July 18, 1939 Father Divine Krum Elbow New York
Dear Major:
The Editors of BETTER SCHOOLS would be very happy to have you write an article (about 1,500 words) on "If I were a College Professor".
We earnestly hope you will find it possible to accept our invitation.
Yours very sincerely,
Brendon Byrne, Editor, BETTER SCHOOLS
BB:JB,
FATHER and MOTHER DIVINE
July 25, 1939 A.D.F.D.
Mr. Brendan Byrne
Editor Better Schools
55 W. 42nd St., N.Y.C.
My dear Mr. Byrne:
I wish to acknowledge receipt of your letter of the eighteenth which was awaiting Me when I visited the Krum Elbow estate a few days ago.
It is the Work of My Mission to institute or awaken in the masses, the precepts of the true Spiritual virtues of Life for the betterment of all men. Therefore, it is expedient that I enter into all fields and all places of man's existence. I need not do this Personally, for it is only that great Impersonal "I", the same that spoke to and through Moses declaring , "I AM THAT I AM," that can do this Work.
However, if I, as the Personification or Personal Bodily Form of "THAT I AM" in the recognition of millions, should condescend from the Impersonal standard of My expression as The Dean of the Universe, to teach the children of men from a Personal point of view, I could justifiably do so.
If I were a College Professor I should lay the foundation for a real education according to the Plan and Purpose of the Almighty. Real education consists of more than merely teaching men the subjects taught in a school curriculum. It comes after the learning of these subjects and consists of putting into practice in daily life the actual virtues of right thinking, right speaking and right living.
If I were a College Professor I should eliminate all reference to races, creeds and colors from My classes, and all consideration of the same: thus nipping in the bud, wars and race riots, vices and crimes, segregation and discrimination, incipient in our educational system of today, which if allowed to develop would be later manifested in business and industry, in church and in politics, and in all society. I would eliminate the very segregated terms referring to races, creeds and colors found in our books of learning, and I would teach men that "of one Blood GOD formed all nations."
Then it would be unnecessary for ME to talk to college graduates and those of other institutions of learning as I do today. Only yesterday, before an audience of ten thousand of My Followers, which included also a large group of visiting ministers, theological students and teachers, it was necessary for ME to speak on this subject and I conveyed to them the following:
"You have been taught in your schools, but a good many of you have been fooled. You thought many things you were taught in school were just and right and true, even your cursed vulgar names by which a good many of you have been called. In most instances any word that is used to bring a line of demarcation between what they would consider as two races, it is for purpose of exaltation or for the purpose of honoring humanity on the one side or for the purpose of lowration on the other. If such names were not used for a selfish purpose it would not be so detrimental.
"So long as you are taught selfishness, so long as you are taught how to segregate and discriminate without a cause, especially because of some mortal method of men, you are being taught and educated BAD or Evil, as it may be termed, but I came to get at that evil among the nations.
"Every school that will, and every school that does, at least all of the schools that do teach segregation because of race, creed or color, or because of nationality or any such expression, you may know they are not schools of this Democracy. It is in violation to the Constitution and its Amendments, and it is undermining the foundation of this Government even though you are not conscious of it.
"You go around endorsing such outrages against the foundation of this Government, and you think you are right, but the time is near at hand when I shall bring all nations, all languages, all tongues, and all people, in the unity of Spirit, of mind, of aim and of purpose, and cause them to love one another even as these do under My Personal Jurisdiction.
"If you as American citizens will still be foolish enough to allow men to call you vulgar names and you endorse it and enjoy it, why, you should be kept down under the feet of them! They are robbing you out of your liberty! They are robbing you out of your privilege to register and to vote, and travel through this Country as an American citizen! "There is a gentleman right up here in Yonkers who is a retired civil service worker: he declares if it was not for his color, as one having an honorable discharge he would be earning or receiving on pension, eleven hundred and fifty dollars yearly; but because of his color he is not receiving a penny! What kind of America is this? What kind of Democracy is this? What kind of Righteous Government is this? I will not tolerate it!
"For this cause I stress the applicacy of Americanism, and My followers are producing and bringing to fruition the real Spirit of this Democracy by living according to the Constitution and its Amendments and by living according to the Declaration of Independence! That is why they are American citizens! Any person or persons who do not live according to the Declaration of Independence and the spirit and the meaning of it, in My opinion, they are not American citizens!"
If I were a College Professor I should revise the whole educational structure, and not only eliminate all racial and class distinctions, but I would instruct men in the principles of Righteousness, Justice and Truth.
In My capacity as College Professor I would fundamentally establish each and every scholar in the Science of a Righteous Government. I would demand that each individual be independent of his classmates and not lean on another, for independence is the first essential for an American citizen according to the Spirit of the Declaration of Independence.
I would demand, particularly in the class-room, that Righteousness, Equity and Democracy be practiced in all points, for men must first learn to bring forth the Spirit of a Righteous Government within their own lives and affairs before a national and an international Righteous Government can be brought forth universally.
False teaching leads to false government. Through improper teaching, and insincerity in the teacher, scholars become dishonest. Many of them go out from our schools with deep-rooted seeds of graft and greed, bigotry and intolerance, prejudice and hatred within their hearts, and when these seeds develop in later years they become political grafters, thieves and robbers; they become un-American statesmen who fight for race segregation, uphold lynching, and other unjust practices in violation of the fundamental doctrine of the Constitution which they have sworn to support. They become leaders in society, in church and in business, but because of false teaching they work undemocratically and as anti-Christs, destroying the Spirit of Brotherly Love, human fellowship and Peace among men.
Success, health and prosperity lie not in the divisions of human society, or in stressing the accomplishments, gifts and talents of one so-called race as compared with another, but they lie in the UNIFICATION of all men. Colleges that close their doors to any downtrodden people are definitely breeders of immorality among men. They create unrest and devitalize the energy and spirit of those who would advance themselves to become useful and profitable citizens of State and Country.
If I were a College Professor I should teach men the Christian Standard of the Brotherhood of all men, and the Consciousness of the Fatherhood of GOD among all of them. I would reveal that GOD breathed the breath of life within man and made him a living soul -- not a soul to walk in sin and wickedness unto death, but a soul subject to the Will and Infinite Wisdom of his Creator. "For the wages of sin is death, but the Gift of GOD is Eternal Life." (Romans 6:23)
Webster has defined the soul as the spirit, but Webster did not know that in reality the soul is the physical BODY of man, as revealed by the Scriptural and Evangelical quotations as follows: "And the Lord GOD formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and MAN became a living soul." (Gen. 2:7) "The soul that sinneth it shall die . . . but the Spirit returneth back to the God that gave it."
When the unclean spirit goeth out of man he goes through dry places seeking rest and finds none -- "For the Word of GOD is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two- edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." (Hebrews 4:12)
As a College Professor I should build up a new Consciousness within My pupils, revolutionizing every thought, expression and experience of their lives in accord with "The Law of the Spirit of Life." I would fashion and mold their hearts and minds after the similitude of the Christ mind, that "this Mind be in them which was also in Christ Jesus," for therein lies the fulfillment of all Life, Liberty, Peace and Happiness of all mankind.
With sincere wishes to you, desiring that you and all concerned might be even as I AM, this leaves ME Well, Healthy, Joyful, Peaceful, Lively, Loving, Successful, Prosperous and Happy in Spirit, Body and Mind and in every organ, muscle, sinew, joint, limb, vein and bone and even in every ATOM, fibre and cell of My BODILY FORM.
Respectfully and Sincere, I AM
REV. M. J. DIVINE, Ms. D., D. D.
(Better known as FATHER DIVINE)
REV. MJD. r
*********