Is matter right or wrong? Is spirit right or wrong? The answer, in both cases, is neither. Matter and spirit are merely the two substances of actuality. As such, they are morally neutral. What about war and peace? Clearly, the word peace invokes the ideal of the harmonious existence of humanity in the distant future. But what about the meaning of the word at any time prior to the settled stages of light and life, like now, for instance? As abstractions, war and peace are morally neutral. Therefore, what is the relationship of morality to war and peace? The idea of war without spiritual consciousness (militarism) is wrong. The idea of peace without material consciousness (pacifism) is wrong.

Neither the idea of war nor the idea of peace has any relationship to value—any characteristic of goodness or evil—independent of the context of a particular situation. Each choice of war or peace requires a consciousness of symmetry, an awareness of balance and proportion. Every moral decision is preceded by the utilization of the Spirit of Wisdom, the Spirit of Symmetry. Consider the mantra “peace at any cost.” This is an expression of ideological zeal. In order to put the ideal of peace into practice, it must be transformed into the idea of peace; however, it must not then be glorified into a quasi-religious ideology of peace by the improper application of the Spirit of Worship (the Spirit of Zeal) to an idea, rather than an ideal. Peace at any cost is the nihilistic endpoint of the spectrum of the idea of peace. For example, this ideology of peace on earth could be achieved by eliminating all humans from the planet. The other endpoint of the spectrum, peace at no cost, is an ideology of magic; and there is no magic in reality. The practical application of the idea of peace is peace at some cost. The same is true of war. War at any cost is nihilism, and war at no cost is a figment of the imagination. Divorced from the misuse of zeal, the idea of war is war at some cost.

The resolution of each situation of human conflict requires a choice between war at some cost and peace at some cost. This decision does not have to be arbitrary or wholly subject to human limitations, including the limitations of the Spirit of Wisdom to weigh the two against each other. The second cosmic intuition (the moral discrimination) in the Holy Spirit is the means by which the decision can be a true moral choice, an objective assessment of the relativity of the situation. The master universe is a cosmos, a universe of harmony. The three cosmic intuitions— logical acumen, moral discrimination, and spiritual insight—bring a consciousness of that universe harmony into the human mind and provide an objective standpoint from which to rise above the subjective ignorance and indecision of adjutant mind. The moral decisions of humans can never be absolute, but they can be objective. The so-called moral dilemma between the lesser of two evils can be overcome by drawing upon cosmic consciousness. Sometimes war is right; sometimes peace is right. Fear not the real insight to make a right choice, courageously and independently. A reflective person knows right from wrong.