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Summary:
Civilization is a racial acquisition; it is not an inalienable biological property; therefore, all children must be brought up in a cultural environment, and every new young generation must be re-educated. The best qualities of civilization - scientific, philosophical and religious - are not transmitted from one generation to another as part of direct biological inheritance. These cultural achievements are preserved only thanks to the enlightened preservation of social heritage.
Steps in the Evolution of Civilization
Socialization. In ancient times, unification became the reward for survival. The lone man was helpless if he did not have a tribal mark confirming his belonging to the group, which would necessarily avenge any attack on him. Even in Cain's time, to be outside your home alone and without any sign of group affiliation was to expose yourself to mortal danger. Civilization has become man's insurance against violent death, and the insurance premium is paid in obedience to the numerous legal demands of society.
Social institutes. All human institutions serve a certain social need - past or present, regardless of the fact that their hypertrophied development inevitably demeans the significance of the individual, leaving his personality in the shade and suppressing initiative. Man should control his institutions and not allow these creations of progressive civilization to subjugate him.
Fire and animals. Fire was a great civilizer, allowing man for the first time to be altruistic without harm to himself: one neighbor gave another a smoldering coal, without impoverishing in any way. The home fire, for which the mother or the eldest daughter watched, was the first educator, demanding attention and reliability. The ancient home was not the building, but the family gathered around the fire - the family hearth. When the son started a new family, he took with him a staple from the family hearth.
Wars and slavery. War is the natural state and heritage of the developing man, peace is the social measure determining the progress of civilization. Until the partial socialization of the evolving races, man was extremely individualistic, extremely suspicious, and incredibly quarrelsome. Violence is a law of nature, hostility is an automatic reaction of the children of nature, while war is these same actions, but carried out jointly. Whenever the social order is tested by the complexities accompanying social progress, there is invariably a rapid and destructive return to these ancient methods of violently resolving the irritations arising from human relations.
Communes and private property. Although primitive society was practically a commune, primitive man was not an adherent of modern communist doctrines. Communism in that ancient age was not just a theory or a social doctrine; it was a simple, practical and automatic adaptation. Communism prevented poverty and want, begging and prostitution were practically unknown to these ancient tribes.
Human rights. Nature does not endow man with any rights. All he has is life, and a world in which to experience it. To be convinced of this, it is enough to imagine the probable outcome of the meeting of an unarmed man with a hungry tiger in the primeval forests. The main thing that society gave to man is safety.
Marriage. Conjugal, or conjugal, relations arise from bisexuality. Marriage is a counter-adjustment of man to his heterosexuality, while family life is the cumulative result of such evolutionary and adaptive adjustments. Marriage is sustainable. It is not purely biological evolution, but it serves as the basis of all social evolution, and is therefore certain to persist in one form or another.
Religion and fear. At one time or another, mortal man worshiped everything on earth, including himself. Moreover, he worshiped anything he could imagine in heaven or under the surface of the earth. Primitive man feared the manifestation of powers; he worshiped every natural phenomenon he could not understand. Observations of mighty natural forces such as storms, floods, earthquakes, landslides, volcanoes, fires, heat and cold made a huge impression on the evolving human consciousness. Until now, the inexplicable phenomena that occur in life are called "acts of God" and "mysterious commandments of fate".
Cult and priests. The viability of the cult type of social organization was explained by the fact that it provided the symbolism necessary to preserve and promote moral views and religious tenets. The cult grew out of the traditions of the "ancient clans" and was perpetuated as a recognized institution; all clans profess some form of cult. Every inspiring ideal strives to acquire a symbolism that perpetuates it - to find a method of manifestation in culture that would ensure its existence and expand the possibilities for its realization. And the cult achieves this at the expense of promoting and gratifying the senses.
Preservation of civilization
The formation of the civilization that is on Urantia is determined by the following main factors:
1. Natural conditions.
2. The means of production.
3. Scientific knowledge.
4. Human resources.
5. The effectiveness of material resources.
6. The effectiveness of language.
7. The effectiveness of mechanical devices.
8. The nature of enlighteners.
9. Human ideals.
10. Coordination of specialists.
11. Employment methods.
12. Willingness to cooperate.
13. The effective and wise leadership.
14. Social changes.
15. Preventing collapse in the transition period.
Education is a science of living. It must continue throughout life, in order that mankind may gradually rise to the successively increasing levels accessible to mortal wisdom:
1. Knowing things.
2. The awareness of meanings.
3. The understanding of values.
4. The nobility of labor is a duty.
5. Goal motivation is morality.
6. Love of service is character.
7. Cosmic intuition is spiritual insight.