But just as the use of refined technical phenomena or articles for everyday use is not in itself a crime, but, on the contrary, is simply a divine blessing when their use is promoted not by vanity but solely by pure delight in, and enjoyment of, the perfection and beauty of things, so it is neither a crime nor a sin to be a member of a religious sect or society or to be a follower of more or less exaggerated religious ideas or systems of thought, if only this membership is not a kind of outer glitter through which one tries to get an artificial satisfaction of the desire to possess an "elevated position" that one's "neighbour" does not have, and preferably should not gain access to. This does, indeed, sound strange. But we have experienced human beings who said that they were "saved" and who nonetheless became depressed by the thought that "all" beings without exception would be "saved", and that absolutely "no one" would be "damned for all eternity". What is it that stirs the inner self of such a "saved" being? Is it not in actual fact injured "vanity"? If all beings wanted to be "saved", that is to say, to attain the same "loftiness" as that which this person thinks he has attained, what would there then be in it for those who think they are "saved"? Is it not easy to see that the being in this situation lived more with a feeling of joy at being "superior to his neighbour", joy at being one of God's more favoured beings than its "neighbour", than he lived in the spirit of neighbourly love? If he really loved his neighbour, he would rather perish than have his "neighbour" be exposed to this devilish fate. Indeed, the mere thought that all beings without exception could reach the heavenly elevated state that he believes he is favoured with would give him a feeling of the greatest bliss.
      It is thus only the "elevated state" of the Pharisee we see here in those who believe they are "saved". The workers in the vineyard who became indignant about the fact that the workers who came at the eleventh hour got the same pay as those who had worked the whole day long do still exist. It is still the favouring of oneself more than of one's "neighbour" and the ensuing sense of one being "elevated" above this "neighbour" that one persecutes.