II. Discerning Right From Wrong and Knowing What’s Correct and What’s Incorrect

We won’t go into more detail about conscience and reason, those two important components of the characteristics of humanity. Let’s talk about two other, most specific aspects that are most easily overlooked or that people have never been aware of. If we merely say that a person possesses the conscience and reason of humanity, this seems relatively general to people, and it will be very difficult to determine what things a person has done or what manifestations they have that show they truly have conscience and reason, and hard to assess whether they truly have normal humanity. Therefore, we won’t fellowship from the angle of the specific manifestations of conscience and reason, but from two other aspects. That is, if a person possesses humanity essence, then for one thing, they can discern right from wrong, and additionally, they also know what’s correct and what’s incorrect. Whether someone possesses these two aspects is sufficient to show whether they possess conscience and reason. This is a more specific way to dissect whether someone’s humanity possesses conscience and reason. Only when a person possesses these two aspects—discerning right from wrong and knowing what’s correct and what’s incorrect—does it truly show that they possess the conscience and reason of humanity. If they do not possess these two aspects, then their claim of having conscience and reason is false and does not accord with the facts. Let’s first look at being able to discern right from wrong. “Discern” means to understand, to know, to be aware of, and to comprehend. What does “right and wrong” mean? Right and wrong refer to positive things and negative things. Then what does it mean to know what’s correct and what’s incorrect? For example, “Mankind was created by God.” Is this statement correct or incorrect? (It’s correct.) “Mankind evolved from apes.” Is this statement correct or incorrect? (Incorrect.) If you can discern and judge which views are correct and which are incorrect, this is knowing what’s correct and what’s incorrect. Devils say, “Mankind evolved from apes.” After hearing this, you say, “That’s not correct. Mankind was created by God.” Then in this matter, you are not muddled, and you know what’s correct and what’s incorrect. Is there a difference, then, between correct and incorrect, and right and wrong? (Yes.) “God holds sovereignty over the destiny of all mankind.” Is this statement correct or incorrect? (It’s correct.) “Mankind controls its own destiny.” Is this statement correct or incorrect? (Incorrect.) “How long a person lives depends on how they take care of themselves and stay healthy.” Is this statement correct or incorrect? (Incorrect.) “A person’s lifespan is ordained by God.” Correct or incorrect? (Correct.) Now you know what it means to know what’s correct and what’s incorrect, don’t you? (Yes.) Then let’s look at discerning right from wrong. What did we just say “right and wrong” refers to? (Positive things and negative things.) For example, being an honest person—is this a positive thing or a negative thing? (A positive thing.) What about “Money makes the world go round”? (That is a negative thing.) Who can give another example? (It is perfectly natural and justified for people to worship God. This is a positive thing.) Then what about burning incense and worshiping Buddha? (That’s a negative thing.) Seeking the truth in doing things. (That’s a positive thing.) Following one’s own will and making unilateral decisions in whatever one does. (That’s a negative thing.) You know which things are positive and which are negative, and can also judge which views are correct and which are incorrect—this is called being able to discern right from wrong and knowing what’s correct and what’s incorrect. Having this insight and understanding, and having the ability to discern these things in your heart—this indicates you are someone with the quality of humanity. Being able to discern right from wrong and knowing what’s correct and what’s incorrect means that within a person’s humanity, there is an innate ability to identify some positive and negative things. Additionally, there is also some awareness and feeling in their heart about whether certain things are correct or not. Even without having heard the truth or understanding the truth, their humanity possesses this kind of discernment. Even if they can’t articulate it they know in their heart which things are positive and which are negative, and they know that negative things are incorrect. If they also have a feeling of detestation in their heart and can reject and not follow these things, that’s even better. When they don’t understand the truth, even if they cannot discern positive and negative things very clearly, they have different feelings toward and different ways of treating positive and negative things in their heart. For example, regarding some evil trends in society, when people with humanity see these evil trends, they feel a deep detestation in their hearts. They feel that these things are not the right path, not positive things, and not things that people should pursue or do. Despite the fact that, as one who lives in this social environment, they have no choice but to follow evil trends, deep down they despise them. And while despising them, they also seek every opportunity to escape this environment or think of every which way to avoid it and to reject these evil trends.

A. Discerning Right From Wrong

Discerning right from wrong is very important for a person. Since right and wrong involve positive things and negative things, what do you think are some positive things, and what are some negative things? (Believing in God, following God, worshiping God, submitting to God, as well as doing one’s duty and being an honest person—these are all positive things. Lying and deceiving, resisting God, rebelling against God, betraying God—these are negative things.) (Positive things primarily come from God and conform to the truth. For example, the various results achieved by God’s work, as well as people’s true knowledge of God’s disposition and essence, are all positive things and all conform to the truth.) Don’t think of positive things as so hollow or so lofty. In actuality, positive things are various positive and right people, events, and things that are beneficial to people. Anything beneficial to people, anything that is beneficial and not detrimental to their normal lives, is a positive thing. For example, are natural rules and laws positive things? (Yes.) God’s words are all truth and are all positive things; anything involving the truth is a positive thing. God’s provision of humankind with life and truth, as well as the content of God’s work of managing and saving humankind, are positive things related to the truth. All of God’s requirements for people, every word of God, the principles of practice for various truths—these are all positive things. Besides God’s work of managing humankind, there are many other positive things that are beneficial to human survival and not harmful to people. Can you see them? Can you identify them? Can you accept and approve of them from the depths of your hearts? Can you go along with, adapt to, and follow them? For example, are the laws of the four seasons positive things? (Yes.) In spring, it warms up and flowers bloom, all things grow and revive, ice and snow melt. Is this a positive thing? (Yes.) In summer, the sun shines brightly, its rays scorching, and all things grow rapidly, basking in the sunlight. Is this a positive thing? (Yes.) In autumn, the scorching heat gradually gives way to clear skies and crisp air; various plants gradually mature, bearing seeds and fruits, yielding a harvest. Is this a positive thing? (Yes.) In winter, the temperature drops, the weather gradually turns cold, and sometimes it snows. Although it’s not as enjoyable, comfortable, or free as other seasons, in winter all things can preserve their energy, and humankind also rests and recuperates. Is this law a positive thing, then? (Yes.) At sunrise, larks sing, early birds chirp, reminding people that it is morning and time to get up, that they must begin laboring for life, for livelihood, and for humankind’s continued survival. Is this a positive thing? (Yes.) Humankind gets up to the calls of early birds and larks and begins a day’s labor. This is a positive thing. At night, various insects and creatures, in accordance with their own laws, engage in all sorts of activities—some emerge to forage and others begin to call. At this time, humankind quiets down and drifts off to sleep. Listening to the chirping of crickets, accompanied by the calls of various creatures and by their nocturnal activities, people drift into dreamland, sleeping so sweetly, so blissfully and peacefully. Is this a positive thing? (Yes.) For people, these positive things are all things that occur frequently. You can receive their various signs and signals, and you can also feel the benefits they bring to your life, as well as the various changes and the influences they bring to you as you go about living. If you have a correct response to and a correct comprehension of the existence of the various positive things around you, as well as a right way to treat these positive things, it shows that you are a person who has some understanding of right and wrong, that you are responsive, sensitive, and perceptive toward the living environment made up of all things created by God, and that you have a grateful heart for the influence of all these things around you or their companionship in your life. It shows that you can feel that God’s existence and all the things He’s created are so undeniably real, and feel the benefits of all things to you and their influence on you in various aspects. If you can obtain such messages and have these feelings, then you are a person who can understand right from wrong and possesses humanity. You can correctly comprehend positive things, can adapt to them, go along with them, and coexist with them. And it’s not just that you’re not repulsed by these things; rather, because you believe in God and understand some truths, you’re even more convinced that all these positive things come from God, from the Creator, and you can be more grateful for the existence of these positive things. Correspondingly, you feel revulsion and loathing in your heart toward negative things. So, what are some negative things? (Polluting the environment, excessive extraction.) Destroying and polluting the environment, indiscriminate logging, excessive extraction and exploitation—these are all negative things. Besides these, what other things do you feel are negative, and have an obvious loathing for in your hearts? Humankind always wants to conquer nature—is this a positive or a negative thing? (A negative thing.) For example, some places frequently experience hurricanes, so some people always ponder, “These hurricanes whip up dust everywhere, destroying houses and fields. We have to try everything we can to build a wall to block them, to show that human technology is advanced and that human capabilities have become stronger.” Is this a positive or a negative thing? (A negative thing.) How do you feel in your hearts after hearing this? (I feel that people overestimate their own abilities.) That’s precisely what it is. Some places are covered with vast grasslands, so some people say, “Herders live a nomadic life on the grasslands, and they barely get any good meals throughout the whole year. For half the year, they are always out in the open, herding cattle and sheep on the grasslands. When will these hard days end? We must find ways to improve the herders’ lives, turn the grasslands and pastures into buildings and cities, so the herders no longer have to survive by herding. Then they will enjoy a better life, and they’ll thank the country and the government.” Is this a positive or a negative thing? (A negative thing.) Can you sense that doing this is a negative thing? Turning grasslands into buildings and cities—this is an erroneous thought and viewpoint; this practice is so absurd! You can’t see through this matter, can you? You think, “This is the government’s business, we can’t do anything about it,” and you feel nothing about it. Also, humankind is always making advancements in space exploration, always wanting to go to the moon, to survey Mars and Jupiter. They even want to explore the sun, but since the sun’s temperature is too high, they can’t go there. So, they build spacecraft to overcome Earth’s gravity and fly to the moon and Mars. Is this a positive or a negative thing? (A negative thing.) This is a negative thing. So, are there any positive things involving science? Are there any claims that are positive and conform to the natural laws of all things created by God? (Some tools invented and manufactured through scientific means, like computers, can improve our work efficiency. These are positive things.) These are neither positive nor negative things. Those are just tools. They don’t involve a particular thought, theory, or argument. The positive and negative things we’re talking about involve the essence and fundamentals of things, and also the motives behind various scientific research projects conducted by humankind. Based on these, we determine whether something is positive or negative. So, what other negative things are there? (Currently, humankind does not follow the laws of growth of all things but uses scientific means to change these laws. For example, chickens are fed hormone-laden feed and can become market-ready in thirty days, and out-of-season vegetables and fruits are cultivated. It seems like science and technology have advanced, but this violates the laws of growth of all things and is to satisfy people’s cravings for food. This is a negative thing.) This is a negative thing. Some people want to subjugate tigers and lions. They see that tigers look formidable—even a yawn from a tiger scares people away—so they want to subjugate them, and then pull out their fangs and keep them in their yards, making the tigers guard their houses like dogs. Is this a positive or a negative thing? (A negative thing.) This is a negative thing. Everything humans do and the various things they invent in pursuit of fleshly enjoyment using various scientific means and in contravention of natural laws are all negative things, not positive things, because their harm to humankind is too great, and their damage to the human living environment is too severe. For example, some places are extremely arid, so the government uses airplanes to disperse cloud seeding agents to induce rainfall. Is this a positive or a negative thing? (A negative thing.) Some places get too much rain, causing floods, so the government deploys airplanes to disperse the clouds to control the rain. Doesn’t this violate and destroy natural laws? (Yes.) Destroying natural laws, violating natural laws, not conforming to natural laws, doing whatever one pleases, showing off advanced human technology—these are negative things. Besides these, what other negative things are there? Is conducting research on biological agents and genetic modification a positive or a negative thing? (A negative thing.) Because of the scientific research into genetics that has been carried out, people can eat more genetically modified foods. So, are genetically modified foods positive or negative things? (Negative things.) Why do you say they’re negative? Some people say, “This is a scientific achievement, aimed at allowing more people to have enough to eat and not go hungry. Moreover, people have been eating genetically modified foods for decades, and grow tall and husky—especially young people nowadays are taller than the previous generation. This is all thanks to the contributions of science to humankind. Since genetically modified foods bring such great benefits to people, why are they said to be negative things?” Can you explain this? (Although people are taller now, their constitutions are getting worse, and they’re contracting more diseases—this is all caused by people eating those scientifically processed things. So, they are negative things.) On the surface, genetically modified foods seem to benefit people—people are taller and huskier—but their constitutions have deteriorated. Overall, they have a negative impact on people, harming rather than benefiting them. Regardless of whether people perceive them as beneficial or harmful, they’re negative things, absolutely not positive things, because they violate the natural laws created by God, and go against the functions that the various original living things created by God were meant to have in the human body. Their impact on people may not be felt at first, but after twenty years, the adverse consequences become apparent: Many people develop all sorts of strange diseases, and even their fertility is affected. This is enough to prove that such foods are not positive things. Although from a human perspective, genetically modified food is a product of technology, a contribution of science to humankind, from the perspective of positive and negative things, it is absolutely not a positive thing.

Humankind is always trying to research the moon and explore whether any other planets are suitable for human habitation. Is this scientific research, this viewpoint, a positive or a negative thing? (A negative thing.) Why is it a negative thing? (God created humans to live on Earth; He never intended for us to live on other planets. Humans are always ambitious and want to go everywhere. In the end, it’s a waste of effort, and they can’t go anywhere.) From people’s perspective, researching these things is quite normal; it’s creating living conditions for the future of humankind, which is a good thing. Many of the functions God established on Earth have been destroyed; various disasters occur frequently, Earth’s living environment has been damaged, the air, water, and soil are all severely polluted, and all kinds of living creatures face extinction. It’s become difficult to live on Earth. Some scientific research institutions have thus begun to research other planets, hoping that humankind can go to other planets and settle there. They believe that, for the descendants of humankind to survive, people have to prepare in advance—if they don’t prepare now and humankind cannot survive on Earth in the future, won’t there be no way out for the human race? So, is this viewpoint, this scientific research, ultimately a negative thing or a positive thing? (A negative thing.) On what basis do you say it’s a negative thing? (On the basis that God simply has not prepared hospitable conditions for humans on other planets. Let alone other planets, even very hot and very cold places on Earth are not suitable for human habitation. But humans are always ambitious, always wanting to break away from God’s sovereignty and God’s orchestrations, wanting to go live on other planets—this goes against God’s arrangements and ordinations. Therefore, it is a negative thing.) God created the Earth—a wonderful living environment—for humans, but humans don’t manage it well. They are always developing science and modern industry, and as a result, they have destroyed Earth’s ecological environment and polluted the air, water, and even the land. People no longer have access to organic grains and vegetables, and they get all sorts of diseases. It’s become difficult to survive on Earth, and now they’re thinking about going to other planets, without considering whether their mortal flesh is even able to go there. Humans, these beings of mortal flesh, are only suited to inhabiting the Earth, and can only do so on Earth. This is God’s ordination. Where can humans even go just by relying on their various innate conditions? Birds can flap their wings and fly thousands of meters high, but humans can’t fly up there themselves; they need the help of airplanes. Yet flying in airplanes is sometimes dangerous. Therefore, humans are most suited to living on Earth. Humans’ physical attributes are compatible with the soil of the Earth, and with all aspects of the living conditions on Earth, such as all things, the four seasons, and the natural laws. Therefore, humankind can only be called Earthlings. These laws of human survival and these living conditions were preordained for humans when God created all things. Therefore, humankind is only suited to surviving on Earth, not to inhabiting other planets. Humankind has ruined and damaged the Earth to the point where it is uninhabitable, and they want to just leave and be done with it, always seeking to inhabit other planets. This is a futile struggle. This practice does not go along with the natural laws ordained by God for Earthlings; rather it violates the laws of physical survival for Earthlings and is a very unwise practice. So, it is a negative thing. Even if there are a few planets that have air, and Earthlings can go there to take a look, it doesn’t mean that humankind can survive on those planets. Even on Earth, you can go to the South Pole or the North Pole to have a look, you can set foot there, but if you were to live there for many years, could you bear it? There are also some relatively hot places where it’s over sixty degrees Celsius year-round; those are also not suitable for human survival. Humans are not fit for long-term survival in a handful of places on Earth due to special geographical environments, let alone living on other planets. That is not part of God’s arrangements. Based on the characteristics of the human flesh, this humankind is only suited to living on Earth; this is well-founded. The purpose of God creating the Earth was to arrange a suitable living environment for humankind. If you want to escape such an environment and find another way out, that will only lead to ruin. Therefore, this is a negative thing. If you know that always researching habitation on other planets is a negative thing, but in your heart you still approve of humankind conducting scientific research to find a way to live on other planets, then it proves that there is a problem with your humanity, that you don’t understand right from wrong, and that you can’t discern correct from incorrect. If you clearly know this path is unfeasible, yet you still yearn and expect to be able to live on other planets in the next age, then you are not a normal person—you’re an oddball.

A person who understands right from wrong can, for one, love and accept positive things and have a clear understanding of them. Additionally, they can discern negative things, and because they have humanity and reason, they feel aversion and loathing in their heart toward negative things. Of course, they can also despise, criticize, and deny them based on understanding some truths. If you cannot do this, then you are not a person who understands right from wrong. It can also be said that you are lacking in terms of humanity. If you lack the ability to discern right from wrong in your humanity, then your humanity is missing a very important condition, a very important component. This means you do not have normal humanity, and you cannot be called a true person. Some people might say, “The examples just given involve some things related to the basic necessities of people’s daily lives and also involve science. If those things are negative things and require us to discern them, then should we reject them?” That’s not necessary. Discerning right from wrong means that you have discernment of positive and negative things in your heart. Within your humanity, you have a standard for judgment, and you know what things are positive and what things are negative. You also have a clear attitude, knowing how to treat positive and negative things. You can accept, go along with, and adapt to positive things, and you have no resistance or aversion in your heart toward them. As for negative things, you can discern them from the depths of your heart, and you can despise, be averse to, and detest them, and even have your own viewpoints about them, which you use to criticize them. This is the attitude and manifestation that a person who can discern right from wrong should have. However, suppose that you inwardly despise and detest things that are clearly positive, and even find them unremarkable compared to negative things, as well as too ordinary, too commonplace, and too unworthy of mention. You also inwardly admire, yearn for, and pursue negative things, and even approve of those negative things in society and the world. And no matter how the truth or the principles of discernment are fellowshipped, you cannot take them in or accept them. In that case, your humanity is not normal. If you have no perception or clear viewpoints when it comes to positive and negative things because you are young and lack experience in life or insight, or because these things have not involved you or entered your life, then it cannot yet be said that you are a person who cannot discern right from wrong. However, after fellowshipping on what positive things are and what negative things are, if you still cannot accept or go along with positive things from the depths of your heart, and instead feel aversion and despise them, while vigorously chasing after and yearning for negative things, then you are not a person who can discern right from wrong. Looking at it from this point, it’s abundantly clear that such a person has no humanity. This matter of discerning right from wrong reveals a person’s orientation toward positive and negative things, thereby allowing us to determine what the classification of this person truly is. No matter what they encounter, if they’re inclined toward negative things rather than positive things, then it is clear that this person has no humanity and does not possess conscience and reason. Why do I say this? They yearn for evil things, yearning for the various undertakings, research projects, or certain aspects of technology that Satan and evil humankind advocate, approve of, and engage in, instead of yearning for and following the original rules and laws of positive things, which come from God. Such people, then, are certainly non-human. Is this clear? (Yes.)