not lack. He will never feel the need of happiness or gratification so long as every demand of his nature is gratified; because the compliance with every demand of his being will of itself confer all that he can desire, and he will be satisfied. Hence the desire for that which he does not possess demonstrates that there are true and just demands of his being which are not complied with.
Therefore any attempt to satisfy that desire, short of complying with the true demand, will result in begetting false action, which will tend to overtax and disease some part of his organism, creating an unnatural demand in that department, which, instead of bringing satisfaction and content, will bring restlessness and disquiet, calling for still further gratification. Thus lust, when it is conceived, bringeth forth a violation of the normal or healthy condition, which is sin; and that sin in its work, when finished, bringeth forth death.
CHAPTER XII.
MARRIAGE—FREE LOVE.
“Think not that I am come to destroy the law or the prophets. I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill.”—JESUS’ Sermon.
MAN, as a finite and relational being, is the subject of government. Being produced and developed by laws acting to certain ends, he is the subject of such laws. Being receptive of influences out of himself, he is subject to such external influences, through their action upon his conscious perceptions and affections.
Man, as a conscious being, is the subject of two classes of impulses. One is a sense of affinity, the other of restraint. The first is the natural impulse proceeding from certain relations, and is a spontaneous proceeding from such relation without considering consequences. The other is a reflex impulse proceeding from supposed consequences which will follow certain conditions and actions, and has respect to ends or uses.
This latter class of impulses makes him the subject of outward motions, and bring him under the dominion of laws external to his being. As such he becomes the subject of an external government. As a conscious being, man is the subject of two classes of external government, the one which appeals to his selfish and lustful nature, and the other which appeals to his moral and relational nature—and he is the proper subject of the one or the other government, according to the character of his ruling affection or love.
Man, as a conscious being, can be governed only through some department of his consciousness. That which induces in him volition must address his perceptions, and proceed thence to his affections. For man’s affections can not be approached externally except through his perception. This is most manifest to the reflecting mind. Before an individual can love or hate an object, he must be able to perceive it. And his love or hatred thereof will be according to his perceptions. Hence it will be perceived that the individual who is in the ruling love of self, if governed at all as a conscious being, must be governed by an appeal to his selfish nature; that is, by an appeal to his hopes and fears. For so long as he is not under the rule of his moral nature, he can not be governed by its influence. If man is to be controlled, he must be controlled by controlling that which controls him.
The selfish and lustful man is under the dominion of his selfish nature, and whatever controls that nature governs him. And he can be governed, as a lustful being, only by controlling his selfish nature. The same is true in principle of the moral man, or he who is under the dominion of his moral nature. Whatever controls the moral nature governs him; and so long as he is under the dominion of his moral nature he must be so governed. Thus it will be perceived that our proposition is true, that man, as a conscious being, must be governed through that department thereof which rules in him. If it be the selfish, he must be governed by an appeal to selfishness; if it be charity or moral love, then that nature must be appealed to.
Since, then, man must be governed by an appeal to that impulse which rules in him, and since mankind are naturally under the selfish impulse, the first government to which man becomes subject naturally is that of force; and it appeals to his hopes and fears—that is, to his selfish desire for gain or happiness, and his dread of suffering and loss. Hence selfishness is the basis of the first dispensation of government. This dispensation of government is not calculated, nor is it designed, to make the comer thereunto perfect. Its end and use is to protect the individual from external or outward evils, and not from that which comes from within. It can not extend beyond the cleansing of the outside of the cup and platter.