by Guardian in Chief Richard A. London
Given in the Blue Star Memorial Temple
May 17, 2026
This is a continuation of last Sunday’s talk, originally given in the Blue Star Memorial Temple in 2005. It was inspired by a legal battle that same year, when the Dover Area School District of York County, Pennsylvania, lost its fight to incorporate Intelligent Design (or Creation Science as it had been known) into its biology teaching curriculum. With the exception of minor edits, I am retelling this talk today as if it were 21 years ago. Its essence remains as relevant to me today as it did in 2005.
Again, I remind you that the everlasting sacredness of religion, science, and economics lies in the pronouncement that they are the foundation stones of the Temple of the People, the Temple of Humanity, and the Temple of the Universe.
According to the Temple Teachings, “There can be no true religion without its scientific basis, and there can be no right economic system not based on a science that is religious and a religion that is scientific.” The five objectives of the Temple of the People, which are found in every Temple Artisan and songbook, provide us with statements of purpose describing, the Temple’s ongoing intentions to help us know and understand the Universal Truths requiring the interdependence between religion, science, and economics.
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Last Sunday, we paused this presentation by acknowledging the tension between religion and science with the following question: “Realizing that Unity is key to the vitality of any body, state, or society, what unifying thread could possibly weave together those who are driven by their understanding of God’s purpose in life with those who harbor little to no reverence for the existence of God?”
Many believe that the unifying thread of business, which embodies the economic side of life, is what stitches together the diverse fabric of our society; yet, how wealth is accumulated throughout the world and within our country seems more polarized than ever. As of 2005, based on some accounts, there are 225 people on this planet who have the combined wealth of what some three billion others have together. Could it be that humanity’s struggle with accepting a science that is religious and a religion that is scientific has provided the people of the world with a variety of economic systems, stimulating the ponderous challenge for knowing, let alone accepting what the right economic system might be?
Looking back in time, we’d be hard-pressed to find examples of economies that were not subject to the rule of laws. From the “Law of the Jungle,” to Kings, Queens, Emperors, Dictators, Prime Ministers and Parliaments, to a President, Congress, and Judges: all were necessitated by the Law of Centralization, if there was ever to be an arrangement for some semblance of order.
Nearly 150 years after Galileo publicly postulated that the Earth was revolving around the Sun, a new democracy came into being through the civil disobedience of a group of individuals who wanted to rule themselves. From the wisdom of the Iroquois Nation to the Federalist Papers, much intelligence went into the design of the United States of America. Much has evolved since the creation of our democracy, now that voting and property ownership is possible for all, no matter one’s race, religion, color, caste, creed, or sexual orientation. And yes, we still have much civilized maturing to grow.
Although often taken for granted, democracy was not invented by the United States of America. “Democracy” comes from two Greek words: a noun, demos, meaning “people” and a verb, kratos, meaning “power” or “authority.” Its basic meaning is “government by the people” or “rule by the ruled.” We find democracy’s origin in ancient Greece, in 5th century Athens, where historical records indicate its earliest form being practiced. Note that the Haudenosaunee’s understanding of democracy was well in place prior to the invasion of European refugees fleeing tyranny and despotism.
In a perfectly functioning democracy, theoretically, we the people would have the responsibility of deciding what is in the best interest of the majority of people, rather than a single person or a smaller group of people dominating the majority with policies that only those in the minority would vote to implement. In a democracy, the people hold the keys to their future. While the Law of Centralization requires the balance of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches, any person — whether elected or appointed — becomes a servant of the people. “Of the people, by the people, for the people” is one of the noblest ideas to have dawned upon humanity, not unlike the Golden Rule. Yet, without the forces of “Liberty, Equality and Fraternity, the threefold soul of any State,” sustainable resiliency will always suffer. This is especially true as our democracy is a constitutional republic, wherein we rely on the ethics, integrity, and trustworthiness of our elected brothers and sisters to navigate, legislate, and adjudicate our way to a more perfect union.
In order to “form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity,” the Constitution of the United States of America, along with the Bill of Rights, were created, if not intelligently designed.
Despite its pronouncement in the Declaration of Independence, it is interesting to note how long it took for the majority of us to acknowledge that we are all created equal; and that it is still controversial as to what constitutes certain unalienable rights endowed by a Creator; and that nearly everyone believes in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Although many of us still pray for good health and happiness, our emphasis seems to be on the evolution of an insatiable appetite to acquire more than we need, and not to be patient about it. We call this “progress,” and it has become a driving factor behind the global expansion of America’s brand of democratic freedom. And yes, there was a time when the inspiration for innovation was overwhelmingly influenced by needs, guided by one’s heart rather than by one’s pocketbook.
Whereas religion may have been a driving force behind the founding of our country, our global expansion seems to be driven by economics. As a matter of fact, practically every aspect of life here in America seems commercially driven these days. The media is creating unintended consequences that our children will be living with for years to come. Many children are now more proficient in their consumption of amusement than they are in the practical, useful, and fundamental skills of living a more natural life. We are making it extremely difficult for our children to realize a sustainable state of gratefulness, by raising them in a credit-based society that has developed expertise in creating the illusion of wants being needs, which when fulfilled may lead to unhealthy behaviors and chaotic consequences down the road; the unceasing results from the Law of Karma in action.
Over the years we have been intelligently designed to believe that what is allegedly in the best interest of our economy is also in the best interest of the people. This perception has been encouraged by the shrewdest, who have been able to manipulate our collective consciousness through financial influence over elected officials and by financial control over our public messaging systems. And now that many of us common folk have gained access to the informative Internet, with its increased potential for disclosing more matters once kept hidden or purposefully distorted, Mark Twain’s alleged assertion that “a lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes” has even greater significance.
While some advocates of creation science are aware of the negative side of materialism and its effects on society, the debate about gender identity and when life begins still remains decidedly contentious. The consequences of not honoring the biblical admonishments to love our enemies more and our money less may be contributing to the symptoms we have yet to properly diagnose.
In the Sermon on the Mount, we read: “You cannot serve two masters, God and mammon. For you will hate one and love the other, or else the other way around.” In other words, many decisions are for love or for money. It’s not uncommon to hear during a business transaction, “Nothing personal, it’s just business.”
It is exchanges without love that empower the force of mammon. Who or what we choose to serve becomes the influential foundational intent or motive behind what we think, say, and do. This just may be the origin of the fracturing of the Temple Foundation Stones which inevitably leads to an unsustainable intelligent design and disregard for the Golden Rule.
When an individual claims supreme power over others, we call it autocracy. When people claim a deity as their ruler, we call it theocracy. When a democracy becomes ruled by the desire to pursue the creation of wealth at the expense of the people, I call it a “mammonocracy.”
While the creation of new words, which is known as neologism, is accelerating during this time of technological quickening, many of us appear unfamiliar with the ancient word “mammon.” The word represents the fear-based power, greedy, selfish desire to own and control the use of practically anything in manifestation. We may never teach mammonocracy in our public schools, yet the subtle messages children are observing from the behavior patterns of their elders will teach them, all the same.
Looking back over the evolution of humanity, one can find many examples where self-centeredness and selfishness were inspired by fear. Driven by our cellular and tribal instincts, many of us have adapted to various short-sighted methods of survival. Yet, in the Sermon on the Mount we are told:
“So, my counsel is: Don’t worry about things — food, drink, and clothes. For you already have life and a body — and they are far more important than what to eat and wear. Look at the birds! They don’t worry about what to eat — they don’t need to sow or reap or store up food — for your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to him than they are. Will all your worries add a single moment to your life? … So don’t be anxious about tomorrow. God will take care of your tomorrow, too. Live one day at a time.”
Of course, this does not preclude the need for every living thing and creature to accept their responsibility for keeping nourished, for being useful, and for making a living.
Needless to say, not worrying about tomorrow is easier said than done. While fear and worry have been known to keep us safe and sound, those same feelings and emotions can also lay the foundation for mammon and selfish, greedy, self-centeredness. As far as our fine-feathered friends go, it turns out that creatures like the Dodo Bird and Passenger Pigeon have zero worries these days, thanks to human activity and a historical disrespect for the sacredness of Mother Nature. On the other hand, it was the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 that saved the song of our precious Mockingbird from going extinct.
Can we be democratically caring, kind, fair, trustworthy, responsible, respectful, and engaged citizens about the way we conduct commerce, while being preoccupied with worry and fear about our personal futures? We do seem to have our moments during certain cycles of time, especially when the majority of us keep Faith, Hope, and Charity in the forefront of our hearts and minds. But even with the noblest of intentions, hard work, and self-responsibility, many of us struggle to overcome the embedded structural misuses of our otherwise productive economic system.
As our consciousness shifted and our perceptions evolved with regard to the shape and proximity of our Earth, and as the founders of the United States of America transitioned from a life of tyranny to a life of an evolving democracy, so we continue to have the potential for veering away from the ills of mammonocracy and toward a much healthier form of democracy.
Intelligent people participated in designing our democracy’s transformation into a mammonocracy. When we overcome worry and fear through Faith, Hope, Charity, and Responsibility, we find that all life carries the Divine seeds of an Intelligent Design, a Heart Force that will go a long way to prevent mammonocracy from sustaining itself over time.
Some think of Jesus as if He were the highest, topmost stone on the Great Pyramid of life. Yet, there are countless examples of religious beliefs turning into misconceptions and harmful superstitions long after others have accepted scientific evidence. If it took the Vatican so long to acknowledge that our world was not the center of the universe, perhaps their version of intelligent design or creation science needs their religious dogma and doctrines to be seasoned a little more often with a pinch of scientific reason.
When our country was created, those who had disagreed with King George were either patriots or traitors, while to those already here, they were invaders. Almost two centuries later, many disagreeing with prevailing views found their patriotism brought into question, until Edward R. Murrow became known as a patriot to a larger degree in 1954, after courageously using the public airwaves to speak out against the communist witch hunt.
There are countless known and unknown acts of self-responsibility, love, courage, and perseverance throughout human history. You may know about the daily hardships, torture, and peril inflicted by the Nazi regime upon a devoted pastor and former World War I German U-boat commander, for his steadfast refusal to betray the cause for which he stood. Many Jews would not have survived the horrors of the concentration camps were it not for the undying inspiration of Pastor Martin Niemoeller, who said: “First they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up, because I wasn’t a Jew. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up, because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left to speak up for me.”
In a mammonocracy, some find it easy to blame homelessness on the homeless. Yet, while every living thing and creature is meant to have a purpose and the responsibility to be useful and to make a living, within a mammonocracy, many of us would seem to have little choice but to lose our resiliency and then lose our way.
How many of us are only a paycheck or two away from a similar fate? May we never hear “And then they came for the homeless.” Not until we can imagine an economic system that is based on a science that is religious and a religion that is scientific will it ever become possible to conceive of a sustainable strategy for innovative, maintainable, and practical placements of affordable sheltering systems, homes if you will. Homes which can serve the best interests of all Humanity and the sacredness of Mother Nature.
No matter how the dynamics of families and communities may change or shift, our children will always be creating our future. Not until we truly realize that our children are more influenced by what we do, rather than what we say, will our daily behaviors ever become our main priority.
Figuring out how the Great Pyramid was built will never be as challenging as refraining from judging one another or practicing the gift of forgiveness, especially when both gestures are offered without the fear of being misconstrued as a grant of permission or license. Whether we choose to believe that the universe was created in six days or evolved from a big bang is not nearly as relevant as the manner in which we choose to be or how we relate to one another. We can always begin to find common ground by remembering the wisdom in “The One Great Prize,” that two diametrically opposed methods of action may both be right.
Galileo, who had an insightfully congenial way of separating the metaphysical from the natural, once said: “There are two equally worthy ways to understand the Divine. One is reverent contemplation of the Bible, God’s word, and the other is through scientific contemplation of the world, which is His creation.”
In the closing verses of chapter two of The Bhagavad-Gita, Krishna shares these words with Arjuna:
“When a man acts without longing, having relinquished all selfish desires, free from the sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine,’ the ego, he attains peace and is united with the (Higher) Self. This is the supreme state. Having attained this, a man is not deluded. Established in this state, he attains eternal freedom in the Divine Consciousness and in this state at the moment of death merges into Divinity and becomes one with the Divine.”
For me, these words from the Gita run parallel to, “endeavoring to realize the presence of the Avatar as a living Power in my life.” They also invoke the aspirational goals of becoming one with the topmost Stone holding the Point over the hierarchal foundational layering of the Great Pyramid. As with all sacred geometrical symbols, the Pyramid offers clues to understanding the connection between a religion that is scientific and a science that is religious.
In the end, Religion is the belief that Love, not fear, was the original impulse for our world going round; Science is the process of proving that the Law of Love makes our world go round; and Economics is the exchange of the Love that keeps our Mother Earth within Her orbit, upon Her axis, and our world going round.
How we come to know this together, while healing a multitude of fractures, is the politics of life: the Intelligent Design to be revealed by the experience of living the wisdom offered by the Foundation Stones of the Temple of the People; the Temple of Humanity, and the Temple of the Universe.
— Richard A. London, Sixth Guardian in Chief