I recently heard the words of a gentleman on YouTube who claimed that it was very difficult to spread Spiritism in Germany. The reason for this, in his opinion, lies in Germany's history, which has been sad and gloomy. This suffering was mostly caused by the church (e.g. witch burnings). He emphasised that although religion was not synonymous with the church, its actions also cast a bad light on Spiritism. If you open a dictionary and look up the term ‘Spiritism’, you will find the definition ‘black magic, spirit cult etc.’. In other words, all definitions with negative connotations.

It is therefore important to focus not on the spirits but on Kardec's teachings when spreading Spiritism in Germany. The logical consequence should therefore be to discard the term ‘Spiritism’ and use the word ‘Kardecism’ instead. This would mean a specification of Kardec's teachings and would serve the purpose of dissemination. So far, so good. This gentleman's thoughts may be honourable and, to a certain extent, understandable and correct, but they are seriously flawed. It is true that it is a very difficult endeavour to spread Spiritism in Germany. And it may also be that one reason for this can be found in Germany's history and the past actions of the church. And it is perfectly true that the image of Spiritism in the ‘non-spiritist’ public is negative and tainted with false claims.

Spiritism has absolutely nothing to do with black magic and is not a dark cult with necromancy. And it is true that there have always been fraudsters who have misused Spiritism for their own purposes. But we do not change this false and negative public image of Spiritism by giving it a different name and making half-true claims. And even if this could be done in this way, it would not be in the Spiritist sense and also not in the sense of Allan Kardec.

It should be emphasised that Spiritism is not the teaching of Allan Kardec, it is the teaching of the spirits. This is a fact that we must not conceal under any circumstances. Otherwise the whole basis of Spiritism would be falsified. Missionisation to Spiritism must never be based on lies. This would be a blatant violation of the eighth divine commandment ‘Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour’. No healthy tree can grow from rotten roots. Allan Kardec was not the founder of Spiritism, but its codifier. That is a big difference. It was the spirits who dictated the wisdom of Spiritism through mediums. Kardec's God-given task was to collect these dictations from the spiritual world and to evaluate them with his sober, clear and logical mind and then to condense them into a homogeneous philosophy. There could not have been a better person for this task.

Allan Kardec was not a rapturous dreamer who could easily have fallen victim to illusions. He was an educator, a scientist who could only be convinced by rational evidence. As such, he understood Spiritism not as a religion, but as philosophy and science. Kardec did not presuppose blind faith, but called on people to allow themselves to be convinced. He himself would never have thought of bending and watering down the teachings of the spirits just to convince people of their truth. We should follow the example of this great man and remain firm in our belief in the spiritualistic revelations.

We should remain authentic under all circumstances and must not bend or twist the teachings revealed by the grace of God and the good spirits to suit human taste. Spiritism is not just a belief or a supernatural attraction for curious contemporaries who end up ridiculing everything. Spiritism is a science to be taken seriously, as Kardec emphasised. And that is precisely its strength. Spiritist doctrine (in contrast to religions etc.) rejects simple, blind faith; instead, it challenges people to experience the truth for themselves and to examine it logically. We spiritualists therefore need not fear the opinions of outsiders. The triumph of Spiritism is a foregone conclusion before God. Remain steadfast. It is only a matter of time before Spiritism spreads all over the world, including Germany.