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Raul de Mello Franco Jr
(photo) became a
Spiritist at the age of
25. With university
degrees in Law and
Philosophy, he works a
state prosecutor in the
city of Araraquara. He
is also a member of the
Association of Spiritist
Lawyers of the State of
São Paulo, the main
theme of this
interview:
When was the Association
founded and what are its
main goals?
The Association, known
as AJE (for Associação
Jurídico-Espírita), was
founded in March 2008.
It gathers judges,
magistrates, lawyers,
police
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officers, law
professors and
lectures and
everyone who
works in the
legal sector and
is willing to
discuss legal
matters under
the light of Spiritism. Our
main goals are to
disseminate the
Spiritist teachings and
to help the moral and
spiritual development of
those who work with the
law. By supporting
individuals on their
individual development
we hope to be
contributing towards the
spiritualization of the
legal sector, which is
generally known for an
atmosphere of
materialism and
hostility. We also aim
at assisting on the
development of new
legislation and to
provide legal assistance
to Spiritist
institutions in the
state of São Paulo. |
How many members do you
have and how are you
structured?
We have about 220
members, who are
organized in eight
regional centres. We
organize regular
meetings in the state
capital, São Paulo, when
we focus on the debate
of legal, philosophical,
religious and ethical
issues. A recent event,
to give you an idea,
attempted to answer the
following question: “Is
it possible to be
authoritative and humble
at the same time?” We
also produce DVDs of our
debates. For those who
want to find out more,
please visit our
website:
www.ajesaopaulo.com.br.
As a university lecturer
and a state prosecutor,
what do you think is the
main link between
Spiritism and Law?
Spiritism is an
education on how to see
things beyond their
appearances. It teaches
us to look into the
underlying motives for
many of the events of
our lives. Law, as a
social science, works
with these very facts.
AJE highlights the need
to look beyond our
constitution and
legislation. The
conflicts that come to
the legal system are not
isolated facts, social
incidents. Everything,
even when individual
plaintiffs, lawyers etc
meet, cannot be pinned
on chance. A law suit
reveals a lot more than
what is written on a
piece of paper. The
lawyer, the person in
charge of making
justice, needs to be
shrewd to understand all
those aspects and to
make a decision
according to the
principles of the law
that rules everything:
the law of God.
With so many Spiritists
among lawyers and other
people in the area, can
you see any real changes
in the way legislation
is written and applied?
Like in any area of
human knowledge, you
gain when you add to
your professional skills
the knowledge of
Spiritism. The Spiritist
lawyer or law enforcer
has a wider view that
goes beyond the limits
of materialism. They can
see the underlying
causes and that allows
them to fight for a
fairer deal or decision.
Those who know their
decisions go beyond the
limits established by
contract and pay makes
decisions based on the
true values of life.
That person will reject
unfair causes and will
focus his professional
activity to the
treasures mentioned by
Jesus. The change in the
law environment in
Brazil is noticeable
indeed. Our Association
is only a small seed,
the first ray of
sunlight to reach a dark
place, where spiritual
factors are usually a
foreign body. But we,
Spiritist Christians,
are fully aware that we
are a small portion,
like the sun or the
yeast, but one with a
huge capacity of
transformation to which
we cannot renounce.
In all areas of society
we see now a changing
society, where
fraternity and the
respect of differences
have more room. Is that
the case also in the Law
and law enforcement
sectors in Brazil?
The law of progress is
indeed taking its course
in all Brazilian
society, with more
openness and solidarity.
And values such as
solidarity, fraternity,
affect, which in other
times would remain in
the realm of philosophy
or religion only, are
now coming to the realm
of the Law. We have new
legislation protecting
social rights,
children’s rights, and
the elderly, as well as
important changes on
family law. I would say
that a silent revolution
is going on.
Anything else you would
like to add?
The different regions we
have in the Association
are open and welcome
anyone who is
interested, even those
who don’t deal directly
with the legal sector or
who are not Spiritists.
Our website is
www.ajesaopaulo.com.br,
and there you will find
our emails. The regional
centre in Araraquara,
which is headed by me,
has monthly meetings, on
the last Saturday of
every month. We share
personal experiences and
we are currently
studying one of the core
works of Allan Kardec,
Heaven and Hell,
which focus on the most
perfect form of justice,
God’s justice. I would
like to finalize with a
quote by the spirit,
Humberto de Campos, in
the book written in
trance by Chico Xavier (Crônicas
de Além Túmulo): “In
the worlds and in the
space there is the
figure of Argos,
observing everything. In
his tribunal of
incorruptible law, the
divine Themis plans the
plot in the destiny of
every creature. And it
is only in that form of
justice that humankind
can look for hope, as
man’s law, usually the
product of the
strongest power, is
sometimes lacking in
truth and wisdom.”
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