Life in a Thousand WorldsHarris, W. S. (William Shuler)
Science
Life in a Thousand Worlds
Harris, W. S. (William Shuler)
Utopias
This world has no atmosphere and life is not sustained by breathing,
neither by the process found on the Moon.
The inhabitants get their sustenance from the soil with which they must
be connected, directly or indirectly over one-half the time, or they
will suffer in a manner similar to us when we are suffocating.
From this faint glimpse of their life, it can be seen that the people of
Holen in their habits are totally incongruous to all our conceptions,
and if one of them were to make a visit to our world, everything he
would here see would appear just as ridiculous and unthinkable to him as
the things on their globe did to me.
As I surveyed this world, everything evidenced the fact that these
people are born engineers. Our Eiffel Tower and Ferris Wheel would be
mere playthings compared with the sky-scraping structures that adorn the
various parts of this little world. It appears that the international
mind runs in this one direction more than in any other, and while they
surpass us in this respect, they are inferior to us in the limitless
field of science and philosophy as well as in the variety of
manufacturing plants.
In their religion, the Holenites have developed to a high degree. They
have no sacred book akin to our Bible. Their whole authority comes from
the lips of the Divine Family, as we would term it. This family serves
for religion the same purpose as the Royal Family does for the civil
realm in some countries of our world. The Divine Family are genuinely
descended from their sacred ancestors who were, by a visible show of
omnipotent power, appointed and consecrated to the sacred work of
dispensing truth and officiating in all sacraments. The ordination of
all the ministers of Holen must be held by a member of this Divine
Family. By reason of this one source of authority, there is, therefore,
no confliction of creeds. The great battle of the Church is with the
several infidel organizations that give no heed to the genuine religion.
This Sacred Family received a code of laws which they have held from the
beginning and, strange to say, no one is allowed to copy these laws in
written or printed form. To do so is a type of blasphemy for which a
severe penalty is imposed. Some of the infidel organizations find
delight to print all or a part of these laws and scatter them secretly
among the people. Such documents fall with as much pain on the premises
of a believer as oaths do in our world on the ear of a delicately
trained soul.
If an infidel wishes to insult a godly pilgrim, he can do it no more
effectively than by secretly fastening to the believer's residence a
piece of material on which is inscribed one or more of these sacred
laws.
Every believer is required to commit to memory this code of laws by
hearing them from the lips of the minister. It is therefore necessary to
keep in constant touch with the church service so as to be a continual
hearer of these laws, a part of which is repeated every worship day.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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