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diff --git a/38098.txt b/38098.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2f401d0 --- /dev/null +++ b/38098.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1126 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Individuality, by Robert G. Ingersoll + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Individuality + From 'The Gods and Other Lectures' + +Author: Robert G. Ingersoll + +Release Date: November 22, 2011 [EBook #38098] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK INDIVIDUALITY *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + + +INDIVIDUALITY + +By Robert G. Ingersoll + + + + +INDIVIDUALITY + +"HIS SOUL WAS LIKE A STAR AND DWELT APART." + +ON every hand are the enemies of individuality and mental freedom. +Custom meets us at the cradle and leaves us only at the tomb. Our first +questions are answered by ignorance, and our last by superstition. We +are pushed and dragged by countless hands along the beaten track, and +our entire training can be summed up in the word--suppression. Our +desire to have a thing or to do a thing is considered as conclusive +evidence that we ought not to have it, and ought not to do it. At every +turn we run against cherubim and a flaming sword guarding some entrance +to the Eden of our desire. We are allowed to investigate all subjects in +which we feel no particular interest, and to express the opinions of the +majority with the utmost freedom. We are taught that liberty of +speech should never be carried to the extent of contradicting the dead +witnesses of a popular superstition. Society offers continual rewards +for self-betrayal, and they are nearly all earned and claimed, and some +are paid. + +We have all read accounts of Christian gentlemen remarking, when about +to be hanged, how much better it would have been for them if they had +only followed a mother's advice. But after all, how fortunate it is for +the world that the maternal advice has not always been followed. How +fortunate it is for us all that it is somewhat unnatural for a human +being to obey. Universal obedience is universal stagnation; disobedience +is one of the conditions of progress. Select any age of the world and +tell me what would have been the effect of implicit obedience. Suppose +the Church had had absolute control of the human mind at any time, would +not the words liberty and progress have been blotted from human speech? +In defiance of advice, the world has advanced. + +Suppose the astronomers had controlled the science of astronomy; suppose +the doctors had controlled the science of medicine; suppose kings had +been left to fix the forms of government; suppose our fathers had taken +the advice of Paul, who said, "be subject to the powers that be, because +they are ordained of God;" suppose the Church could control the world +to-day, we would go back to chaos and old night. Philosophy would be +branded as infamous; Science would again press its pale and thoughtful +face against the prison bars, and round the limbs of liberty would climb +the bigot's flame. + +It is a blessed thing that in every age some one has had individuality +enough and courage enough to stand by his own convictions,--some one +who had the grandeur to say his say. I believe it was Magellan who said, +"The Church says the earth is flat; but I have seen its shadow on the +moon, and I have more confidence even in a shadow than in the Church." +On the prow of his ship were disobedience, defiance, scorn, and success. + +The trouble with most people is they bow to what is called authority; +they have a certain reverence for the old because it is old. They think +a man is better for being dead, especially if he has been dead a long +time. They think the fathers of their nation were the greatest and best +of all mankind. All these things they implicitly believe because it is +popular and patriotic, and because they were told so when they were very +small, and remember distinctly of hearing mother read it out of a book. +It is hard to over-estimate the influence of early training in the +direction of superstition. You first teach children that a certain book +is true--that it was written by God himself--that to question its truth +is a sin, that to deny it is a crime, and that should they die without +believing that book they will be forever damned without benefit of +clergy. The consequence is, that long before they read that book, they +believe it to be true. When they do read it their minds are wholly +unfitted to investigate its claims. They accept it as a matter of +course. + +In this way the reason is overcome, the sweet instincts of humanity +are blotted from the heart, and while reading its infamous pages even +justice throws aside her scales, shrieking for revenge and charity, with +bloody hands, applauds a deed of murder. In this way we are taught that +the revenge of man is the justice of God; that mercy is not the same +everywhere. In this way the ideas of our race have been subverted. In +this way we have made tyrants, bigots, and inquisitors. In this way the +brain of man has become a kind of palimpsest upon which, and over the +writings of nature, superstition has scrawled her countless lies. +One great trouble is that most teachers are dishonest. They teach as +certainties those things concerning which they entertain doubts. They +do not say, "we _think_ this is so," but "we _know_ this is so." They do +not appeal to the reason of the pupil, but they command his faith. They +keep all doubts to themselves; they do not explain, they assert. All +this is infamous. In this way you may make Christians, but you cannot +make men; you cannot make women. You can make followers, but no leaders; +disciples, but no Christs. You may promise power, honor, and happiness +to all those who will blindly follow, but you cannot keep your promise. + +A monarch said to a hermit, "Come with me and I will give you power." + +"I have all the power that I know how to use," replied the hermit +"Come," said the king, "I will give you wealth." + +"I have no wants that money can supply," said the hermit "I will give +you honor," said the monarch. + +"Ah, honor cannot be given, it must be earned," was the hermit's answer. + +"Come," said the king, making a last appeal, "and I will give you +happiness." + +"No," said the man of solitude, "there is no happiness without liberty, +and he who follows cannot be free." + +"You shall have liberty too," said the king. + +"Then I will stay where I am," said the old man. + +And all the king's courtiers thought the hermit a fool. + +Now and then somebody examines, and in spite of all keeps his manhood, +and has the courage to follow where his reason leads. Then the pious +get together and repeat wise saws, and exchange knowing nods and most +prophetic winks. The stupidly wise sit owl-like on the dead limbs of the +tree of knowledge, and solemnly hoot. Wealth sneers, and fashion laughs, +and respectability passes by on the other Side, and scorn points with +all her skinny fingers, and all the snakes of superstition writhe and +hiss, and slander lends her tongue, and infamy her brand, and perjury +her oath, and the law its power, and bigotry tortures, and the Church +kills. + +The Church hates a thinker precisely for the same reason a robber +dislikes a sheriff, or a thief despises the prosecuting witness. Tyranny +likes courtiers, flatterers, followers, fawners, and superstition wants +believers, disciples, zealots, hypocrites, and subscribers. The Church +demands worship--the very thing that man should give to no being, +human or divine. To worship another is to degrade yourself. Worship is +awe and dread and vague fear and blind hope. It is the spirit of worship +that elevates the one and degrades the many; that builds palaces for +robbers, erects monuments to crime, and forges manacles even for its +own hands. The spirit of worship is the spirit of tyranny. The worshiper +always regrets that he is not the worshiped. We should all remember that +the intellect has no knees, and that whatever the attitude of the +body may be, the brave soul is always found erect Whoever worships, +abdicates. Whoever believes at the command of power, tramples his own +individuality beneath his feet, and voluntarily robs himself of all that +renders man superior to the brute. + +The despotism of faith is justified upon the ground that Christian +countries are the grandest and most prosperous of the world. At one time +the same thing could have been truly said in India, in Egypt, in Greece, +in Rome, and in every other country that has, in the history of the +world, swept to empire. This argument proves too much not only, but +the assumption upon which it is based is utterly false. Numberless +circumstances and countless conditions have pro-duced the prosperity +of the Christian world. The truth is, we have advanced in spite of +religious zeal, ignorance, and opposition. The Church has won no +victories for the rights of man. Luther labored to reform the +Church--Voltaire, to reform men. Over every fortress of tyranny has +waved, and still waves, the banner of the Church. Wherever brave blood +has been shed, the sword of the Church has been wet. On every chain has +been the sign of the cross. The altar and throne have leaned against and +supported each other. + +All that is good in our civilization is the result of commerce, climate, +soil, geographical position, industry, invention, discovery, art, and +science. The Church has been the enemy of progress, for the reason +that it has endeavored to prevent man thinking for himself. To prevent +thought is to prevent all advancement except in the direction of faith. + +Who can imagine the infinite impudence of a Church assuming to think for +the human race? Who can imagine the infinite impudence of a Church that +pretends to be the mouthpiece of God, and in his name, threatens to +inflict eternal punishment upon those who honestly reject its claims and +scorn its pretensions? By what right does a man, or an organization +of men, or a god, claim to hold a brain in bondage? When a fact can be +demonstrated, force is unnecessary; when it cannot be demonstrated, an +appeal to force is infamous. In the presence of the unknown all have an +equal right to think. + +Over the vast plain, called life, we are all travelers, and not one +traveler is perfectly certain that he is going in the right direction. +True it is that no other plain is so well supplied with guide-boards. At +every turn and crossing you will find them, and upon each one is written +the exact direction and distance. One great trouble is, however, that +these boards are all different, and the result is that most travelers +are confused in proportion to the number they read. Thousands of people +are around each of these signs, and each one is doing his best to +convince the traveler that his particular board is the only one upon +which the least reliance can be placed, and that if his road is taken +the reward for so doing will be infinite and eternal, while all the +other roads are said to lead to hell, and all the makers of the other +guide-boards are declared to be heretics, hypocrites and liars. "Well," +says a traveler, "you may be right in what you say, but allow me at +least to read some of the other directions and examine a little into +their claims. I wish to rely a little upon my own judgment in a matter +of so great importance." "No, sir," shouts the zealot, "that is the +very thing you are not allowed to do. You must go my way without +investigation, or you are as good as damned already." "Well," says the +traveler, "if that is so, I believe I had better go your way." And so +most of them go along, taking the word of those who know as little as +themselves. Now and then comes one who, in spite of all threats, calmly +examines the claims of all, and as calmly rejects them all. These +travelers take roads of their own, and are denounced by all the others, +as infidels and atheists. + +Around all of these guide-boards, as far as the eye can reach, the +ground is covered with mountains of human bones, crumbling and bleaching +in the rain and sun. They are the bones of murdered men and +women--fathers, mothers and babes. + +In my judgment, every human being should take a road of his own. Every +mind should be true to itself--should think, investigate and conclude +for itself. This is a duty alike incumbent upon pauper and prince. Every +soul should repel dictation and tyranny, no matter from what source they +come--from earth or heaven, from men or gods. Besides, every traveler +upon this vast plain should give to every other traveler his best idea +as, to the road that should be taken. Each is entitled to the honest +opinion of all. And there is but one way to get an honest opinion upon +any subject whatever. The person giving the opinion must be free from +fear. The merchant must not fear to lose his custom, the doctor his +practice, nor the preacher his pulpit There can be no advance without +liberty. Suppression of honest inquiry is retrogression, and must end in +intellectual night. The tendency of orthodox religion to-day is toward +mental slavery and barbarism. Not one of the orthodox ministers dare +preach what he thinks if he knows a majority of his congregation think +otherwise. He knows that every member of his church stands guard over +his brain with a creed, like a club, in his hand. He knows that he +is not expected to search after the truth, but that he is employed to +defend the creed. Every pulpit is a pillory, in which stands a hired +culprit, defending the justice of his own imprisonment. + +Is it desirable that all should be exactly alike in their religious +convictions? Is any such thing possible? Do we not know that there are +no two persons alike in the whole world? No two trees, no two leaves, +no two anythings that are alike? Infinite diversity is the law. Religion +tries to force all minds into one mould. Knowing that all cannot +believe, the Church endeavors to make all say they believe. She longs +for the unity of hypocrisy, and detests the splendid diversity of +individuality and freedom. + +Nearly all people stand in great horror of annihilation, and yet to +give up your individuality is to annihilate yourself. Mental slavery is +mental death, and every man who has given up his intellectual freedom +is the living coffin of his dead soul. In this sense, every church is a +cemetery and every creed an epitaph. + +We should all remember that to be like other people is to be unlike +ourselves, and that nothing can be more detestable in character than +servile imitation. The great trouble with imitation is, that we are apt +to ape those who are in reality far below us. After all, the poorest +bargain that a human being can make, is to give his individuality for +what is called respectability. + +There is no saying more degrading than this: "It is better to be the +tail of a lion than the head of a dog." It is a responsibility to think +and act for yourself. Most people hate responsibility; therefore they +join something and become the tail of some lion. They say, "My party +can act for me--my church can do my thinking. It is enough for me to +pay taxes and obey the lion to which I belong, without troubling myself +about the right, the wrong, or the why or the wherefore of anything +whatever." These people are respectable. They hate reformers, and +dislike exceedingly to have their minds disturbed. They regard +convictions as very disagreeable things to have. They love forms, and +enjoy, beyond everything else, telling what a splendid tail their lion +has, and what a troublesome dog their neighbor is. Besides this natural +inclination to avoid personal responsibility, is and always has been, +the fact, that every religionist has warned men against the presumption +and wickedness of thinking for themselves. The reason has been denounced +by all Christendom as the only unsafe guide. The Church has left nothing +undone to prevent man following the logic of his brain. The plainest +facts have been covered with the mantle of mystery. The grossest +absurdities have been declared to be self-evident facts. The order of +nature has been, as it were, reversed, that the hypocritical few might +govern the honest many. The man who stood by the conclusion of his +reason was denounced as a scorner and hater of God and his holy Church. +From the organization of the first Church until this moment, to think +your own thoughts has been inconsistent with membership. Every member +has borne the marks of collar, and chain, and whip. No man ever +seriously attempted to reform a Church without being cast out and hunted +down by the hounds of hypocrisy. The highest crime against a creed is to +change it. Reformation is treason. + +Thousands of young men are being educated at this moment by the various +Churches. What for? In order that they may be prepared to investigate +the phenomena by which we are surrounded? No! The object, and the only +object, is that they may be prepared to defend a creed; that they may +learn the arguments of their respective churches, and repeat them in +the dull ears of a thoughtless congregation. If one, after being thus +trained at the expense of the Methodists, turns Presbyterian or Baptist, +he is denounced as an ungrateful wretch. Honest investigation is utterly +impossible within the pale of any Church, for the reason, that if you +think the Church is right you will not investigate, and if you think it +wrong, the Church will investigate you. The consequence of this is, +that most of the theological literature is the result of suppression, of +fear, tyranny and hypocrisy. + +Every orthodox writer necessarily said to himself, + +"If I write that, my wife and children may want for bread. I will be +covered with shame and branded with infamy; but if I write this, I will +gain position, power, and honor. My Church rewards defenders, and burns +reformers." + +Under these conditions all your Scotts, Henrys, and McKnights have +written; and weighed in these scales, what are their commentaries worth? +They are not the ideas and decisions of honest judges, but the sophisms +of the paid attorneys of superstition. Who can tell what the world has +lost by this infamous system of suppression? How many grand thinkers +have died with the mailed hand of superstition upon their lips? How many +splendid ideas have perished in the cradle of the brain, strangled in +the poison-coils of that python, the Church! + +For thousands of years a thinker was hunted down like an escaped +convict. To him who had braved the Church, every door was shut, every +knife was open. To shelter him from the wild storm, to give him a crust +when dying, to put a cup of water to his cracked and bleeding lips; +these were all crimes, not one of which the Church ever did forgive; +and with the justice taught of her God, his helpless children were +exterminated as scorpions and vipers. + +Who at the present day can imagine the courage, the devotion to +principle, the intellectual and moral grandeur it once required to be an +infidel, to brave the Church, her racks, her fagots, her dungeons, her +tongues of fire,--to defy and scorn her heaven and her hell--her +devil and her God? They were the noblest sons of earth. They were +the real saviors of our race, the destroyers of superstition and the +creators of Science. They were the real Titans who bared their grand +foreheads to all the thunderbolts of all the gods. + +The Church has been, and still is, the great robber. She has rifled not +only the pockets but the brains of the world. She is the stone at the +sepulchre of liberty; the upas tree, in whose shade the intellect of man +has withered; the Gorgon beneath whose gaze the human heart has turned +to stone. Under her influence even the Protestant mother expects to be +happy in heaven, while her brave boy, who fell fighting for the rights +of man, shall writhe in hell. + +It is said that some of the Indian tribes place the heads of their +children between pieces of bark until the form of the skull is +permanently changed. To us this seems a most shocking custom; and yet, +after all, is it as bad as to put the souls of our children in the +strait-jacket of a creed? to so utterly deform their minds that they +regard the God of the bible as a being of infinite mercy, and +really consider it a virtue to believe a thing just because it seems +unreasonable? Every child in the Christian world has uttered its +wondering protest against this outrage. All the machinery of the Church +is constantly employed in corrupting the reason of children. In every +possible way they are robbed of their own thoughts and forced to accept +the statements of others. Every Sunday school has for its object the +crushing out of every germ of individuality. The poor children are +taught that nothing can be more acceptable to God than unreasoning +obedience and eyeless faith, and that to believe God did an impossible +act, is far better than to do a good one yourself. They are told that +all religions have been simply the John-the-Baptists of ours; that all +the gods of antiquity have withered and shrunken into the Jehovah of the +Jews; that all the longings and aspirations of the race are realized in +the motto of the Evangelical Alliance, "Liberty in non-essentials;" that +all there is, or ever was, of religion can be found in the apostles' +creed; that there is nothing left to be discovered; that all the +thinkers are dead, and all the living should simply be believers; that +we have only to repeat the epitaph found on the grave of wisdom; that +grave-yards are the best possible universities, and that the children +must be forever beaten with the bones of the fathers. + +It has always seemed absurd to suppose that a god would choose for his +companions, during' all eternity, the dear souls whose highest and only +ambition is to obey. He certainly would now and then be tempted to make +the same remark made by an English gentleman to his poor guest. The +gentleman had invited a man in humble circumstances to dine with him. +The man was so overcome with the honor that to everything the gentleman +said he replied "Yes." Tired at last with the monotony of acquiescence, +the gentleman cried out, "For God's sake, my good man, say 'No,' just +once, so there will be two of us." + +Is it possible that an infinite God created this world simply to be the +dwelling-place of slaves and serfs? simply for the purpose of raising +orthodox Christians? That he did a few miracles to astonish them; that +all the evils of life are simply his punishments, and that he is finally +going to turn heaven into a kind of religious museum filled with Baptist +barnacles, petrified Presbyterians and Methodist mummies? I want no +heaven for which I must give my reason; no happiness in exchange for +my liberty, and no immortality that demands the surrender of my +individuality. Better rot in the windowless tomb, to which there is no +door but the red mouth of the pallid worm, than wear the jeweled collar +even of a god. + +Religion does not, and cannot, contemplate man as free. She accepts only +the homage of the prostrate, and scorns the offerings of those who stand +erect. She cannot tolerate the liberty of thought. The wide and sunny +fields belong not to her domain. The star-lit heights of genius and +individuality are above and beyond her appreciation and power. Her +subjects cringe at her feet, covered with the dust of obedience. + +They are not athletes standing posed by rich life and brave endeavor +like antique statues, but shriveled deformities, studying with furtive +glance the cruel face of power. + +No religionist seems capable of comprehending this plain truth. There +is this difference between thought and action: for our actions we +are responsible to ourselves and to those injuriously affected; for +thoughts, there can, in the nature of things, be no responsibility to +gods or men, here or hereafter. And yet the Protestant has vied with +the Catholic in denouncing freedom of thought; and while I was taught to +hate Catholicism with every drop of my blood, it is only justice to +say, that in all essential particulars it is precisely the same as every +other religion, Luther denounced mental liberty with all the coarse and +brutal vigor of his nature; Calvin despised, from the very bottom of his +petrified heart, anything that even looked like religious toleration, +and solemnly declared that to advocate it was to crucify Christ afresh. +All the founders of all the orthodox churches have advocated the same +infamous tenet. The truth is that what is called religion is necessarily +inconsistent with free thought. + +A believer is a bird in a cage, a free-thinker is an eagle parting the +clouds with tireless wing. + +At present, owing to the inroads that have been made by liberals and +infidels, most of the churches pretend to be in favor of religious +liberty. Of these churches, we will ask this question: How can a man, +who conscientiously believes in religious liberty, worship a God who +does not? They say to us: "We will not imprison you on account of your +belief, but our God will." "We will not burn you because you throw away +the sacred scriptures, but their author will." "We think it an infamous +crime to persecute our brethren for opinion's sake,--but the God, +whom we ignorantly worship, will on that account, damn his own children +forever." + +Why is it that these Christians not only detest the infidels, but +cordially despise each other? Why do they refuse to worship in the +temples of each other? Why do they care so little for the damnation of +men, and so much for the baptism of children? Why will they adorn their +churches with the money of thieves and flatter vice for the sake of +subscriptions? Why will they attempt to bribe Science to certify to +the writings of God? Why do they torture the words of the great into an +acknowledgment of the truth of Christianity? Why do they stand with hat +in hand before presidents, kings, emperors, and scientists, begging, +like Lazarus, for a few crumbs, of religious comfort? Why are they so +delighted to find an allusion to Providence in the message of Lincoln? +Why are they so afraid that some one will find out that Paley wrote an +essay in favor of the Epicurean philosophy, and that Sir Isaac Newton +was once an infidel? Why are they so anxious to show that Voltaire +recanted; that Paine died palsied with fear; that the Emperor Julian +cried out "Galilean, thou hast conquered"; that Gibbon died a Catholic; +that Agassiz had a little confidence in Moses; that the old Napoleon +was once complimentary enough to say that he thought Christ greater +than himself or Caesar; that Washington was caught on his knees at Valley +Forge; that blunt old Ethan Allen told his child to believe the religion +of her mother; that Franklin said, "Don't unchain the tiger," and that +Volney got frightened in a storm at sea? + +Is it because the foundation of their temple is crumbling, because the +walls are cracked, the pillars leaning, the great dome swaying to its +fall, and because Science has written over the high altar its mene, +mene, tekel, upharsin--the old words, destined to be the epitaph of +all religions? + +Every assertion of individual independence has been a step toward +infidelity. Luther started toward Humboldt,--Wesley, toward John Stuart +Mill. To really reform the Church is to destroy it. Every new religion +has a little less superstition than the old, so that the religion of +Science is but a question of time I will not say the Church has been an +unmitigated evil in all respects. Its history is infamous and glorious. +It has delighted in the production of extremes. It has furnished +murderers for its own martyrs. It has sometimes fed the body, but +has always starved the soul. It has been a charitable highwayman--a +profligate beggar--a generous pirate. It has produced some angels and a +multitude of devils. It has built more prisons than asylums. It made a +hundred orphans while it cared for one. In one hand it has carried the +alms-dish and in the other a sword. It has founded schools and endowed +universities for the purpose of destroying true learning. It filled the +world with hypocrites and zealots, and upon the cross of its own Christ +it crucified the individuality of man. It has sought to destroy the +independence of the soul and put the world upon its knees. This is its +crime. The commission of this crime was necessary to its existence. In +order to compel obedience it declared that it had the truth, and all the +truth; that God had made it the keeper of his secrets; his agent and +his vicegerent. It declared that all other religions were false +and infamous. It rendered all compromise impossible and all thought +superfluous. Thought was its enemy, obedience was its friend. +Investigation was fraught with danger; therefore investigation was +suppressed. The holy of holies was behind the curtain. All this was upon +the principle that forgers hate to have the signature examined by an +expert, and that imposture detests curiosity. + +"He that hath ears to hear, let him hear," has always been the favorite +text of the Church. + +In short, Christianity has always opposed every forward movement of the +human race. Across the highway of progress it has always been building +breastworks of bibles, tracts, commentaries, prayer-books, creeds, +dogmas and platforms, and at every advance the Christians have gathered +together behind these heaps of rubbish and shot the poisoned arrows of +malice at the soldiers of freedom. + +And even the liberal Christian of to-day has his holy of holies, and in +the niche of the temple of his heart has his idol. He still clings to a +part of the old superstition, and all the pleasant memories of the old +belief linger in the horizon of his thoughts like a sunset. We associate +the memory of those we love with the religion of our childhood. It +seems almost a sacrilege to rudely destroy the idols that our fathers +worshiped, and turn their sacred and beautiful truths into the fables of +barbarism. Some throw away the Old Testament and cling to the New, while +others give up everything except the idea that there is a personal God, +and that in some wonderful way we are the objects of his care. + +Even this, in my opinion, as Science, the great iconoclast, marches +onward, will have to be abandoned with the rest The great ghost will +surely share the fate of the little ones. They fled at the first +appearance of the dawn, and the other will vanish with the perfect +day. Until then the independence of man is little more than a dream. +Overshadowed by an immense personality, in the presence of the +irresponsible and the infinite, the individuality of man is lost, and +he falls prostrate in the very dust of fear. Beneath the frown of the +absolute, man stands a wretched, trembling slave,--beneath his smile +he is at best only a fortunate serf. Governed by a being whose arbitrary +will is law, chained to the chariot of power, his destiny rests in the +pleasure of the unknown. Under these circumstances, what wretched object +can he have in lengthening out his aimless life? + +And yet, in most minds, there is a vague fear of the gods--a shrinking +from the malice of the skies. Our fathers were slaves, and nearly all +their children are mental serfs. The enfranchisement of the soul is +a slow and painful process. Superstition, the mother of those hideous +twins, Fear and Faith, from her throne of skulls, still rules the world, +and will until the mind of woman ceases to be the property of priests. + +When women reason, and babes sit in the lap of philosophy, the victory +of reason over the shadowy host of darkness will be complete. + +In the minds of many, long after the intellect has thrown aside as +utterly fabulous the legends of the Church, there still remains a +lingering suspicion, born of the mental habits contracted in childhood, +that after all there may be a grain of truth in these mountains of +theological mist, and that possibly the superstitious side is the side +of safety. + +A gentleman, walking among the ruins of Athens, came upon a fallen +statue of Jupiter; making an exceedingly low bow he said: "O Jupiter! +I salute thee." He then added: "Should you ever sit upon the throne of +heaven again, do not, I pray you, forget that I treated you politely +when you were prostrate." + +We have all been taught by the Church that nothing is so well calculated +to excite the ire of the Deity as to express a doubt as to his +existence, and that to deny it is an unpardonable sin. Numerous +well-attested instances are referred to of atheists being struck dead +for denying the existence of God. According to these, religious people, +God is infinitely above us in every respect, infinitely merciful, and +yet he cannot bear to hear a poor finite man honestly question his +existence. Knowing, as he does, that his children are groping in +darkness and struggling with doubt and fear; knowing that he could +enlighten them if he would, he still holds the expression of a sincere +doubt as to his existence, the most infamous of crimes. According to +orthodox logic, God having furnished us with imperfect minds, has a +right to demand a perfect result. + +Suppose Mr. Smith should overhear a couple of small bugs holding a +discussion as to the existence of Mr. Smith, and suppose one should have +the temerity to declare, upon the honor of a bug, that he had examined +the whole question to the best of his ability, including the argument +based upon design, and had come to the conclusion that no man by the +name of Smith had ever lived. Think then of Mr. Smith flying into an +ecstacy of rage, crushing the atheist bug beneath his iron heel, while +he exclaimed, "I will teach you, blasphemous wretch, that Smith is a +diabolical fact!" What then can we think of a God who would open the +artillery of heaven upon one of his own children for simply expressing +his honest thought? And what man who really thinks can help repeating +the words of Ennius: "If there are gods they certainly pay no attention +to the affairs of man." Think of the millions of men and women who have +been destroyed simply for loving and worshiping this God. Is it possible +that this God, having infinite power, saw his loving and heroic children +languishing in the darkness of dungeons; heard the clank of their chains +when they lifted their hands to him in the agony of prayer; saw them +stretched upon the bigot's rack, where death alone had pity; saw the +serpents of flame crawl hissing round their shrinking forms--saw all +this for sixteen hundred years, and sat as silent as a stone? + +From such a God, why should man expect assistance? Why should he waste +his days in fruitless prayer? Why should he fall upon his knees and +implore a phantom--a phantom that is deaf, and dumb, and blind? + +Although we live in what is called a free government,--and politically +we are free,--there is but little religious liberty in America. +Society demands, either that you belong to some church, or that you +suppress your opinions. It is contended by many that ours is a Christian +government, founded upon the bible, and that all who look upon that book +as false or foolish are destroying the foundation of our country. The +truth is, our government is not founded upon the rights of gods, but +upon the rights of men. Our Constitution was framed, not to declare and +uphold the deity of Christ, but the sacredness of humanity. Ours is the +first government made by the people and for the people. It is the only +nation with which the gods have had nothing to do. And yet there are +some judges dishonest and cowardly enough to solemnly decide that this +is a Christian country, and that our free institutions are based upon +the infamous laws of Jehovah. + +Such judges are the Jeffries of the Church. They believe that decisions, +made by hirelings at the bidding of kings, are binding upon man forever. +They regard old law as far superior to modern justice. They are what +might be called orthodox judges. They spend their days in finding out, +not what ought to be, but what has been. With their backs to the sunrise +they worship the night. There is only one future event with which they +concern themselves, and that is their reelection. No honest court ever +did, or ever will, decide that our Constitution is Christian. The bible +teaches that the powers that be, are ordained of God. The bible teaches +that God is the source of all authority, and that all kings have +obtained their power from him. Every tyrant has claimed to be the agent +of the Most High. The Inquisition was founded, not in the name of man, +but in the name of God. All the governments of Europe recognize the +greatness of God, and the littleness of the people. In all ages, +hypocrites, called priests, have put crowns upon the heads of thieves, +called kings. + +The Declaration of Independence announces the sublime truth, that all +power comes from the people. This was a denial, and the first denial of +a nation, of the infamous dogma that God confers the right upon one man +to govern others. It was the first grand assertion of the dignity of the +human race. It declared the governed to be the source of power, and +in fact denied the authority of any and all gods. Through the ages of +slavery--through the weary centuries of the lash and chain, God was the +acknowledged ruler of the world. To enthrone man, was to dethrone Him. + +To Paine, Jefferson, and Franklin, are we indebted, more than to all +others, for a human government, and for a Constitution in which no God +is recognized superior to the legally expressed will of the people. + +They knew that to put God in the Constitution was to put man out. They +knew that the recognition of a Deity would be seized upon by fanatics +and zealots as a pretext for destroying the liberty of thought. They +knew the terrible history of the Church too well to place in her +keeping, or in the keeping of her God, the sacred rights of man. They +intended that all should have the right to worship, or not to worship; +that our laws should make no distinction on account of creed. They +intended to found and frame a government for man, and for man alone. +They wished to preserve the individuality and liberty of all; to prevent +the few from governing the many, and the many from persecuting and +destroying the few. + +Notwithstanding all this, the spirit of persecution still lingers in our +laws. In many of the States, only those who believe in the existence of +some kind of God, are under the protection of the law. + +The supreme court of Illinois decided, in the year of grace 1856, that +an unbeliever in the existence of an intelligent First Cause could not +be allowed to testify in any court. His wife and children might have +been murdered before his very face, and yet in the absence of other +witnesses, the murderer could not have even been indicted. The atheist +was a legal outcast. To him, Justice was not only blind, but deaf. He +was liable, like other men, to support the government, and was forced to +contribute his share towards paying the salaries of the very judges +who decided that under no circumstances could his voice be heard in any +court. This was the law of Illinois, and so remained until the +adoption of the new Constitution. By such infamous means has the Church +endeavored to chain the human mind, and protect the majesty of her God. +The fact is, we have no national religion, and no national God; but +every citizen is allowed to have a religion and a God of his own, or +to reject all religions and deny the existence of all gods. The Church, +however, never has, and never will understand and appreciate the genius +of our government. + +Last year, in a convention of Protestant bigots, held in the city of New +York for the purpose of creating public opinion in favor of a religious +amendment to the federal constitution, a reverend doctor of divinity, +speaking of atheists, said: "What are the rights of the atheist? I would +tolerate him as I would tolerate a poor lunatic. I would tolerate him as +I would tolerate a conspirator. He may live and go free, hold his lands +and enjoy his home--he may even vote; but for any higher or more +advanced citizenship, he is, as I hold, utterly disqualified." These are +the sentiments of the Church to-day. + +Give the Church a place in the Constitution, let her touch once more +the sword of power, and the priceless fruit of all the ages will turn to +ashes on the lips of men. + +In religious ideas and conceptions there has been for ages a slow and +steady development. At the bottom of the ladder (speaking of modern +times) is Catholicism, and at the top is Science. The intermediate +rounds of this ladder are occupied by the various sects, whose name is +legion. + +But whatever may be the truth upon any subject has nothing to do with +our right to investigate that subject, and express any opinion we may +form. All that I ask, is the same right I freely accord to all others. + +A few years ago a Methodist clergyman took it upon himself to give me a +piece of friendly advice. + +"Although you may disbelieve the bible," said he, "you ought not to say +so. That, you should keep to yourself." + +"Do you believe the bible," said I. He replied, "Most assuredly." + +To which I retorted, "Your answer conveys no information to me. You may +be following your own advice. You told me to suppress my opinions. +Of course a man who will advise others to dissimulate will not always be +particular about telling the truth himself." + +There can be nothing more utterly subversive of all that is really +valuable than the suppression of honest thought. No man, worthy of the +form he bears, will at the command of Church or State solemnly repeat +a creed his reason scorns. It is the duty of each and every one to +maintain his individuality. "This, above all, to thine ownself be true, +and it must follow as the night the day, thou canst not then be false +to any man." It is a magnificent thing to be the sole proprietor of +yourself. It is a terrible thing to wake up at night and say, "There is +nobody in this bed." It is humiliating to know that your ideas are all +borrowed; that you are indebted to your memory for your principles; +that your religion is simply one of your habits, and that you would have +convictions if they were only contagious. It is mortifying to feel that +you belong to a mental mob and cry "crucify him," because the others +do; that you reap what the great and brave have sown, and that you can +benefit the world only by leaving it. + +Surely every human being ought to attain to the dignity of the _unit_. +Surely it is worth something to be _one_, and to feel that the census of +the universe would be incomplete without counting you. Surely there +is grandeur in knowing that in the realm of thought, at least, you are +without a chain; that you have the right to explore all heights and all +depths; that there are no walls nor fences, nor prohibited places, nor +sacred corners in all the vast expanse of thought; that your intellect +owes no allegiance to any being, human or divine; that you hold all in +fee and upon no condition and by no tenure whatever; that in the world +of mind you are relieved from all personal dictation, and from the +ignorant tyranny of majorities. Surely it is worth something to feel +that there are no priests, no popes, no parties, no governments, +no kings, no gods, to whom your intellect can be compelled to pay +a reluctant homage. Surely it is a joy to know that all the cruel +ingenuity of bigotry can devise no prison, no dungeon, no cell in which +for one instant to confine a thought; that ideas cannot be dislocated +by racks, nor crushed in iron boots, nor burned with fire. Surely it is +sublime to think that the brain is a castle, and that within its curious +bastions and winding halls the soul, in spite of all worlds and all +beings, is the supreme sovereign of itself. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Individuality, by Robert G. 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