The surrounding country was covered with high trees, and it was impossible for me to observe the base of the two structures. CHAPTER VIII. KNOWLEDGE OF GOD COMES FROM WITHIN Mars, with its teeming millions of inhabitants, whose dwellings, factories, storehouses, etc. cover most of the entire area, has no watchmen, policemen or other guardians of the peace to prevent unlawful acts on the part of its people. As all property is considered as belonging to the Father, and is held in common by the people of the planet, there exists no incentive for anyone to steal. Each individual has all he requires for his comfort. Hence, why should anyone covet what is in the possession of his brother? There is no temptation on Mars for anyone to take more than he needs, for selfishness has been entirely eliminated from our planet. Selfishness has no place among really civilized beings. It is a relic of the jungle where it is necessary to perpetuate the lower animal life. You of your Earth have reverted or degenerated to a primordial condition or state through the law of Atavism. This is a part of your fall from Divine Grace. And to induce man on your globe to realize his pitiful condition and redeem himself is the work of the Spirits from the higher Spheres who are now with you. Mars has no Church system and no Ecclesiastical Hierarchy. All Martians recognize and worship one God, the Eternal Father. Each individual is taught from infancy to seek God through the doors of his own soul, which is an institutional faculty possessed by everyone. Jesus Christ, who came to your Earth 2,000 years ago with a message, is known to us. The Christ is one of the greatest powers in the Universe--next to the Creator. Your sectarian church systems are a hindrance to the proper spiritual development of the individual. These systems engender an element of dependability on the individual which holds back his spiritual enfoldment and perverts his true individuality, which must grow and unfold before real progress upwards begins. All knowledge of God should come from within and not through the instrumentality of imperfect individuals, such as your religious teachers are. The present lack of interest (in 1920) in sectarian matters on the part of the inhabitants of your Earth is evidence of a slow but sure disintegration of a system that has held your people in mental and spiritual bondage for centuries, and presages the dawn of a better day for humanity on your Earth. CHAPTER IX. MARS HAS NO POLITICAL SYSTEM When Love rules a community of people there is no need of administrative bureaus for the regulation of the lives of the inhabitants who make up the population of a planet. For the same reason Mars has no gubernatorial or political administrative center.