This passage from the chapter The Conquest of War is in Cosmic Alchemy, Volume 17 of the Brotherhood of Light Lessons, and is relevant to the early 20th century politics of California but also the present moment in 2023 globally:
No truly spiritual individual can put any one of these four freedoms aside with a shrug and the platitude that he is not his brother’s keeper. He should recognize that he is an intelligent cell in the body of the Cosmic Man, and that as such he has a part to play in carrying out the Divine Plan of universal progression. It is his mission to exert his energies, to the fullest extent he is capable, toward assisting other cells in the body of the Cosmic Man to develop to their highest possibilities. The deific objective calls for the fullest cooperation of all in its attainment. And every individual has a responsibility, that rightly he cannot shirk, to exert as much pressure as he is capable toward advancing the real interests of other members of society. To the extent of his abilities and opportunities each is responsible for the progress of society as a whole. But before the individual, no matter how spiritually inclined and energetic, can be of service toward the advancement of the race, he must know what things really contribute to race advancement, and what things are destructive.
If he permits his opinions to be directed by popular vogue, or if, in the erroneous belief it is spiritual, he supports fanaticism, no matter how good his intentions, instead of assisting human progress, he is a hindrance, and often a nuisance besides. Our popular reformers, no doubt, find great self-satisfaction, but more often than not, in the ignorance both of human nature and of what constitutes real welfare, they make a sorry muddle of their own and other people’s lives. Before we can advance the interests of the race through publicly and privately advocating right measures, through the ballot box, and through personal example, we must know what things rightly may be expected to benefit society. It is the province of cosmic alchemy to provide this information.