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Ingersoll. + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gods, 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: The Gods + From 'The Gods and Other Lectures' + +Author: Robert G. Ingersoll + +Release Date: November 22, 2011 [EBook #38107] +Last Updated: January 25, 2013 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GODS *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <div style="height: 8em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h1> + THE GODS + </h1> + <h2> + By Robert G. Ingersoll. + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h4> + Give Me The Storm And Tempest Of Thought And Action, Rather Than The Dead + Calm Of Ignorance And Faith. Banish Me From Eden When You Will; But First + Let Me Eat Of The Fruit Of The Tree Of Knowledge. + </h4> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h5> + 1878. + </h5> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <h4> + <br /> <br /> TO EVA A. INGERSOLL MY WIFE, A WOMAN WITHOUT SUPERSTITION, + THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED. <br /> <br /> + </h4> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + THE GODS + </h2> + <h3> + AN HONEST GOD IS THE NOBLEST WORK OF MAN. + </h3> + <p> + EACH nation has created a god, and the god has always resembled his + creators. He hated and loved what they hated and loved, and he was + invariably found on the side of those in power. Each god was intensely + patriotic, and detested all nations but his own. All these gods demanded + praise, flattery, worship. Most of them were pleased with sacrifice, and + the smell of innocent blood has ever been considered a divine perfume. All + these gods have insisted upon having a vast number of priests, and the + priests have always insisted upon being supported by the people, and the + principal business of these priests has been to boast about their god, and + to insist that he could easily vanquish all the other gods put together. + </p> + <p> + These gods have been manufactured after numberless models, and according + to the most grotesque fashions. Some have a thousand arms, some a hundred + heads, some are adorned with necklaces of living snakes, some are armed + with clubs, some with sword and shield, some with bucklers, and some have + wings as a cherub; some were invisible, some would show themselves entire, + and some would only show their backs; some were jealous, some were + foolish, some turned themselves into men, some into swans, some into + bulls, some into doves, and some into Holy Ghosts, and made love to the + beautiful daughters of men. Some were married—all ought to have been—and + some were considered as old bachelors from all eternity. Some had + children, and the children were turned into gods and worshiped as their + fathers had been. Most of these gods were revengeful, savage, lustful, and + ignorant. As they generally depended upon their priests for information, + their ignorance can hardly excite our astonishment. + </p> + <p> + These gods did not even know the shape of the worlds they had created, but + supposed them perfectly flat Some thought the day could be lengthened by + stopping the sun, that the blowing of horns could throw down the walls of + a city, and all knew so little of the real nature of the people they had + created, that they commanded the people to love them. Some were so + ignorant as to suppose that man could believe just as he might desire, or + as they might command, and that to be governed by observation, reason, and + experience was a most foul and damning sin. None of these gods could give + a true account of the creation of this little earth. All were wofully + deficient in geology and astronomy. As a rule, they were most miserable + legislators, and as executives, they were far inferior to the average of + American presidents. + </p> + <p> + These deities have demanded the most abject and degrading obedience. In + order to please them, man must lay his very face in the dust. Of course, + they have always been partial to the people who created them, and have + generally shown their partiality by assisting those people to rob and + destroy others, and to ravish their wives and daughters. + </p> + <p> + Nothing is so pleasing to these gods as the butchery of unbelievers. + Nothing so enrages them, even now, as to have some one deny their + existence. + </p> + <p> + Few nations have been so poor as to have but one god. Gods were made so + easily, and the raw material cost so little, that generally the god market + was fairly glutted, and heaven crammed with these phantoms. These gods not + only attended to the skies, but were supposed to interfere in all the + affairs of men. They presided over everybody and everything. They attended + to every department. All was supposed to be under their immediate control. + Nothing was too small—nothing too large; the falling of sparrows and + the motions of the planets were alike attended to by these industrious and + observing deities. From their starry thrones they frequently came to the + earth for the purpose of imparting information to man. It is related of + one that he came amid thunderings and lightnings in order to tell the + people that they should not cook a kid in its mother's milk. Some left + their shining abodes to tell women that they should, or should not, have + children, to inform a priest how to cut and wear his apron, and to give + directions as to the proper manner of cleaning the intestines of a bird. + </p> + <p> + When the people failed to worship one of these gods, or failed to feed and + clothe his priests, (which was much the same thing,) he generally visited + them with pestilence and famine. Sometimes he allowed some other nation to + drag them into slavery—to sell their wives and children; but + generally he glutted his vengeance by murdering their first-born. The + priests always did their whole duty, not only in predicting these + calamities, but in proving, when they did happen, that they were brought + upon the people because they had not given quite enough to them. + </p> + <p> + These gods differed just as the nations differed; the greatest and most + powerful had the most powerful gods, while the weaker ones were obliged to + content themselves with the very off-scourings of the heavens. Each of + these gods promised happiness here and hereafter to all his slaves, and + threatened to eternally punish all who either disbelieved in his existence + or suspected that some other god might be his superior; but to deny the + existence of all gods was, and is, the crime of crimes. Redden your hands + with human blood; blast by slander the fair fame of the innocent; strangle + the smiling child upon its mother's knees; deceive, ruin and desert the + beautiful girl who loves and trusts you, and your case is not hopeless. + For all this, and for all these you may be forgiven. For all this, and for + all these, that bankrupt court established by the gospel, will give you a + discharge; but deny the existence of these divine ghosts, of these gods, + and the sweet and tearful face of Mercy becomes livid with eternal hate. + Heaven's golden gates are shut, and you, with an infinite curse ringing in + your ears, with the brand of infamy upon your brow, commence your endless + wanderings in the lurid gloom of hell—an immortal vagrant—an + eternal outcast—a deathless convict. + </p> + <p> + One of these gods, and one who demands our love, our admiration and our + worship, and one who is worshiped, if mere heartless ceremony is worship, + gave to his chosen people for their guidance, the following laws of war: + "When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, <i>then proclaim + peace unto it</i>. And it shall be if it make thee answer, of peace, and + open unto thee, then it shall be that all the people that is found therein + shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve thee. And if it will + make no peace with thee, but will make war against thee, then thou shalt + besiege it. + </p> + <p> + "And when the Lord thy God hath delivered it into thy hands, thou shalt + smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword. But the women and the + little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all the + spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself, and thou shalt eat the spoil + of thine enemies which the Lord thy God hath given thee. Thus shalt thou + do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, which are not of + the cities of these nations. But of the cities of these people which the + Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, <i>thou shalt save alive + nothing that breatheth?</i>" + </p> + <p> + Is it possible for man to conceive of anything more perfectly infamous? + Can you believe that such directions were given by any being except an + infinite fiend? Remember that the army receiving these instructions was + one of invasion. Peace was offered upon condition that the people + submitting should be the slaves of the invader; but if any should have the + courage to defend their homes, to fight for the love of wife and child, + then the sword was to spare none—not even the prattling, dimpled + babe. + </p> + <p> + And we are called upon to worship such a god; to get upon our knees and + tell him that he is good, that he is merciful, that he is just, that he is + love. We are asked to stifle every noble sentiment of the soul, and to + trample under foot all the sweet charities of the heart Because we refuse + to stultify ourselves—refuse to become liars—we are denounced, + hated, traduced and ostracized here, and this same god threatens to + torment us in eternal fire the moment death allows him to fiercely clutch + our naked helpless souls. Let the people hate, let the god threaten—we + will educate them, and we will despise and defy him. + </p> + <p> + The book, called the bible, is filled with passages equally horrible, + unjust and atrocious. This is the book to be read in schools in order to + make our children loving, kind and gentle! This is the book to be + recognized in our Constitution as the source of all authority and justice! + </p> + <p> + Strange! that no one has ever been persecuted by the church for believing + God bad, while hundreds of millions have been destroyed for thinking him + good. The orthodox church never will forgive the Universalist for saying + "God is love." It has always been considered as one of the very highest + evidences of true and undefined religion to insist that all men, women and + children deserve eternal damnation. It has always been heresy to say, "God + will at last save all." + </p> + <p> + We are asked to justify these frightful passages, these infamous laws of + war, because the bible is the word of God. As a matter of fact, there + never was, and there never can be, an argument, even tending to prove the + inspiration of any book whatever. In the absence of positive evidence, + analogy and experience, argument is simply impossible, and at the very + best, can amount only to a useless agitation of the air. The instant we + admit that a book is too sacred to be doubted, or even reasoned about, we + are mental serfs. It is infinitely absurd to suppose that a god would + address a communication to intelligent beings, and yet make it a crime, to + be punished in eternal flames, for them to use their intelligence for the + purpose of understanding his communication. If we have the right to use + our reason, we certainly have the right to act in accordance with it, and + no god can have the right to punish us for such action. + </p> + <p> + The doctrine that future happiness depends upon belief is monstrous. It is + the infamy of infamies. The notion that faith in Christ is to be rewarded + by an eternity of bliss, while a dependence upon reason, observation, and + experience merits everlasting pain, is too absurd for refutation, and can + be relieved only by that unhappy mixture of insanity and ignorance, called + "faith." What man, who ever thinks, can believe that blood can appease + God? And yet, our entire system of religion is based upon that belief. The + Jews pacified Jehovah with the blood of animals, and according to the + Christian system, the blood of Jesus softened the heart of God a little, + and rendered possible the salvation of a fortunate few. It is hard to + conceive how the human mind can give assent to such terrible ideas, or how + any sane man can read the bible and still believe in the doctrine of + inspiration. + </p> + <p> + Whether the bible is true or false, is of no consequence in comparison + with the mental freedom of the race. + </p> + <p> + Salvation through slavery is worthless. Salvation from slavery is + inestimable. + </p> + <p> + As long as man believes the bible to be infallible, that book is his + master. The civilization of this century is not the child of faith, but of + unbelief—the result of free thought. + </p> + <p> + All that is necessary, as it seems to me, to convince any reasonable + person that the bible is simply and purely of human invention—of + barbarian invention—is to read it. Read it as you would any other + book; think of it as you would of any other; get the bandage of reverence + from your eyes; drive from your heart the phantom of fear; push from the + throne of your brain the cowled form of superstition—then read the + holy bible, and you will be amazed that you ever, for one moment, supposed + a being of infinite wisdom, goodness and purity, to be the author of such + ignorance and of such atrocity. + </p> + <p> + Our ancestors not only had their god-factories, but they made devils as + well. These devils were generally disgraced and fallen gods. Some had + headed unsuccessful revolts; some had been caught sweetly reclining in the + shadowy folds of some fleecy cloud, kissing the wife of the god of gods. + These devils generally sympathized with man. There is in regard to them a + most wonderful fact: In nearly all the theologies, mythologies and + religions, the devils have been much more humane and merciful than the + gods. No devil ever gave one of his generals an order to kill children and + to rip open the bodies of pregnant women. Such barbarities were always + ordered by the good gods. The pestilences were sent by the most merciful + gods. The frightful famine, during which the dying child with pallid lips + sucked the withered bosom of a dead mother, was sent by the loving gods. + No devil was ever charged with such fiendish brutality. + </p> + <p> + One of these gods, according to the account, drowned an entire world, with + the exception of eight persons. The old, the young, the beautiful and the + helpless were remorsely devoured by the shoreless sea. This, the most + fearful tragedy that the imagination of ignorant priests ever conceived, + was the act, not of a devil, but of a god, so-called, whom men ignorantly + worship unto this day. What a stain such an act would leave upon the + character of a devil! One of the prophets of one of these gods, having in + his power a captured king, hewed him in pieces in the sight of all the + people. Was ever any imp of any devil guilty of such savagery? + </p> + <p> + One of these gods is reported to have given the following directions + concerning human slavery: "If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years shall + he serve, and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. If he came + in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he were married, then his + wife shall go out with him. If his master have given him a wife, and she + have borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be her + master's, and he shall go out by himself. And if the servant shall plainly + say, I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not go out free. + Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also bring him + unto the door, or unto the door-post; and his master shall bore his ear + through with an awl; and he shall serve him forever." + </p> + <p> + According to this, a man was given liberty upon condition that he would + desert forever his wife and children. Did any devil ever force upon a + husband, upon a father, so cruel and so heartless an alternative? Who can + worship such a god? Who can bend the knee to such a monster? Who can pray + to such a fiend? + </p> + <p> + All these gods threatened to torment forever the souls of their enemies. + Did any devil ever make so infamous a threat? The basest thing recorded of + the devil, is what he did concerning Job and his family, and that was done + by the express permission of one of these gods, and to decide a little + difference of opinion between their serene highnesses as to the character + of "my servant Job." The first account we have of the devil is found in + that purely scientific book called Genesis, and is as follows: "Now the + serpent was more subtile than any beast of the field which the Lord God + had made, and he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat + of the fruit of the trees of the garden? And the woman said unto the + serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the + fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden God hath said, Ye + shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the + serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. For God doth know + that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened and ye + shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the woman saw that the + tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree + to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof and did eat, + and gave also unto her husband with her, and he did eat. * * And the Lord + God said, Behold the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil; + and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life and + eat, and live forever. Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the + garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. So he drove out + the man, and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden cherubim and a + flaming sword, which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of + life." + </p> + <p> + According to this account the promise of the devil was fulfilled to the + very letter. Adam and Eve did not die, and they did become as gods, + knowing good and evil. + </p> + <p> + The account shows, however, that the gods dreaded education and knowledge + then just as they do now. The church still faithfully guards the dangerous + tree of knowledge, and has exerted in all ages her utmost power to keep + mankind from eating the fruit thereof. The priests have never ceased + repeating the old falsehood and the old threat: "Ye shall not eat of it, + neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die." From every pulpit comes the same + cry, born of the same fear: "Lest they eat and become as gods, knowing + good and evil." For this reason, religion hates science, faith detests + reason, theology is the sworn enemy of philosophy, and the church with its + flaming sword still guards the hated tree, and like its supposed founder, + curses to the lowest depths the brave thinkers who eat and become as gods. + </p> + <p> + If the account given in Genesis is really true, ought we not, after all, + to thank this serpent? He was the first schoolmaster, the first advocate + of learning, the first enemy of ignorance, the first to whisper in human + ears the sacred word liberty, the creator of ambition, the author of + modesty, of inquiry, of doubt, of investigation, of progress and of + civilization. + </p> + <p> + Give me the storm and tempest of thought and action, rather than the dead + calm of ignorance and faith! Banish me from Eden when you will; but first + let me eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge! + </p> + <p> + Some nations have borrowed their gods; of this number, we are compelled to + say, is our own. The Jews having ceased to exist as a nation, and having + no further use for a god, our ancestors appropriated him and adopted their + devil at the same time. This borrowed god is still an object of some + adoration, and this adopted devil still excites the apprehensions of our + people. He is still supposed to be setting his traps and snares for the + purpose of catching our unwary souls, and is still, with reasonable + success, waging the old war against our god. + </p> + <p> + To me, it seems easy to account for these ideas concerning gods and + devils. They are a perfectly natural production. Man has created them all, + and under the same circumstances would create them again. Man has not only + created all these gods, but he has created them out of the materials by + which he has been surrounded. Generally he has modeled them after himself, + and has given them hands, heads, feet, eyes, ears, and organs of speech. + Each nation, made its gods and devils speak its language not only, but put + in their mouths the same mistakes in history, geography, astronomy, and in + all matters of fact, generally made by the people. No god was ever in + advance of the nation that created him. The negroes represented their + deities with black skins and curly hair. The Mongolian gave to his a + yellow complexion and dark almond-shaped eyes. The Jews were not allowed + to paint theirs, or we should have seen Jehovah with a full beard, an oval + face, and an aquiline nose. Zeus was a perfect Greek, and Jove looked as + though a member of the Roman senate. The gods of Egypt had the patient + face and placid look of the loving people who made them. The gods of + northern countries were represented warmly clad in robes of fur; those of + the tropics were naked. The gods of India were often mounted upon + elephants; those of some islanders were great swimmers, and the deities of + the Arctic zone were passionately fond of whale's blubber. Nearly all + people have carved or painted representations of their gods, and these + representations were, by the lower classes, generally treated as the real + gods, and to these images and idols they addressed prayers and offered + sacrifice. + </p> + <p> + "In some countries, even at this day, if the people after long praying do + not obtain their desires, they turn their images off as impotent gods, or + upbraid them in a most reproachful manner, loading them with blows and + curses. 'How now, dog of a spirit,' they say, 'we give you lodging in a + magnificent temple, we gild you with gold, feed you with the choicest + food, and offer incense to you; yet, after all this care, you are so + ungrateful as to refuse us what we ask.' + </p> + <p> + "Hereupon they will pull the god down and drag him through the filth of + the street. If, in the meantime, it happens that they obtain their + request, then, with a great deal of ceremony, they wash him clean, carry + him back and place him in his temple again, where they fall down and make + excuses for what they have done. 'Of a truth,' they say, 'we were a little + too hasty, and you were a little too long in your grant. Why should you + bring this beating on yourself. But what is done cannot be undone. Let us + not think of it any more. If you will forget what is past, we will gild + you over brighter again than before.'" + </p> + <p> + Man has never been at a loss for gods. He has worshiped almost everything, + including the vilest and most disgusting beasts. He has worshiped fire, + earth, air, water, light, stars, and for hundreds of ages prostrated + himself before enormous snakes. Savage tribes often make gods of articles + they get from civilized people. The To-das worship a cow-bell. The Kotas + worship two silver plates, which they regard as husband and wife, and + another tribe manufactured a god out of a king of hearts. + </p> + <p> + Man, having always been the physical superior of woman, accounts for the + fact that most of the high gods have been males. Had woman been the + physical superior, the powers supposed to be the rulers of Nature would + have been women, and instead of being represented in the apparel of man, + they would have luxuriated in trains, low-necked dresses, laces and + back-hair. + </p> + <p> + Nothing can be plainer than that each nation gives to its god its peculiar + characteristics, and that every individual gives to his god his personal + peculiarities. + </p> + <p> + Man has no ideas, and can have none, except those suggested by his + surroundings. He cannot conceive of anything utterly unlike what he has + seen or felt. He can exaggerate, diminish, combine, separate, deform, + beautify, improve, multiply and compare what he sees, what he feels, what + he hears, and all of which he takes cognizance through the medium of the + senses; but he cannot create. Having seen exhibitions of power, he can + say, omnipotent. Having lived, he can say, immortality. Knowing something + of time, he can say, eternity. Conceiving something of intelligence, he + can say, God Having seen exhibitions of malice, he can say, devil. A few + gleams of happiness having fallen athwart the gloom of his life, he can + say, heaven. Pain, in its numberless forms, having been experienced, he + can say, hell. Yet all these ideas have a foundation in fact, and only a + foundation. The superstructure has been reared by exaggerating, + diminishing, combining, separating, deforming, beautifying, improving or + multiplying realities, so that the edifice or fabric is but the + incongruous grouping of what man has perceived through the medium of the + senses. It is as though we should give to a lion the wings of an eagle, + the hoofs of a bison, the tail of a horse, the pouch of a kangaroo, and + the trunk of an elephant. We have in imagination created an impossible + monster. And yet the various parts of this monster really exist. So it is + with all the gods that man has made. + </p> + <p> + Beyond nature man cannot go even in thought—above nature he cannot + rise—below nature he cannot fall. + </p> + <p> + Man, in his# ignorance, supposed that all phenomena were produced by some + intelligent powers, and with direct reference to him. To preserve friendly + relations with these powers was, and still is, the object of all + religions. Man knelt through fear and to implore assistance, or through + gratitude for some favor which he supposed had been rendered. He + endeavored by supplication to appease some being who, for some reason, + had, as he believed, become enraged. The lightning and thunder terrified + him. In the presence of the volcano he sank upon his knees. The great + forests filled with wild and ferocious beasts, the monstrous serpents + crawling in mysterious depths, the boundless sea, the flaming comets, the + sinister eclipses, the awful calmness of the stars, and, more than all, + the perpetual presence of death, convinced him that he was the sport and + prey of unseen and malignant powers. The strange and frightful diseases to + which he was subject, the freezings and burnings of fever, the contortions + of epilepsy, the sudden palsies, the darkness of night, and the wild, + terrible and fantastic dreams that filled his brain, satisfied him that he + was haunted and pursued by countless spirits of evil. For some reason he + supposed that these spirits differed in power—that they were not all + alike malevolent—that the higher controlled the lower, and that his + very existence depended upon gaining the assistance of the more powerful. + For this purpose he resorted to prayer, to flattery, to worship and to + sacrifice. + </p> + <p> + These ideas appear to have been almost universal in savage man. + </p> + <p> + For ages all nations supposed that the sick and insane were possessed by + evil spirits. For thousands of years the practice of medicine consisted in + frightening these spirits away. Usually the priests would make the loudest + and most discordant noises possible. They would blow horns, beat upon rude + drums, clash cymbals, and in the meantime utter the most unearthly yells. + If the noise-remedy failed, they would implore the aid of some more + powerful spirit. + </p> + <p> + To pacify these spirits was considered of infinite importance. The poor + barbarian, knowing that men could be softened by gifts, gave to these + spirits that which to him seemed of the most value. With bursting heart he + would offer the blood of his dearest child. It was impossible for him to + conceive of a god utterly unlike himself, and he naturally supposed that + these powers of the air would be affected a little at the sight of so + great and so deep a sorrow. It was with the barbarian then as with the + civilized now—one class lived upon and made merchandise of the fears + of another. Certain persons took it upon themselves to appease the gods, + and to instruct the people in their duties to these unseen powers. This + was the origin of the priesthood. The priest pretended to stand between + the wrath of the gods and the helplessness of man. He was man's attorney + at the court of heaven. He carried to the invisible world a flag of truce, + a protest and a request. He came back with a command, with authority and + with power. Man fell upon his knees before his own servant, and the + priest, taking advantage of the awe inspired by his supposed influence + with the gods, made of his fellow-man a cringing hypocrite and slave. Even + Christ, the supposed son of God, taught that persons were possessed of + evil spirits, and frequently, according to the account, gave proof of his + divine origin and mission by frightening droves of devils out of his + unfortunate countrymen. Casting out devils was his principal employment, + and the devils thus banished generally took occasion to acknowledge him as + the true Messiah; which was not only very kind of them, but quite + fortunate for him. The religious people have always regarded the testimony + of these devils as perfectly conclusive, and the writers of the New + Testament quote the words of these imps of darkness with great + satisfaction. + </p> + <p> + The fact that Christ could withstand the temptations of the devil was + considered as conclusive evidence that he was assisted by some god, or at + least by some being superior to man. St. Matthew gives an account of an + attempt made by the devil to tempt the supposed son of God; and it has + always excited the wonder of Christians that the temptation was so nobly + and heroically withstood. The account to which I refer is as follows: + </p> + <p> + "Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of + the devil. And when the tempter came to him, he said: 'If thou be the son + of God, command that these stones be made bread.' But he answered, and + said: 'It is written: man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word + that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.' Then the devil taketh him up + into the holy city and setteth him upon a pinnacle of the temple and saith + unto him: 'If thou be the son of God, cast thyself down, for it is + written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee, lest at any time + thou shalt dash thy foot against a stone.' Jesus said unto him: 'It is + written again, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.' Again the devil + taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain and sheweth him all the + kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, and saith unto him: 'All + these will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and worship me.'" + </p> + <p> + The Christians now claim that Jesus was God. If he was God, of course the + devil knew that fact, and yet, according to this account, the devil took + the omnipotent God and placed him upon a pinnacle of the temple, and + endeavored to induce him to dash himself against the earth. Failing in + that, he took the creator, owner and governor of the universe up into an + exceeding high mountain, and offered him this world—this grain of + sand—if he, the God of all the worlds, would fall down and worship + him, a poor devil, without even a tax title to one foot of dirt! Is it + possible the devil was such an idiot? Should any great credit be given to + this deity for not being caught with such chaff? Think of it! The devil—the + prince of sharpers—the king of cunning—the master of finesse, + trying to bribe God with a grain of sand that belonged to God! + </p> + <p> + Is there in all the religious literature of the world anything more + grossly absurd than this? + </p> + <p> + These devils, according to the bible, were of various kinds—some + could speak and hear, others were deaf and dumb. All could not be cast out + in the same way. The deaf and dumb spirits were quite difficult to deal + with. St. Mark tells of a gentleman who brought his son to Christ The boy, + it seems, was possessed of a dumb spirit, over which the disciples had no + control. "Jesus said unto the spirit: 'Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge + thee come out of him, and enter no more into him.'" Whereupon, the deaf + spirit (having heard what was said) cried out (being dumb) and immediately + vacated the premises. The ease with which Christ controlled this deaf and + dumb spirit excited the wonder of his disciples, and they asked him + privately why they could not cast that spirit out. To whom he replied: + "This kind can come forth by nothing but prayer and fasting." Is there a + Christian in the whole world who would believe such a story if found in + any other book? The trouble is, these pious people shut up their reason, + and then open their bible. + </p> + <p> + In the olden times the existence of devils was universally admitted. The + people had no doubt upon that subject, and from such belief it followed as + a matter of course, that a person, in order to vanquish these devils, had + either to be a god, or to be assisted by one. All founders of religions + have established their claims to divine origin by controlling evil spirits + and suspending the laws of nature. Casting out devils was a certificate of + divinity. A prophet, unable to cope with the powers of darkness was + regarded with contempt The utterance of the highest and noblest + sentiments, the most blameless and holy life, commanded but little + respect, unless accompanied by power to work miracles and command spirits. + </p> + <p> + This belief in good and evil powers had its origin in the fact that man + was surrounded by what he was pleased to call good and evil phenomena. + Phenomena affecting man pleasantly were ascribed to good spirits, while + those affecting him unpleasantly or injuriously, were ascribed to evil + spirits. It being admitted that all phenomena were produced by spirits, + the spirits were divided according to the phenomena, and the phenomena + were good or bad as they affected man. + </p> + <p> + Good spirits were supposed to be the authors of good phenomena, and evil + spirits of the evil—so that the idea of a devil has been as + universal as the idea of a god. + </p> + <p> + Many writers maintain that an idea to become universal must be true; that + all universal ideas are innate, and that innate ideas cannot be false. If + the fact that an idea has been universal proves that it is innate, and if + the fact that an idea is innate proves that it is correct, then the + believers in innate ideas must admit that the evidence of a god superior + to nature, and of a devil superior to nature, is exactly the same, and + that the existence of such a devil must be as self-evident as the + existence of such a god. The truth is, a god was inferred from good; and a + devil from bad, phenomena. And it is just as natural and logical to + suppose that a devil would cause happiness as to suppose that a god would + produce misery. Consequently, if an intelligence, infinite and supreme, is + the immediate author of all phenomena, it is difficult to determine + whether such intelligence is the friend or enemy of man. If phenomena were + all good, we might say they were all produced by a perfectly beneficent + being. If they were all bad, we might say they were produced by a + perfectly malevolent power; but, as phenomena are, as they affect man, + both good and bad, they must be produced by different and antagonistic + spirits; by one who is sometimes actuated by kindness, and sometimes by + malice; or all must be produced of necessity, and without reference to + their consequences upon man. + </p> + <p> + The foolish doctrine that all phenomena can be traced to the interference + of good and evil spirits, has been, and still is, almost universal. That + most people still believe in some spirit that can change the natural order + of events, is proven by the fact that nearly all resort to prayer. + Thousands, at this very moment, are probably imploring some supposed power + to interfere in their behalf. Some want health restored; some ask that the + loved and absent be watched over and protected, some pray for riches, some + for rain, some want diseases stayed, some vainly ask for food, some ask + for revivals, a few ask for more wisdom, and now and then one tells the + Lord to do as he may think best. Thousands ask to be protected from the + devil; some, like David, pray for revenge, and some implore, even God, not + to lead them into temptation. All these prayers rest upon, and are + produced by, the idea that some power not only can, but probably will, + change the order of the universe. This belief has been among the great + majority of tribes and nations. All sacred books are filled with the + accounts of such interferences, and our own bible is no exception to this + rule. + </p> + <p> + If we believe in a power superior to nature, it is perfectly natural to + suppose that such power can and will interfere in the affairs of this + world. If there is no interference, of what practical use can such power + be? The scriptures give us the most wonderful accounts of divine + interference: Animals talk like men; springs gurgle from dry bones; the + sun and moon stop in the heavens in order that General Joshua may have + more time to murder; the shadow on a dial goes back ten degrees to + convince a petty king of a barbarous people that he is not going to die of + a boil; fire refuses to burn; water positively declines to seek its level, + but stands up like a wall; grains of sand become lice; common + walking-sticks, to gratify a mere freak, twist themselves into serpents, + and then swallow each other by way of exercise; murmuring streams, + laughing at the attraction of gravitation, run up hill for years, + following wandering tribes from a pure love of frolic; prophecy becomes + altogether easier than history; the sons of God become enamored of the + world's girls; women are changed into salt for the purpose of keeping a + great event fresh in the minds of men; an excellent article of brimstone + is imported from heaven free of duty; clothes refuse to wear out for forty + years; birds keep restaurants and feed wandering prophets free of expense; + bears tear children in pieces for laughing at old men without wigs; + muscular development depends upon the length of one's hair; dead people + come to life, simply to get a joke on their enemies and heirs; witches and + wizards converse freely with the souls of the departed, and God himself + becomes a stone-cutter and engraver, after having been a tailor and + dressmaker. + </p> + <p> + The veil between heaven and earth was always rent or lifted. The shadows + of this world, the radiance of heaven, and the glare of hell mixed and + mingled until man became uncertain as to which country he really + inhabited. Man dwelt in an unreal world. He mistook his ideas, his dreams, + for real things. His fears became terrible and malicious monsters. He + lived in the midst of furies and fairies, nymphs and naiads, goblins and + ghosts, witches and wizards, sprites and spooks, deities and devils. The + obscure and gloomy depths were filled with claw and wing—with beak + and hoof—with leering looks and sneering mouths—with the + malice of deformity—with the cunning of hatred, and with all the + slimy forms that fear can draw and paint upon the shadowy canvas of the + dark. + </p> + <p> + It is enough to make one almost insane with pity to think what man in the + long night has suffered; of the tortures he has endured, surrounded, as he + supposed, by malignant powers and clutched by the fierce phantoms of the + air. No wonder that he fell upon his trembling knees—that he built + altars and reddened them even with his own blood. No wonder that he + implored ignorant priests and impudent magicians for aid. No wonder that + he crawled groveling in the dust to the temple's door, and there, in the + insanity of despair, besought the deaf gods to hear his bitter cry of + agony and fear. + </p> + <p> + The savage, as he emerges from a state of barbarism, gradually loses faith + in his idols of wood and stone, and in their place puts a multitude of + spirits. As he advances in knowledge, he generally discards the petty + spirits, and in their stead believes in one, whom he supposes to be + infinite and supreme. Supposing this great spirit to be superior to + nature, he offers worship or flattery in exchange for assistance. At last, + finding that he obtains no aid from this supposed deity—finding that + every search after the absolute must of necessity end in failure—finding + that man cannot by any possibility conceive of the conditionless—he + begins to investigate the facts by which he is surrounded, and to depend + upon himself The people are beginning to think, to reason and to + investigate. Slowly, painfully, but surely, the gods are being driven from + the earth. Only upon rare occasions are they, even by the most religious, + supposed to interfere in the affairs of men. In most matters we are at + last supposed to be free. Since the invention of steamships and railways, + so that the products of all countries can be easily interchanged, the gods + have quit the business of producing famine. Now and then they kill a child + because it is idolized by its parents. As a rule they have given up + causing accidents on railroads, exploding boilers, and bursting kerosene + lamps. Cholera, yellow fever, and small-pox are still considered heavenly + weapons; but measles, itch and ague are now attributed to natural causes. + As a general thing, the gods have stopped drowning children, except as a + punishment for violating the Sabbath. They still pay some attention to the + affairs of kings, men of genius and persons of great wealth; but ordinary + people are left to shirk for themselves as best they may. In wars between + great nations, the gods still interfere; but in prize fights, the best man + with an honest referee, is almost sure to win. + </p> + <p> + The church cannot abandon the idea of special providence. To give up that + doctrine is to give up all. The church must insist that prayer is answered—that + some power superior to nature hears and grants the request of the sincere + and humble Christian, and that this same power in some mysterious way + provides for all. + </p> + <p> + A devout clergyman sought every opportunity to impress upon the mind of + his son the fact, that God takes care of all his creatures; that the + falling sparrow attracts his attention, and that his loving kindness is + over all his works. Happening, one day, to see a crane wading in quest of + food, the good man pointed out to his son the perfect adaptation of the + crane to get his living in that manner. "See," said he, "how his legs are + formed for wading! What a long slender bill he has! Observe how nicely he + folds his feet when putting them in or drawing them out of the water! He + does not cause the slightest ripple. He is thus enabled to approach the + fish without giving them any notice of his arrival." "My son," said he, + "it is impossible to look at that bird without recognizing the design, as + well as the goodness of God, in thus providing the means of subsistence." + "Yes," replied the boy, "I think I see the goodness of God, at least so + far as the crane is concerned; but after all, father, don't you think the + arrangement a little tough on the fish?" + </p> + <p> + Even the advanced religionist, although disbelieving in any great amount + of interference by the gods in this age of the world, still thinks, that + in the beginning, some god made the laws governing the universe. He + believes that in consequence of these laws a man can lift a greater weight + with, than without, a lever; that this god so made matter, and so + established the order of things, that two bodies cannot occupy the same + space at the same time; so that a body once put in motion will keep moving + until it is stopped; so that it is a greater distance around, than across + a circle; so that a perfect square has four equal sides, instead of five + or seven. He insists that it took a direct interposition of providence to + make the whole greater than a part, and that had it not been for this + power superior to nature, twice one might have been more than twice two, + and sticks and strings might have had only one end apiece. Like the old + Scotch divine, he thanks God that Sunday comes at the end instead of in + the middle of the week, and that death comes at the close instead of at + the commencement of life, thereby giving us time to prepare for that holy + day and that most solemn event These religious people see nothing but + design everywhere, and personal, intelligent interference in everything. + They insist that the universe has been created, and that the adaptation of + means to ends is perfectly apparent. They point us to the sunshine, to the + flowers, to the April rain, and to all there is of beauty and of use in + the world. Did it ever occur to them that a cancer is as beautiful in its + development as is the reddest rose? That what they are pleased to call the + adaptation of means to ends, is as apparent in the cancer as in the April + rain? How beautiful the process of digestion! By what ingenious methods + the blood is poisoned so that the cancer shall have food! By what + wonderful contrivances the entire system of man is made to pay tribute to + this divine and charming cancer! See by what admirable instrumentalities + it feeds itself from the surrounding quivering, dainty flesh! See how it + gradually but surely expands and grows! By what marvelous mechanism it is + supplied with long and slender roots that reach out to the most secret + nerves of pain for sustenance and life! What beautiful colors it presents! + Seen through the microscope it is a miracle of order and beauty. All the + ingenuity of man cannot stop its growth. Think of the amount of thought it + must have required to invent a way by which the life of one man might be + given to produce one cancer? Is it possible to look upon it and doubt that + there is design in the universe, and that the inventor of this wonderful + cancer must be infinitely powerful, ingenious and good? + </p> + <p> + We are told that the universe was designed and created, and that it is + absurd to suppose that matter has existed from eternity, but that it is + perfectly self-evident that a god has. + </p> + <p> + If a god created the universe, then, there must have been a time when he + commenced to create. Back of that time there must have been an eternity, + during which there had existed nothing—absolutely nothing—except + this supposed god. According to this theory, this god spent an eternity, + so to speak, in an infinite vacuum, and in perfect idleness. + </p> + <p> + Admitting that a god did create the universe, the question then arises, of + what did he create it? It certainly was not made of nothing. Nothing, + considered in the light of a raw material, is a most decided failure. It + follows, then, that the god must have made the universe out of himself, he + being the only existence. The universe is material, and if it was made of + god, the god must have been material. With this very thought in his mind, + Anaximander of Miletus said: "Creation is the decomposition of the + infinite." + </p> + <p> + It has been demonstrated that the earth would fall to the sun, only for + the fact, that it is attracted by other worlds, and those worlds must be + attracted by other worlds still beyond them, and so on, without end. This + proves the material universe to be infinite. If an infinite universe has + been made out of an infinite god, how much of the god is left? + </p> + <p> + The idea of a creative deity is gradually being abandoned, and nearly all + truly scientific minds admit that matter must have existed from eternity. + It is indestructible, and the indestructible cannot be created. It is the + crowning glory of our century to have demonstrated the indestructibility + and the eternal persistence of force. Neither matter nor force can be + increased nor diminished. Force cannot exist apart from matter. Matter + exists only in connection with force, and consequently, a force apart from + matter, and superior to nature, is a demonstrated impossibility. + </p> + <p> + Force, then, must have also existed from eternity, and could not have been + created. Matter in its countless forms, from dead earth to the eyes of + those we love, and force, in all its manifestations, from simple motion to + the grandest thought, deny creation and defy control. + </p> + <p> + Thought is a form of force. We walk with the same force with which we + think. Man is an organism, that changes several forms of force into + thought-force. Man is a machine into which we put what we call food, and + produce what we call thought. Think of that wonderful chemistry by which + bread was changed into the divine tragedy of Hamlet! + </p> + <p> + A god must not only be material, but he must be an organism, capable of + changing other forms of force into thought-force. This is what we call + eating. Therefore, if the god thinks, he must eat, that is to say, he must + of necessity have some means of supplying the force with which to think. + It is impossible to conceive of a being who can eternally impart force to + matter, and yet have no means of supplying the force thus imparted. + </p> + <p> + If neither matter nor force were created, what evidence have we, then, of + the existence of a power superior to nature? The theologian will probably + reply, "We have law and order, cause and effect, and beside all this, + matter could not have put itself in motion." + </p> + <p> + Suppose, for the sake of the argument, that there is no being superior to + nature, and that matter and force have existed from eternity. Now suppose + that two atoms should come together, would there be an effect? Yes. + Suppose they came in exactly opposite directions with equal force, they + would be stopped, to say the least. This would be an effect. If this is + so, then you have matter, force and effect without a being superior to + nature. Now suppose that two other atoms, just like the first two, should + come together under precisely the same circumstances, would not the effect + be exactly the same? Yes. Like causes, producing like effects, is what we + mean by law and order. Then we have matter, force, effect, law and order + without a being superior to nature. Now, we know that every effect must + also be a cause, and that every cause must be an effect. The atoms coming + together did produce an effect, and as every effect must also be a cause, + the effect produced by the collision of the atoms, must as to something + else have been a cause. Then we have matter, force, law, order, cause and + effect without a being superior to-nature. Nothing is left for the + supernatural but empty space. His throne is a void, and his boasted realm + is without matter, without force without law, without cause, and without + effect. + </p> + <p> + But what put all this matter in motion? If matter and force have existed + from eternity, then matter must have always been in motion. There can be + no force without motion. Force is forever active, and there is, and there + can be no cessation. If, therefore, matter and force have existed from + eternity, so has motion. In the whole universe there is not even one atom + in a state of rest. + </p> + <p> + A deity outside of nature exists in nothing, and is nothing. Nature + embraces with infinite arms all matter and all force. That which is beyond + her grasp is destitute of both, and can hardly be worth the worship and + adoration even of a man. + </p> + <p> + There is but one way to demonstrate the existence of a power independent + of and superior to nature, and that is by breaking, if only for one + moment, the continuity of cause and effect Pluck from the endless chain of + existence one little link; stop for one instant the grand procession, and + you have shown beyond all contradiction that nature has a master. Change + the fact, just for one second, that matter attracts matter, and a god + appears. + </p> + <p> + The rudest savage has always known this fact, and for that reason always + demanded the evidence of miracle. The founder of a religion must be able + to turn water into wine—cure with a word the blind and lame, and + raise with a simple touch the dead to life. It was necessary for him to + demonstrate to the satisfaction of his barbarian disciple, that he was + superior to nature. In times of ignorance this was easy to do. The + credulity of the savage was almost boundless. To him the marvelous was the + beautiful, the mysterious was the sublime. Consequently, every religion + has for its foundation a miracle—that is to say, a violation of + nature—that is to say, a falsehood. + </p> + <p> + No one, in the world's whole history, ever attempted to substantiate a + truth by a miracle. Truth scorns the assistance of miracle. Nothing but + falsehood ever attested itself by signs and wonders. No miracle ever was + performed, and no sane man ever thought he had performed one, and until + one is performed, there can be no evidence of the existence of any power + superior to, and independent of nature. + </p> + <p> + The church wishes us to believe. Let the church, or one of its + intellectual saints, perform a miracle, and we will believe. We are told + that nature has a superior, Let this superior, for # one single instant, + control nature, and we will admit the truth of your assertions. + </p> + <p> + We have heard talk enough. We have listened to all the drowsy, idealess, + vapid sermons that we wish to hear. We have read your bible and the works + of your best minds. We have heard your prayers, your solemn groans and + your reverential amens. All these amount to less than nothing. We want one + fact. We beg at the doors of your churches for just one little fact We + pass our hats along your pews and under your pulpits and implore you for + just one fact We know all about your mouldy wonders and your stale + miracles. We want a this year's fact We ask only one. Give us one fact for + charity. Your miracles are too ancient The witnesses have been dead for + nearly two thousand years. Their reputation for "truth and veracity" in + the neighborhood where they resided is wholly unknown to us. Give us a new + miracle, and substantiate it by witnesses who still have the cheerful + habit of living in this world. Do not send us to Jericho to hear the + winding horns, nor put us in the fire with Shadrach, Meshech, and + Abednego. Do not compel us to navigate the sea with Captain Jonah, nor + dine with Mr. Ezekiel. There is no sort of use in sending us fox-hunting + with Samson. We have positively lost all interest in that little speech so + eloquently delivered by Balaam's inspired donkey. It is worse than useless + to show us fishes with money in their mouths, and call our attention to + vast multitudes stuffing themselves with five crackers and two sardines. + We demand a new miracle, and we demand it now. Let the church furnish at + least one, or forever after hold her peace. + </p> + <p> + In the olden time, the church, by violating the order of nature, proved + the existence of her God. At that time miracles were performed with the + most astonishing ease. They became so common that the church ordered her + priests to desist. And now this same church—the people having found + some little sense—admits, not only, that she cannot perform a + miracle, but insists that the absence of miracle—the steady, + unbroken march of cause and effect, proves the existence of a power + superior to nature. The fact is, however, that the indissoluble chain of + cause and effect proves exactly the contrary. + </p> + <p> + Sir William Hamilton, one of the pillars of modern theology, in discussing + this very subject, uses the following language: "The phenomena of matter + taken by themselves, so far from warranting any inference to the existence + of a god, would on the contrary ground even an argument to his negation. + The phenomena of the material world are subjected to immutable laws; are + produced and reproduced in the same invariable succession, and manifest + only the blind force of a mechanical necessity." + </p> + <p> + Nature is but an endless series of efficient causes. She cannot create, + but she eternally transforms. There was no beginning, and there can be no + end. + </p> + <p> + The best minds, even in the religious world, admit that in material nature + there is no evidence of what they are pleased to call a god. They find + their evidence in the phenomena of intelligence, and very innocently + assert that intelligence is above, and in fact, opposed to nature. They + insist that man, at least, is a special creation; that he has somewhere in + his brain a divine spark, a little portion of the "Great First Cause." + They say that matter cannot produce thought; but that thought can produce + matter. They tell us that man has intelligence, and therefore there must + be an intelligence greater than his. Why not say, God has intelligence, + therefore there must be an intelligence greater than his? So far as we + know, there is no intelligence apart from matter. We cannot conceive of + thought, except as produced within a brain. + </p> + <p> + The science, by means of which they demonstrate the existence of an + impossible intelligence, and an incomprehensible power is called, + metaphysics or theology. The theologians admit that the phenomena of + matter tend, at least, to disprove the existence of any power superior to + nature, because in such phenomena we see nothing but an endless chain of + efficient causes—nothing but the force of a mechanical necessity. + They therefore appeal to what they denominate the phenomena of mind to + establish this superior power. + </p> + <p> + The trouble is, that in the phenomena of mind we find the same endless + chain of efficient causes; the same mechanical necessity. Every thought + must have had an efficient cause. Every motive, every desire, every fear, + hope and dream must have been necessarily produced. There is no room in + the mind of man for providence or chance. The facts and forces governing + thought are as absolute as those governing the motions of the planets. A + poem is produced by the forces of nature, and is as necessarily and + naturally produced as mountains and seas. You will seek in vain for a + thought in man's brain without its efficient cause. Every mental operation + is the necessary result of certain facts and conditions. Mental phenomena + are considered more complicated than those of matter, and consequently + more mysterious. Being more mysterious, they are considered better + evidence of the existence of a god. No one infers a god from the simple, + from the known, from what is understood, but from the complex, from the + unknown, and incomprehensible. Our ignorance is God; what we know is + science. + </p> + <p> + When we abandon the doctrine that some infinite being created matter and + force, and enacted a code of laws for their government, the idea of + interference will be lost. The real priest will then be, not the + mouth-piece of some pretended deity, but the interpreter of nature. From + that moment the church ceases to exist The tapers will die out upon the + dusty altar; the moths will eat the fading velvet of pulpit and pew; the + Bible will take its place with the Shastras, Puranas, Vedas, Eddas, Sagas + and Korans, and the fetters of a degrading faith will fall from the minds + of men. + </p> + <p> + "But," says the religionist, "you cannot explain everything; you cannot + understand everything; and that which you cannot explain, that which you + do not comprehend, is my God." + </p> + <p> + We are explaining more every day. We are understanding more every day; + consequently your God is growing smaller every day. + </p> + <p> + Nothing daunted, the religionist then insists that nothing can exist + without a cause, except cause, and that this uncaused cause is God. + </p> + <p> + To this we again reply: Every cause must produce an effect, because until + it does produce an effect, it is not a cause. Every effect must in its + turn become a cause. Therefore, in the nature of things, there cannot be a + last cause, for the reason that a so-called last cause would necessarily + produce an effect, and that effect must of necessity become a cause. The + converse of these propositions must be true. Every effect must have had a + cause, and every cause must have been an effect. Therefore, there could + have been no first cause. A first cause is just as impossible as a last + effect Beyond the universe there is nothing, and within the universe the + supernatural does not and cannot exist The moment these great truths are + understood and admitted, a belief in general or special providence becomes + impossible. From that instant men will cease their vain efforts to please + an imaginary being, and will give their time and attention to the affairs + of this world. They will abandon the idea of attaining any object by + prayer and supplication. The element of uncertainty will, in a great + measure, be removed from the domain of the future, and man, gathering + courage from a succession of victories over the obstructions of nature, + will attain a serene grandeur unknown to the disciples of any + superstition. The plans of mankind will no longer be interfered with by + the finger of a supposed omnipotence, and no one will believe that nations + or individuals are protected or destroyed by any deity whatever. Science, + freed from the chains of pious custom and evangelical prejudice, will, + within her sphere, be supreme. The mind will investigate without + reverence, and publish its conclusions without fear. Agassiz will no + longer hesitate to declare the Mosaic cosmogony utterly inconsistent with + the demonstrated truths of geology, and will cease pretending any + reverence for the Jewish scriptures. The moment science succeeds in + rendering the church powerless for evil, the real thinkers will be + outspoken. The little flags of truce carried by timid philosophers will + disappear, and the cowardly parley will give place to victory—lasting + and universal. + </p> + <p> + If we admit that some infinite being has controlled the destinies of + persons and peoples, history becomes a most cruel and bloody farce. Age + after age, the strong have trampled upon the weak; the crafty and + heartless have ensnared and enslaved the simple and innocent, and nowhere, + in all the annals of mankind, has any god succored the oppressed. + </p> + <p> + Man should cease to expect aid from on high. By this time he should know + that heaven has no ear to hear, and no hand to help. The present is the + necessary child of all the past. There has been no chance, and there can + be no interference. + </p> + <p> + If abuses are destroyed, man must destroy them. If slaves are freed, man + must free them. If new truths are discovered, man must discover them. If + the naked are clothed; if the hungry are fed; if justice is done; if labor + is rewarded; if superstition is driven from the mind; if the defenseless + are protected, and if the right finally triumphs, all must be the work of + man. The grand victories of the future must be won by man, and by man + alone. + </p> + <p> + Nature, so far as we can discern, without passion and without intention, + forms, transforms, and retransforms forever. She neither weeps nor + rejoices. She produces man without purpose, and obliterates him without + regret. She knows no distinction between the beneficial and the hurtful. + Poison and nutrition, pain and joy, life and death, smiles and tears are + alike to her. She is neither merciful nor cruel. She cannot be flattered + by worship nor melted by tears. She does not know even the attitude of + prayer. She appreciates no difference between poison in the fangs of + snakes and mercy in the hearts of men. Only through man does nature take + cognizance of the good, the true, and the beautiful; and, so far as we + know, man is the highest intelligence. And yet man continues to believe + that there is some power independent of and superior to nature, and still + endeavors, by form, ceremony, supplication, hypocrisy and sacrifice, to + obtain its aid. His best energies have been wasted in the service of this + phantom. The horrors of witchcraft were all born of an ignorant belief in + the existence of a totally depraved being superior to nature, acting in + perfect independence of her laws; and all religious superstition has had + for its basis a belief in at least two beings, one good and the other bad, + both of whom could arbitrarily change the order of the universe. The + history of religion is simply the story of man's efforts in all ages to + avoid one of these powers, and to pacify the other. Both powers have + inspired little else than, abject fear. The cold, calculating sneer of the + devil, and the frown of, God, were equally terrible. In any event, man's + fate was to be arbitrarily fixed forever by an unknown power superior to + all law, and to all fact. Until this belief is thrown aside, man must + consider himself the slave of phantom masters—neither of whom + promise liberty in this world nor in the next. + </p> + <p> + Man must learn to rely upon himself. Reading bibles will not protect him + from the blasts of winter, but houses, fires, and clothing will. To + prevent famine, one plow is worth a million sermons, and even patent + medicines will cure more diseases than all the prayers uttered since the + beginning of the world. + </p> + <p> + Although many eminent men have endeavored to harmonize necessity and free + will, the existence of evil, and the infinite power and goodness of God, + they have succeeded only in producing learned and ingenious failures. + Immense efforts have been made to reconcile ideas utterly inconsistent + with the facts by which we are surrounded, and all persons who have failed + to perceive the pretended reconciliation, have been denounced as infidels, + atheists and scoffers. The whole power of the church has been brought to + bear against philosophers and scientists in order to compel a denial of + the authority of demonstration, and to induce some Judas to betray Reason, + one of the saviors of mankind. + </p> + <p> + During that frightful period known as the "Dark Ages" Faith reigned, with + scarcely a rebellious subject. Her temples were "carpeted with knees," and + the wealth of nations adorned her countless shrines. The great painters + prostituted their genius to immortalize her vagaries, while the poets + enshrined them in song. At her bidding, man covered the earth with blood. + The scales of Justice were turned with her gold, and for her use were + invented all the cunning instruments of pain. She built cathedrals for + God, and dungeons for men. She peopled the clouds with angels and the + earth with slaves. For centuries the world was retracing its steps—going + steadily back towards barbaric night! A few infidels—a few heretics + cried, "Halt!" to the great rabble of ignorant devotion, and made it + possible for the genius of the nineteenth century to revolutionize the + cruel creeds and superstitions of mankind. + </p> + <p> + The thoughts of man, in order to be of any real worth, must be free. Under + the influence of fear the brain is paralyzed, and instead of bravely + solving a problem for itself, tremblingly adopts the solution of another. + As long as a majority of men will cringe to the very earth before some + petty prince or king, what must be the infinite abjectness of their little + souls in the presence of their supposed creator and God? Under such + circumstances, what can their thoughts be worth? + </p> + <p> + The originality of repetition, and the mental vigor of acquiescence, are + all that we have any right to expect from the Christian world. As long as + every question is answered by the word "god," scientific inquiry is simply + impossible. As fast as phenomena are satisfactorily explained the domain + of the power, supposed to be superior to nature must decrease, while the + horizon of the known must as constantly continue to enlarge. + </p> + <p> + It is no longer satisfactory to account for the fall and rise of nations + by saying, "It is the will of God." Such an explanation puts ignorance and + education upon an exact equality, and does away with the idea of really + accounting for anything whatever. + </p> + <p> + Will the religionist pretend that the real end of science is to ascertain + how and why God acts? Science, from such a standpoint would consist in + investigating the law of arbitrary action, and in a grand endeavor to + ascertain the rules necessarily obeyed by infinite caprice. + </p> + <p> + From a philosophical point of view, science is knowledge of the laws of + life; of the conditions of happiness; of the facts by which we are + surrounded, and the relations we sustain to men and things—by means + of which, man, so to speak, subjugates nature and bends the elemental + powers to his will, making blind force the servant of his brain. + </p> + <p> + A belief in special providence does away with the spirit of investigation, + and is inconsistent with personal effort Why should man endeavor to thwart + the designs of God? Which of your by taking thought, can add one cubit to + his stature? Under the influence of this belief, man, basking in the + sunshine of a delusion, considers the lilies of the field and refuses to + take any-thought for the morrow. Believing himself in the power of an + infinite being, who can, at any moment, dash him to the lowest hell or + raise him to the highest heaven, he necessarily abandons the idea of + accomplishing anything by his own efforts. As long as this belief was + general, the world was filled with ignorance, superstition and misery. The + energies of man were wasted in a vain effort to obtain the aid of this + power, supposed to be superior to nature. For countless ages, even men + were sacrificed upon the altar of this impossible god. To please him, + mothers have shed the blood of their own babes; martyrs have chanted + triumphant songs in the midst of flame; priests have gorged themselves + with blood; nuns have forsworn the ecstacies of love; old men have + tremblingly implored; women have sobbed and entreated; every pain has been + endured, and every horror has been perpetrated. Through the dim long years + that have fled, humanity has suffered more than can be conceived Most of + the misery has been endured by the weak, the loving and the innocent Women + have been treated like poisonous beasts, and little children trampled upon + as though they had been vermin. Numberless altars have been reddened, even + with the blood of babes; beautiful girls have been given to slimy + serpents; whole races of men doomed to centuries of slavery, and + everywhere there has been outrage beyond the power of genius to express. + During all these years the suffering have supplicated; the withered lips + of famine have prayed; the pale victims have implored, and Heaven has been + deaf and blind. + </p> + <p> + Of what use have the gods been to man? + </p> + <p> + It is no answer to say that some god created the world, established + certain laws, and then turned his attention to other matters, leaving his + children weak, ignorant and unaided, to fight the battle of life alone. It + is no solution to declare that in some other world this god will render a + few, or even all, his subjects happy. What right have we to expect that a + perfectly wise, good and powerful being will ever do better than he has + done, and is doing? The world is filled with imperfections. If it was made + by an infinite being, what reason have we for saying that he will render + it nearer perfect than it now is? If the infinite "Father" allows a + majority of his children to live in ignorance and wretchedness now, what + evidence is there that he will ever improve their condition? Will God have + more power? Will he become more merciful? Will his love for his poor + creatures increase? Can the conduct of infinite wisdom, power and love + ever change? Is the infinite capable of any improvement whatever? + </p> + <p> + We are informed by the clergy that this world is a kind of school; that + the evils by which we are surrounded are for the purpose of developing our + souls, and that only by suffering can men become pure, strong, virtuous + and grand. + </p> + <p> + Supposing this to be true, what is to become of those who die in infancy? + The little children, according to this philosophy, can never be developed. + They were so unfortunate as to escape the ennobling influences of pain and + misery, and as a consequence, are doomed to an eternity of mental + inferiority. If the clergy are right on this question, none are so + unfortunate as the happy, and we should envy only the suffering and + distressed. If evil is necessary to the development of man, in this life, + how is it possible for the soul to improve in the perfect joy of paradise? + </p> + <p> + Since Paley found his watch, the argument of "design" has been relied upon + as unanswerable. The Church teaches that this world, and all that it + contains, were created substantially as we now see them; that the grasses, + the flowers, the trees, and all animals, including man, were special + creations, and that they sustain no necessary relation to each other. The + most orthodox will admit that some earth has been washed into the sea; + that the sea has encroached a little upon the land, and that some + mountains may be a trifle lower than in the morning of creation. The + theory of gradual development was unknown to our fathers; the idea of + evolution did not occur to them. Our fathers looked upon the then + arrangement of things as the primal arrangement The earth appeared to them + fresh from the hands of a deity. They knew nothing of the slow evolutions + of countless years, but supposed that the almost infinite variety of + vegetable and animal forms had existed from the first. Suppose that upon + some island we should find a man a million years of age, and suppose that + we should find him in the possession of a most beautiful carriage, + constructed upon the most perfect model. And suppose, further, that he + should tell us that it was the result of several hundred thousand years of + labor and of thought; that for fifty thousand years he used as flat a log + as he could find, before it occurred to him, that by splitting the log, he + could have the same surface with only half the weight; that it took him + many thousand years to invent wheels for this log; that the wheels he + first used were solid, and that fifty thousand years of thought suggested + the use of spokes and tire; that for many centuries he used the wheels + without linch-pins; that it took a hundred thousand years more to think of + using four wheels, instead of two; that for ages he walked behind the + carriage, when going down hill, in order to hold it back, and that only by + a lucky chance he invented the tongue; would we conclude that this man, + from the very first, had been an infinitely ingenious and perfect + mechanic? Suppose we found him living in an elegant mansion, and he should + inform us that he lived in that house for five hundred thousand years + before he thought of putting on a roof, and that he had but recently + invented windows and doors; would we say that from the beginning he had + been an infinitely accomplished and scientific architect? + </p> + <p> + Does not an improvement in the things created, show a corresponding + improvement in the creator? + </p> + <p> + Would an infinitely wise, good and powerful God, intending to produce man, + commence with the lowest possible forms of life; with the simplest + organism that can be imagined, and during immeasurable periods of time, + slowly and almost imperceptibly improve upon the rude beginning, until man + was evolved? Would countless ages thus be wasted in the production of + awkward forms, afterwards abandoned? Can the intelligence of man discover + the least wisdom in covering the earth with crawling, creeping horrors, + that live only upon the agonies and pangs of others? Can we see the + propriety of so constructing the earth, that only an insignificant portion + of its surface is capable of producing an intelligent man? Who can + appreciate the mercy of so making the world that all animals devour + animals; so that every mouth is a slaughterhouse, and every stomach a + tomb? Is it possible to discover infinite intelligence and love in + universal and eternal carnage? + </p> + <p> + What would we think of a father, who should give a farm to his children, + and before giving them possession should plant upon it thousands of deadly + shrubs and vines; should stock it with ferocious beasts, and poisonous + reptiles; should take pains to put a few swamps in the neighborhood to + breed malaria; should so arrange matters, that the ground would + occasionally open and swallow a few of his darlings, and besides all this, + should establish a few volcanoes in the immediate vicinity, that might at + any moment overwhelm his children with rivers of fire? Suppose that this + father neglected to tell his children which of the plants were deadly; + that the reptiles were poisonous; failed to say anything about the + earthquakes, and kept the volcano business a profound secret; would we + pronounce him angel or fiend? + </p> + <p> + And yet this is exactly what the orthodox God has done. + </p> + <p> + According to the theologians, God prepared this globe expressly for the + habitation of his loved children, and yet he filled the forests with + ferocious beasts; placed serpents in every path; stuffed the world with + earthquakes, and adorned its surface with mountains of flame. + </p> + <p> + Notwithstanding all this, we are told that the world is perfect; that it + was created by a perfect being, and is therefore necessarily perfect. The + next moment, these same persons will tell us that the world was cursed; + covered with brambles, thistles and thorns, and that man was doomed to + disease and death, simply because our poor, dear mother ate an apple + contrary to the command of an arbitrary God. + </p> + <p> + A very pious friend of mine, having heard that I had said the world was + full of imperfections, asked me if the report was true. Upon being + informed that it was, he expressed great surprise that any one could be + guilty of such presumption. He said that, in his judgment, it was + impossible to point out an imperfection. "Be kind enough," said he, "to + name even one improvement that you could make, if you had the power." + "Well," said I, "I would make good health catching, instead of disease." + The truth is, it is impossible to harmonize all the ills, and pains, and + agonies of this world with the idea that we were created by, and are + watched over and protected by an infinitely wise, powerful and beneficent + God, who is superior to and independent of nature. + </p> + <p> + The clergy, however, balance all the real ills of this life with the + expected joys of the next We are assured that all is perfection in heaven—there + the skies are cloudless—there all is serenity and peace. Here + empires may be overthrown; dynasties may be extinguished in blood; + millions of slaves may toil 'neath the fierce rays of the sun, and the + cruel strokes of the lash; yet all is happiness in heaven. Pestilences may + strew the earth with corpses of the loved; the survivors may bend above + them in agony—yet the placid bosom of heaven is unruffled. Children + may expire vainly asking for bread; babes may be devoured by serpents, + while the gods sit smiling in the clouds. The innocent may languish unto + death in the obscurity of dungeons; brave men and heroic women may be + changed to ashes at the bigot's stake, while heaven is filled with song + and joy. Out on the wide sea, in darkness and in storm, the shipwrecked + struggle with the cruel waves while the angels play upon their golden + harps. The streets of the world are filled with the diseased, the deformed + and the helpless; the chambers of pain are crowded with the pale forms of + the suffering, while the angels float and fly in the happy realms of day. + In heaven they are too happy to have sympathy; too busy singing to aid the + imploring and distressed. Their eyes are blinded; their ears are stopped + and their hearts are turned to stone by the infinite selfishness of joy. + The saved mariner is too happy when he touches the shore to give a + moment's thought to his drowning brothers. With the indifference of + happiness, with the contempt of bliss, heaven barely glances at the + miseries of earth. Cities are devoured by the rushing lava; the earth + opens and thousands perish; women raise their clasped hands towards + heaven, but the gods are too happy to aid their children. The smiles of + the deities are unacquainted with the tears of men. The shouts of heaven + drown the sobs of earth. + </p> + <p> + Having shown how man created gods, and how he became the trembling slave + of his own creation, the questions naturally arise: How did he free + himself even a little, from these monarchs of the sky, from these despots + of the clouds, from this aristocracy of the air? How did he, even to the + extent that he has, outgrow his ignorant, abject terror, and throw off the + yoke of superstition? + </p> + <p> + Probably, the first thing that tended to disabuse his mind was the + discovery of order, of regularity, of periodicity in the universe. From + this he began to suspect that everything did not happen purely with + reference to him. He noticed, that whatever he might do, the motions of + the planets were always the same; that eclipses were periodical, and that + even comets came at certain intervals. This convinced him that eclipses + and comets had nothing to do with him, and that his conduct had nothing to + do with them. He perceived that they were not caused for his benefit or + injury. He thus learned to regard them with admiration instead of fear. He + began to suspect that famine was not sent by some enraged and revengeful + deity, but resulted often from the neglect and ignorance of man. He + learned that diseases were not produced by evil spirits. He found that + sickness was occasioned by natural causes, and could be cured by natural + means. He demonstrated, to his own satisfaction at least, that prayer is + not a medicine. He found by sad experience that his gods were of no + practical use, as they never assisted him, except when he was perfectly + able to help himself. At last, he began to discover that his individual + action had nothing whatever to do with strange appearances in the heavens; + that it was impossible for him to be bad enough to cause a whirlwind, or + good enough to stop one. After many centuries of thought, he about half + concluded that making mouths at a priest would not necessarily cause an + earthquake. He noticed, and no doubt with considerable astonishment, that + very good men were occasionally struck by lightning, while very bad ones + escaped. He was frequently forced to the painful conclusion (and it is the + most painful to which any human being ever was forced) that the right did + not always prevail. He noticed that the gods did not interfere in behalf + of the weak and innocent. He was now and then astonished by seeing an + unbeliever in the enjoyment of most excellent health. He finally + ascertained that, there could be no possible connection between an + unusually severe winter and his failure to give a sheep to a priest. He + began to suspect that the order of the universe was not constantly being + changed to assist him because he repeated a creed. He observed that some + children would steal after having been regularly baptized. He noticed a + vast difference between religion and justice, and that the worshipers of + the same God, took delight in cutting each other's throats. He saw that + these religious disputes filled the world with hatred and slavery. At last + he had the courage to suspect, that no God at any time interferes with the + order of events. He learned a few facts, and these facts positively + refused to harmonize with the ignorant superstitions of his fathers. + Finding his sacred books incorrect and false in some particulars, his + faith in their authenticity began to be shaken; finding his priests + ignorant upon some points, he began to lose respect for the cloth. This + was the commencement of intellectual freedom. + </p> + <p> + The civilization of man has increased just to the same extent that + religious power has decreased. The intellectual advancement of man depends + upon how often he can exchange an old superstition for a new truth. The + Church never enabled a human being to make even one of these exchanges; on + the contrary, all her power has been used to prevent them. In spite, + however, of the Church, man found that some of his religious conceptions + were wrong. By reading his bible, he found that the ideas of his God were + more cruel and brutal than those of the most depraved savage. He also + discovered that this holy book was filled with ignorance, and that it must + have been written by persons wholly unacquainted with the nature of the + phenomena by which we are surrounded; and now and then, some man had the + goodness and courage to speak his honest thoughts. In every age some + thinker, some doubter, some investigator, some hater of hypocrisy, some + despiser of sham, some brave lover of the right, has gladly, proudly and + heroically braved the ignorant fury of superstition for the sake of man + and truth. These divine men were generally torn in pieces by the + worshipers of the gods. Socrates was poisoned because he lacked reverence + for some of the deities. Christ was crucified by a religious rabble for + the crime of blasphemy. Nothing is more gratifying to a religionist than + to destroy his enemies at the command of God. Religious persecution + springs from a due admixture of love towards God and hatred towards man. + </p> + <p> + The terrible religious wars that inundated the world with blood tended at + least to bring all religion into disgrace and hatred. Thoughtful people + began to question the divine origin of a religion that made its believers + hold the rights of others in absolute contempt. A few began to compare + Christianity with the religions of heathen people, and were forced to + admit that the difference was hardly worth dying for. They also found that + other nations were even happier and more prosperous than their own. They + began to suspect that their religion, after all, was not of much real + value. + </p> + <p> + For three hundred years the Christian world endeavored to rescue from the + "Infidel" the empty sepulchre of Christ For three hundred years the armies + of the cross were baffled and beaten by the victorious hosts of an + impudent impostor. This immense fact sowed the seeds of distrust + throughout all Christendom, and millions began to lose confidence in a God + who had been vanquished by-Mohammed. The people also found that commerce + made friends where religion made enemies, and that religious zeal was + utterly incompatible with peace between nations or individuals. They + discovered that those who loved the gods most were apt to love men least; + that the arrogance of universal forgiveness was amazing; that the most + malicious had the effrontery to pray for their enemies, and that humility + and tyranny were the fruit of the same tree. For ages, a deadly conflict + has been waged between a few brave men and women of thought and genius + upon the one side, and the great ignorant religious mass on the other. + This is the war between Science and Faith. The few have appealed to + reason, to honor, to law, to freedom to the known, and to happiness here + in this world. The many have appealed to prejudice, to fear, to miracle, + to slavery, to the unknown, and to misery hereafter. The few have said, + "Think!" The many have said, "Believe!" + </p> + <p> + The first doubt was the womb and cradle of progress, and from the first + doubt, man has continued to advance. Men began to investigate, and the + church began to oppose. The astronomer scanned the heavens, while the + church branded his grand forehead with the word, "Infidel;" and now, not a + glittering star in all the vast expanse bears a Christian name. In spite + of all religion, the geologist penetrated the earth, read her history in + books of stone, and found, hidden within her bosom, souvenirs of all the + ages. Old ideas perished in the retort of the chemist, and useful truths + took their places. One by one religious conceptions have been placed in + the crucible of science, and thus far, nothing but dross has been found. A + new world has been discovered by the microscope; everywhere has been found + the infinite; in every direction man has investigated and explored, and + nowhere, in earth or stars, has been found the footstep of any being + superior to or independent of nature. Nowhere has been discovered the + slightest evidence of any interference from without. + </p> + <p> + These are the sublime truths that enabled man to throw off the yoke of + superstition. These are the splendid facts that snatched the sceptre of + authority from the hands of priests. + </p> + <p> + In that vast cemetery, called the past, are most of the religions of men, + and there, too, are nearly all their gods. The sacred temples of India + were ruins long ago. Over column and cornice; over the painted and + pictured walls, cling and creep the trailing vines. Brahma, the golden, + with four heads and four arms; Vishnu, the sombre, the punisher of the + wicked, with his three eyes, his crescent, and his necklace of skulls; + Siva, the destroyer, red with seas of blood; Kali, the goddess; Draupadi, + the white-armed, and Chrishna, the Christ, all passed away and left the + thrones of heaven desolate. Along the banks of the sacred Nile, Isis no + longer wandering weeps, searching for the dead Osiris. The shadow of + Typhon's scowl falls no more upon the waves. The sun rises as of yore, and + his golden beams still smite the lips of Memnon, but Mem-non is as + voiceless as the Sphinx. The sacred fanes are lost in desert sands; the + dusty mummies are still waiting for the resurrection promised by their + priests, and the old beliefs, wrought in curiously sculptured stone, sleep + in the mystery of a language lost and dead. Odin, the author of life and + soul, Vili and Ve, and the mighty giant Ymir, strode long ago from the icy + halls of the North; and Thor, with iron glove and glittering hammer, + dashes mountains to the earth no more. Broken are the circles and + cromlechs of the ancient Druids; fallen upon the summits of the hills, and + covered with the centuries' moss, are the sacred cairns. The divine fires + of Persia and of the Aztecs, have died out in the ashes of the past, and + there is none to rekindle, and none to feed the holy flames. The harp of + Orpheus is still; the drained cup of Bacchus has been thrown aside; Venus + lies dead in stone, and her white bosom heaves no more with love. The + streams still murmur, but no naiads bathe; the trees still wave, but in + the forest aisles no dryads dance. The gods have flown from high Olympus. + Not even the beautiful women can lure them back, and Danse lies unnoticed, + naked to the stars. Hushed forever are the thunders of Sinai; lost are the + voices of the prophets, and the land once flowing with milk and honey, is + but a desert waste. One by one, the myths have faded from the clouds; one + by one, the phantom host has disappeared, and one by one, facts, truths + and realities have taken their places. The supernatural has almost gone, + but the natural remains. The gods have fled, but man is here. + </p> + <p> + Nations, like individuals, have their periods of youth, of manhood and + decay. Religions are the same. The same inexorable destiny awaits them + all. The gods created by the nations must perish with their creators. They + were created by men, and like men, they must pass away. The deities of one + age are the by-words of the next. The religion of our day, and country, is + no more exempt from the sneer of the future than the others have been. + When India was supreme, Brahma sat upon the world's throne. When the + sceptre passed to Egypt, Isis and Osiris received the homage of mankind. + Greece, with her fierce valor, swept to empire, and Zeus put on the purple + of authority. The earth trembled with the tread of Rome's intrepid sons, + and Jove grasped with mailed hand the thunderbolts of heaven. Rome fell, + and Christians from her territory, with the red sword of war, carved out + the ruling nations of the world, and now Christ sits upon the old throne. + Who will be his successor? + </p> + <p> + Day by day, religious conceptions grow less and less intense. Day by day, + the old spirit dies out of book and creed. The burning enthusiasm, the + quenchless zeal of the early church have gone, never, never to return. The + ceremonies remain, but the ancient faith is fading out of the human heart. + The worn-out arguments fail to convince, and denunciations that once + blanched the faces of a race, excite in us only derision and disgust. As + time rolls on, the miracles grow mean and small, and the evidences our + fathers thought conclusive utterly fail to satisfy us. There is an + "irrepressible conflict" between religion and science, and they cannot + peaceably occupy the same brain nor the same world. + </p> + <p> + While utterly discarding all creeds, and denying the truth of all + religions, there is neither in my heart nor upon my lips a sneer for the + hopeful, loving and tender souls who believe that from all this discord + will result a perfect harmony; that every evil will in some mysterious way + become a good, and that above and over all there is a being who, in some + way, will reclaim and glorify every one of the children of men; but for + those who heartlessly try to prove that salvation is almost impossible; + that damnation is almost certain; that the highway of the universe leads + to hell; who fill life with fear and death with horror; who curse the + cradle and mock the tomb, it is impossible to entertain other than + feelings of pity, contempt and scorn. + </p> + <p> + Reason, Observation and Experience—the Holy Trinity of Science—have + taught us that happiness is the only good; that the time to be happy is + now, and the way to be happy is to make others so. This is enough for us. + In this belief we are content to live and die. If by any possibility the + existence of a power superior to, and independent of, nature shall be + demonstrated, there will then be time enough to kneel. Until then, let us + stand erect. + </p> + <p> + Notwithstanding the fact that infidels in all ages have battled for the + rights of man, and have at all times been the fearless advocates of + liberty and justice, we are constantly charged by the Church with tearing + down without building again. The Church should by this time know that it + is utterly impossible to rob men of their opinions. The history of + religious persecution fully establishes the fact that the mind necessarily + resists and defies every attempt to control it by violence. The mind + necessarily clings to old ideas until prepared for the new. The moment we + comprehend the truth, all erroneous ideas are of necessity cast aside. + </p> + <p> + A surgeon once called upon a poor cripple and kindly offered to render him + any assistance in his power. The surgeon began to discourse very learnedly + upon the nature and origin of disease; of the curative properties of + certain medicines; of the advantages of exercise, air and light, and of + the various ways in which health and strength could be restored. These + remarks were so full of good sense, and discovered so much profound + thought and accurate knowledge, that the cripple, becoming thoroughly + alarmed, cried out, "Do not, I pray you, take away my crutches. They are + my only support, and without them I should be miserable indeed!" "I am not + going," said the surgeon, "to take away your crutches. I am going to cure + you, and then you will throw the crutches away yourself." + </p> + <p> + For the vagaries of the clouds the infidels propose to substitute the + realities of earth; for superstition, the splendid demonstrations and + achievements of science; and for theological tyranny, the chainless + liberty of thought. + </p> + <p> + We do not say that we have discovered all; that our doctrines are the all + in all of truth. We know of no end to the development of man. We cannot + unravel the infinite complications of matter and force. The history of one + monad is as unknown as that of the universe; one drop of water is as + wonderful as all the seas; one leaf, as all the forests; and one grain of + sand, as all the stars. + </p> + <p> + We are not endeavoring to chain the future, but to free the present. We + are not forging fetters for our children, but we are breaking those our + fathers made for us. We are the advocates of inquiry, of investigation and + thought. This of itself, is an admission that we are not perfectly + satisfied with all our conclusions. Philosophy has not the egotism of + faith. While superstition builds walls and creates obstructions, science + opens all the highways of thought. We do not pretend to have + circumnavigated everything, and to have solved all difficulties, but we do + believe that it is better to love men than to fear gods; that it is + grander and nobler to think and investigate for yourself than to repeat a + creed. We are satisfied that there can be but little liberty on earth + while men worship a tyrant in heaven. We do not expect to accomplish + everything in our day; but we want to do what good we can, and to render + all the service possible in the holy cause of human progress. We know that + doing away with gods and supernatural persons and powers is not an end. It + is a means to an end: the real end being the happiness of man. + </p> + <p> + Felling forests is not the end of agriculture. Driving pirates from the + sea is not all there is of commerce. + </p> + <p> + We are laying the foundations of the grand temple of the future—not + the temple of all the gods, but of all the people—wherein, with + appropriate rites, will be celebrated the religion of Humanity. We are + doing what little we can to hasten the coming of the day when society + shall cease producing millionaires and mendicants—gorged indolence + and famished industry—truth in rags, and superstition robed and + crowned. We are looking for the time when the useful shall be the + honorable; and when Reason, throned upon the world's brain, shall be the + King of Kings, and God of Gods. + </p> + <div style="height: 6em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gods, by Robert G. 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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: The Gods + From 'The Gods and Other Lectures' + +Author: Robert G. Ingersoll + +Release Date: November 22, 2011 [EBook #38107] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE GODS *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger + + + + + + +THE GODS + +By Robert G. Ingersoll + + +Give Me The Storm And Tempest Of Thought And Action, Rather Than The +Dead Calm Of Ignorance And Faith. Banish Me From Eden When You Will; But +First Let Me Eat Of The Fruit Of The Tree Of Knowledge. + +1878. + + +TO + +EVA A. INGERSOLL + +MY WIFE, + +A WOMAN WITHOUT SUPERSTITION, THIS VOLUME + +IS DEDICATED. + + + + +THE GODS + +AN HONEST GOD IS THE NOBLEST WORK OF MAN. + +EACH nation has created a god, and the god has always resembled his +creators. He hated and loved what they hated and loved, and he was +invariably found on the side of those in power. Each god was intensely +patriotic, and detested all nations but his own. All these gods demanded +praise, flattery, worship. Most of them were pleased with sacrifice, and +the smell of innocent blood has ever been considered a divine perfume. +All these gods have insisted upon having a vast number of priests, and +the priests have always insisted upon being supported by the people, and +the principal business of these priests has been to boast about their +god, and to insist that he could easily vanquish all the other gods put +together. + +These gods have been manufactured after numberless models, and according +to the most grotesque fashions. Some have a thousand arms, some a +hundred heads, some are adorned with necklaces of living snakes, some +are armed with clubs, some with sword and shield, some with bucklers, +and some have wings as a cherub; some were invisible, some would show +themselves entire, and some would only show their backs; some were +jealous, some were foolish, some turned themselves into men, some into +swans, some into bulls, some into doves, and some into Holy Ghosts, and +made love to the beautiful daughters of men. Some were married--all +ought to have been--and some were considered as old bachelors from all +eternity. Some had children, and the children were turned into gods and +worshiped as their fathers had been. Most of these gods were revengeful, +savage, lustful, and ignorant. As they generally depended upon +their priests for information, their ignorance can hardly excite our +astonishment. + +These gods did not even know the shape of the worlds they had created, +but supposed them perfectly flat Some thought the day could be +lengthened by stopping the sun, that the blowing of horns could throw +down the walls of a city, and all knew so little of the real nature +of the people they had created, that they commanded the people to love +them. Some were so ignorant as to suppose that man could believe just +as he might desire, or as they might command, and that to be governed +by observation, reason, and experience was a most foul and damning sin. +None of these gods could give a true account of the creation of this +little earth. All were wofully deficient in geology and astronomy. As a +rule, they were most miserable legislators, and as executives, they were +far inferior to the average of American presidents. + +These deities have demanded the most abject and degrading obedience. In +order to please them, man must lay his very face in the dust. Of course, +they have always been partial to the people who created them, and have +generally shown their partiality by assisting those people to rob and +destroy others, and to ravish their wives and daughters. + +Nothing is so pleasing to these gods as the butchery of unbelievers. +Nothing so enrages them, even now, as to have some one deny their +existence. + +Few nations have been so poor as to have but one god. Gods were made +so easily, and the raw material cost so little, that generally the god +market was fairly glutted, and heaven crammed with these phantoms. These +gods not only attended to the skies, but were supposed to interfere in +all the affairs of men. They presided over everybody and everything. +They attended to every department. All was supposed to be under their +immediate control. Nothing was too small--nothing too large; the +falling of sparrows and the motions of the planets were alike attended +to by these industrious and observing deities. From their starry +thrones they frequently came to the earth for the purpose of imparting +information to man. It is related of one that he came amid thunderings +and lightnings in order to tell the people that they should not cook a +kid in its mother's milk. Some left their shining abodes to tell women +that they should, or should not, have children, to inform a priest +how to cut and wear his apron, and to give directions as to the proper +manner of cleaning the intestines of a bird. + +When the people failed to worship one of these gods, or failed to feed +and clothe his priests, (which was much the same thing,) he generally +visited them with pestilence and famine. Sometimes he allowed some other +nation to drag them into slavery--to sell their wives and children; but +generally he glutted his vengeance by murdering their first-born. +The priests always did their whole duty, not only in predicting these +calamities, but in proving, when they did happen, that they were brought +upon the people because they had not given quite enough to them. + +These gods differed just as the nations differed; the greatest and most +powerful had the most powerful gods, while the weaker ones were obliged +to content themselves with the very off-scourings of the heavens. Each +of these gods promised happiness here and hereafter to all his slaves, +and threatened to eternally punish all who either disbelieved in his +existence or suspected that some other god might be his superior; but to +deny the existence of all gods was, and is, the crime of crimes. Redden +your hands with human blood; blast by slander the fair fame of the +innocent; strangle the smiling child upon its mother's knees; deceive, +ruin and desert the beautiful girl who loves and trusts you, and +your case is not hopeless. For all this, and for all these you may +be forgiven. For all this, and for all these, that bankrupt court +established by the gospel, will give you a discharge; but deny the +existence of these divine ghosts, of these gods, and the sweet and +tearful face of Mercy becomes livid with eternal hate. Heaven's golden +gates are shut, and you, with an infinite curse ringing in your +ears, with the brand of infamy upon your brow, commence your endless +wanderings in the lurid gloom of hell--an immortal vagrant--an eternal +outcast--a deathless convict. + +One of these gods, and one who demands our love, our admiration and +our worship, and one who is worshiped, if mere heartless ceremony is +worship, gave to his chosen people for their guidance, the following +laws of war: "When thou comest nigh unto a city to fight against it, +_then proclaim peace unto it_. And it shall be if it make thee answer, +of peace, and open unto thee, then it shall be that all the people that +is found therein shall be tributaries unto thee, and they shall serve +thee. And if it will make no peace with thee, but will make war against +thee, then thou shalt besiege it. + +"And when the Lord thy God hath delivered it into thy hands, thou shalt +smite every male thereof with the edge of the sword. But the women and +the little ones, and the cattle, and all that is in the city, even all +the spoil thereof, shalt thou take unto thyself, and thou shalt eat +the spoil of thine enemies which the Lord thy God hath given thee. Thus +shalt thou do unto all the cities which are very far off from thee, +which are not of the cities of these nations. But of the cities of these +people which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, _thou +shalt save alive nothing that breatheth?_" + +Is it possible for man to conceive of anything more perfectly infamous? +Can you believe that such directions were given by any being except an +infinite fiend? Remember that the army receiving these instructions +was one of invasion. Peace was offered upon condition that the people +submitting should be the slaves of the invader; but if any should have +the courage to defend their homes, to fight for the love of wife and +child, then the sword was to spare none--not even the prattling, dimpled +babe. + +And we are called upon to worship such a god; to get upon our knees and +tell him that he is good, that he is merciful, that he is just, that he +is love. We are asked to stifle every noble sentiment of the soul, and +to trample under foot all the sweet charities of the heart Because we +refuse to stultify ourselves--refuse to become liars--we are denounced, +hated, traduced and ostracized here, and this same god threatens to +torment us in eternal fire the moment death allows him to fiercely +clutch our naked helpless souls. Let the people hate, let the god +threaten--we will educate them, and we will despise and defy him. + +The book, called the bible, is filled with passages equally horrible, +unjust and atrocious. This is the book to be read in schools in order +to make our children loving, kind and gentle! This is the book to +be recognized in our Constitution as the source of all authority and +justice! + +Strange! that no one has ever been persecuted by the church for +believing God bad, while hundreds of millions have been destroyed +for thinking him good. The orthodox church never will forgive the +Universalist for saying "God is love." It has always been considered +as one of the very highest evidences of true and undefined religion to +insist that all men, women and children deserve eternal damnation. It +has always been heresy to say, "God will at last save all." + +We are asked to justify these frightful passages, these infamous laws +of war, because the bible is the word of God. As a matter of fact, there +never was, and there never can be, an argument, even tending to prove +the inspiration of any book whatever. In the absence of positive +evidence, analogy and experience, argument is simply impossible, and at +the very best, can amount only to a useless agitation of the air. +The instant we admit that a book is too sacred to be doubted, or even +reasoned about, we are mental serfs. It is infinitely absurd to suppose +that a god would address a communication to intelligent beings, and yet +make it a crime, to be punished in eternal flames, for them to use their +intelligence for the purpose of understanding his communication. If we +have the right to use our reason, we certainly have the right to act in +accordance with it, and no god can have the right to punish us for such +action. + +The doctrine that future happiness depends upon belief is monstrous. +It is the infamy of infamies. The notion that faith in Christ is to +be rewarded by an eternity of bliss, while a dependence upon reason, +observation, and experience merits everlasting pain, is too absurd for +refutation, and can be relieved only by that unhappy mixture of insanity +and ignorance, called "faith." What man, who ever thinks, can believe +that blood can appease God? And yet, our entire system of religion is +based upon that belief. The Jews pacified Jehovah with the blood of +animals, and according to the Christian system, the blood of Jesus +softened the heart of God a little, and rendered possible the salvation +of a fortunate few. It is hard to conceive how the human mind can give +assent to such terrible ideas, or how any sane man can read the bible +and still believe in the doctrine of inspiration. + +Whether the bible is true or false, is of no consequence in comparison +with the mental freedom of the race. + +Salvation through slavery is worthless. Salvation from slavery is +inestimable. + +As long as man believes the bible to be infallible, that book is his +master. The civilization of this century is not the child of faith, but +of unbelief--the result of free thought. + +All that is necessary, as it seems to me, to convince any reasonable +person that the bible is simply and purely of human invention--of +barbarian invention--is to read it. Read it as you would any other +book; think of it as you would of any other; get the bandage of +reverence from your eyes; drive from your heart the phantom of +fear; push from the throne of your brain the cowled form of +superstition--then read the holy bible, and you will be amazed that you +ever, for one moment, supposed a being of infinite wisdom, goodness and +purity, to be the author of such ignorance and of such atrocity. + +Our ancestors not only had their god-factories, but they made devils as +well. These devils were generally disgraced and fallen gods. Some had +headed unsuccessful revolts; some had been caught sweetly reclining in +the shadowy folds of some fleecy cloud, kissing the wife of the god of +gods. These devils generally sympathized with man. There is in regard +to them a most wonderful fact: In nearly all the theologies, mythologies +and religions, the devils have been much more humane and merciful +than the gods. No devil ever gave one of his generals an order to kill +children and to rip open the bodies of pregnant women. Such barbarities +were always ordered by the good gods. The pestilences were sent by the +most merciful gods. The frightful famine, during which the dying child +with pallid lips sucked the withered bosom of a dead mother, was sent by +the loving gods. No devil was ever charged with such fiendish brutality. + +One of these gods, according to the account, drowned an entire world, +with the exception of eight persons. The old, the young, the beautiful +and the helpless were remorsely devoured by the shoreless sea. This, +the most fearful tragedy that the imagination of ignorant priests ever +conceived, was the act, not of a devil, but of a god, so-called, whom +men ignorantly worship unto this day. What a stain such an act would +leave upon the character of a devil! One of the prophets of one of these +gods, having in his power a captured king, hewed him in pieces in the +sight of all the people. Was ever any imp of any devil guilty of such +savagery? + +One of these gods is reported to have given the following directions +concerning human slavery: "If thou buy a Hebrew servant, six years shall +he serve, and in the seventh he shall go out free for nothing. If he +came in by himself, he shall go out by himself; if he were married, then +his wife shall go out with him. If his master have given him a wife, and +she have borne him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall be +her master's, and he shall go out by himself. And if the servant shall +plainly say, I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not go +out free. Then his master shall bring him unto the judges; he shall also +bring him unto the door, or unto the door-post; and his master shall +bore his ear through with an awl; and he shall serve him forever." + +According to this, a man was given liberty upon condition that he would +desert forever his wife and children. Did any devil ever force upon a +husband, upon a father, so cruel and so heartless an alternative? Who +can worship such a god? Who can bend the knee to such a monster? Who can +pray to such a fiend? + +All these gods threatened to torment forever the souls of their enemies. +Did any devil ever make so infamous a threat? The basest thing recorded +of the devil, is what he did concerning Job and his family, and that +was done by the express permission of one of these gods, and to decide +a little difference of opinion between their serene highnesses as to the +character of "my servant Job." The first account we have of the devil is +found in that purely scientific book called Genesis, and is as follows: +"Now the serpent was more subtile than any beast of the field which the +Lord God had made, and he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye +shall not eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden? And the woman +said unto the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the +garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden +God hath said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest +ye die. And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die. +For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall +be opened and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil. And when the +woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to +the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the +fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her, and +he did eat. * * And the Lord God said, Behold the man is become as one +of us, to know good and evil; and now, lest he put forth his hand, and +take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever. Therefore the +Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden to till the ground from +which he was taken. So he drove out the man, and he placed at the east +of the garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword, which turned every +way to keep the way of the tree of life." + +According to this account the promise of the devil was fulfilled to +the very letter. Adam and Eve did not die, and they did become as gods, +knowing good and evil. + +The account shows, however, that the gods dreaded education and +knowledge then just as they do now. The church still faithfully guards +the dangerous tree of knowledge, and has exerted in all ages her utmost +power to keep mankind from eating the fruit thereof. The priests have +never ceased repeating the old falsehood and the old threat: "Ye shall +not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die." From every +pulpit comes the same cry, born of the same fear: "Lest they eat and +become as gods, knowing good and evil." For this reason, religion +hates science, faith detests reason, theology is the sworn enemy of +philosophy, and the church with its flaming sword still guards the hated +tree, and like its supposed founder, curses to the lowest depths the +brave thinkers who eat and become as gods. + +If the account given in Genesis is really true, ought we not, after all, +to thank this serpent? He was the first schoolmaster, the first advocate +of learning, the first enemy of ignorance, the first to whisper in human +ears the sacred word liberty, the creator of ambition, the author of +modesty, of inquiry, of doubt, of investigation, of progress and of +civilization. + +Give me the storm and tempest of thought and action, rather than the +dead calm of ignorance and faith! Banish me from Eden when you will; but +first let me eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge! + +Some nations have borrowed their gods; of this number, we are compelled +to say, is our own. The Jews having ceased to exist as a nation, and +having no further use for a god, our ancestors appropriated him and +adopted their devil at the same time. This borrowed god is still an +object of some adoration, and this adopted devil still excites the +apprehensions of our people. He is still supposed to be setting his +traps and snares for the purpose of catching our unwary souls, and is +still, with reasonable success, waging the old war against our god. + +To me, it seems easy to account for these ideas concerning gods and +devils. They are a perfectly natural production. Man has created them +all, and under the same circumstances would create them again. Man has +not only created all these gods, but he has created them out of the +materials by which he has been surrounded. Generally he has modeled them +after himself, and has given them hands, heads, feet, eyes, ears, +and organs of speech. Each nation, made its gods and devils speak its +language not only, but put in their mouths the same mistakes in history, +geography, astronomy, and in all matters of fact, generally made by the +people. No god was ever in advance of the nation that created him. The +negroes represented their deities with black skins and curly hair. The +Mongolian gave to his a yellow complexion and dark almond-shaped eyes. +The Jews were not allowed to paint theirs, or we should have seen +Jehovah with a full beard, an oval face, and an aquiline nose. Zeus was +a perfect Greek, and Jove looked as though a member of the Roman senate. +The gods of Egypt had the patient face and placid look of the loving +people who made them. The gods of northern countries were represented +warmly clad in robes of fur; those of the tropics were naked. The gods +of India were often mounted upon elephants; those of some islanders were +great swimmers, and the deities of the Arctic zone were passionately +fond of whale's blubber. Nearly all people have carved or painted +representations of their gods, and these representations were, by the +lower classes, generally treated as the real gods, and to these images +and idols they addressed prayers and offered sacrifice. + +"In some countries, even at this day, if the people after long praying +do not obtain their desires, they turn their images off as impotent +gods, or upbraid them in a most reproachful manner, loading them with +blows and curses. 'How now, dog of a spirit,' they say, 'we give you +lodging in a magnificent temple, we gild you with gold, feed you with +the choicest food, and offer incense to you; yet, after all this care, +you are so ungrateful as to refuse us what we ask.' + +"Hereupon they will pull the god down and drag him through the filth +of the street. If, in the meantime, it happens that they obtain their +request, then, with a great deal of ceremony, they wash him clean, carry +him back and place him in his temple again, where they fall down and +make excuses for what they have done. 'Of a truth,' they say, 'we were +a little too hasty, and you were a little too long in your grant. Why +should you bring this beating on yourself. But what is done cannot be +undone. Let us not think of it any more. If you will forget what is +past, we will gild you over brighter again than before.'" + +Man has never been at a loss for gods. He has worshiped almost +everything, including the vilest and most disgusting beasts. He has +worshiped fire, earth, air, water, light, stars, and for hundreds of +ages prostrated himself before enormous snakes. Savage tribes often make +gods of articles they get from civilized people. The To-das worship +a cow-bell. The Kotas worship two silver plates, which they regard as +husband and wife, and another tribe manufactured a god out of a king of +hearts. + +Man, having always been the physical superior of woman, accounts for +the fact that most of the high gods have been males. Had woman been the +physical superior, the powers supposed to be the rulers of Nature would +have been women, and instead of being represented in the apparel of +man, they would have luxuriated in trains, low-necked dresses, laces and +back-hair. + +Nothing can be plainer than that each nation gives to its god its +peculiar characteristics, and that every individual gives to his god his +personal peculiarities. + +Man has no ideas, and can have none, except those suggested by his +surroundings. He cannot conceive of anything utterly unlike what he has +seen or felt. He can exaggerate, diminish, combine, separate, deform, +beautify, improve, multiply and compare what he sees, what he feels, +what he hears, and all of which he takes cognizance through the medium +of the senses; but he cannot create. Having seen exhibitions of power, +he can say, omnipotent. Having lived, he can say, immortality. Knowing +something of time, he can say, eternity. Conceiving something of +intelligence, he can say, God Having seen exhibitions of malice, he can +say, devil. A few gleams of happiness having fallen athwart the gloom of +his life, he can say, heaven. Pain, in its numberless forms, having been +experienced, he can say, hell. Yet all these ideas have a foundation +in fact, and only a foundation. The superstructure has been reared +by exaggerating, diminishing, combining, separating, deforming, +beautifying, improving or multiplying realities, so that the edifice or +fabric is but the incongruous grouping of what man has perceived through +the medium of the senses. It is as though we should give to a lion the +wings of an eagle, the hoofs of a bison, the tail of a horse, the pouch +of a kangaroo, and the trunk of an elephant. We have in imagination +created an impossible monster. And yet the various parts of this monster +really exist. So it is with all the gods that man has made. + +Beyond nature man cannot go even in thought--above nature he cannot +rise--below nature he cannot fall. + +Man, in his# ignorance, supposed that all phenomena were produced by +some intelligent powers, and with direct reference to him. To preserve +friendly relations with these powers was, and still is, the object of +all religions. Man knelt through fear and to implore assistance, or +through gratitude for some favor which he supposed had been rendered. He +endeavored by supplication to appease some being who, for some reason, +had, as he believed, become enraged. The lightning and thunder terrified +him. In the presence of the volcano he sank upon his knees. The great +forests filled with wild and ferocious beasts, the monstrous serpents +crawling in mysterious depths, the boundless sea, the flaming comets, +the sinister eclipses, the awful calmness of the stars, and, more than +all, the perpetual presence of death, convinced him that he was the +sport and prey of unseen and malignant powers. The strange and frightful +diseases to which he was subject, the freezings and burnings of fever, +the contortions of epilepsy, the sudden palsies, the darkness of night, +and the wild, terrible and fantastic dreams that filled his brain, +satisfied him that he was haunted and pursued by countless spirits +of evil. For some reason he supposed that these spirits differed +in power--that they were not all alike malevolent--that the higher +controlled the lower, and that his very existence depended upon gaining +the assistance of the more powerful. For this purpose he resorted to +prayer, to flattery, to worship and to sacrifice. + +These ideas appear to have been almost universal in savage man. + +For ages all nations supposed that the sick and insane were possessed by +evil spirits. For thousands of years the practice of medicine consisted +in frightening these spirits away. Usually the priests would make the +loudest and most discordant noises possible. They would blow horns, +beat upon rude drums, clash cymbals, and in the meantime utter the most +unearthly yells. If the noise-remedy failed, they would implore the aid +of some more powerful spirit. + +To pacify these spirits was considered of infinite importance. The poor +barbarian, knowing that men could be softened by gifts, gave to these +spirits that which to him seemed of the most value. With bursting heart +he would offer the blood of his dearest child. It was impossible for him +to conceive of a god utterly unlike himself, and he naturally supposed +that these powers of the air would be affected a little at the sight of +so great and so deep a sorrow. It was with the barbarian then as with +the civilized now--one class lived upon and made merchandise of the +fears of another. Certain persons took it upon themselves to appease the +gods, and to instruct the people in their duties to these unseen powers. +This was the origin of the priesthood. The priest pretended to stand +between the wrath of the gods and the helplessness of man. He was man's +attorney at the court of heaven. He carried to the invisible world a +flag of truce, a protest and a request. He came back with a command, +with authority and with power. Man fell upon his knees before his own +servant, and the priest, taking advantage of the awe inspired by his +supposed influence with the gods, made of his fellow-man a cringing +hypocrite and slave. Even Christ, the supposed son of God, taught that +persons were possessed of evil spirits, and frequently, according to +the account, gave proof of his divine origin and mission by frightening +droves of devils out of his unfortunate countrymen. Casting out devils +was his principal employment, and the devils thus banished generally +took occasion to acknowledge him as the true Messiah; which was not only +very kind of them, but quite fortunate for him. The religious people +have always regarded the testimony of these devils as perfectly +conclusive, and the writers of the New Testament quote the words of +these imps of darkness with great satisfaction. + +The fact that Christ could withstand the temptations of the devil was +considered as conclusive evidence that he was assisted by some god, or +at least by some being superior to man. St. Matthew gives an account of +an attempt made by the devil to tempt the supposed son of God; and it +has always excited the wonder of Christians that the temptation was +so nobly and heroically withstood. The account to which I refer is as +follows: + +"Then was Jesus led up of the spirit into the wilderness to be tempted +of the devil. And when the tempter came to him, he said: 'If thou be the +son of God, command that these stones be made bread.' But he answered, +and said: 'It is written: man shall not live by bread alone, but by +every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.' Then the devil +taketh him up into the holy city and setteth him upon a pinnacle of +the temple and saith unto him: 'If thou be the son of God, cast thyself +down, for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning +thee, lest at any time thou shalt dash thy foot against a stone.' Jesus +said unto him: 'It is written again, thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy +God.' Again the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain and +sheweth him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them, and +saith unto him: 'All these will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and +worship me.'" + +The Christians now claim that Jesus was God. If he was God, of course +the devil knew that fact, and yet, according to this account, the devil +took the omnipotent God and placed him upon a pinnacle of the temple, +and endeavored to induce him to dash himself against the earth. Failing +in that, he took the creator, owner and governor of the universe up into +an exceeding high mountain, and offered him this world--this grain +of sand--if he, the God of all the worlds, would fall down and worship +him, a poor devil, without even a tax title to one foot of dirt! Is it +possible the devil was such an idiot? Should any great credit be given +to this deity for not being caught with such chaff? Think of it! The +devil--the prince of sharpers--the king of cunning--the master of +finesse, trying to bribe God with a grain of sand that belonged to God! + +Is there in all the religious literature of the world anything more +grossly absurd than this? + +These devils, according to the bible, were of various kinds--some +could speak and hear, others were deaf and dumb. All could not be cast +out in the same way. The deaf and dumb spirits were quite difficult to +deal with. St. Mark tells of a gentleman who brought his son to Christ +The boy, it seems, was possessed of a dumb spirit, over which the +disciples had no control. "Jesus said unto the spirit: 'Thou dumb and +deaf spirit, I charge thee come out of him, and enter no more into +him.'" Whereupon, the deaf spirit (having heard what was said) cried out +(being dumb) and immediately vacated the premises. The ease with which +Christ controlled this deaf and dumb spirit excited the wonder of his +disciples, and they asked him privately why they could not cast that +spirit out. To whom he replied: "This kind can come forth by nothing but +prayer and fasting." Is there a Christian in the whole world who would +believe such a story if found in any other book? The trouble is, these +pious people shut up their reason, and then open their bible. + +In the olden times the existence of devils was universally admitted. The +people had no doubt upon that subject, and from such belief it followed +as a matter of course, that a person, in order to vanquish these devils, +had either to be a god, or to be assisted by one. All founders of +religions have established their claims to divine origin by controlling +evil spirits and suspending the laws of nature. Casting out devils was +a certificate of divinity. A prophet, unable to cope with the powers +of darkness was regarded with contempt The utterance of the highest +and noblest sentiments, the most blameless and holy life, commanded but +little respect, unless accompanied by power to work miracles and command +spirits. + +This belief in good and evil powers had its origin in the fact that man +was surrounded by what he was pleased to call good and evil phenomena. +Phenomena affecting man pleasantly were ascribed to good spirits, while +those affecting him unpleasantly or injuriously, were ascribed to evil +spirits. It being admitted that all phenomena were produced by spirits, +the spirits were divided according to the phenomena, and the phenomena +were good or bad as they affected man. + +Good spirits were supposed to be the authors of good phenomena, and evil +spirits of the evil--so that the idea of a devil has been as universal +as the idea of a god. + +Many writers maintain that an idea to become universal must be true; +that all universal ideas are innate, and that innate ideas cannot be +false. If the fact that an idea has been universal proves that it +is innate, and if the fact that an idea is innate proves that it is +correct, then the believers in innate ideas must admit that the evidence +of a god superior to nature, and of a devil superior to nature, is +exactly the same, and that the existence of such a devil must be as +self-evident as the existence of such a god. The truth is, a god was +inferred from good; and a devil from bad, phenomena. And it is just as +natural and logical to suppose that a devil would cause happiness as +to suppose that a god would produce misery. Consequently, if an +intelligence, infinite and supreme, is the immediate author of all +phenomena, it is difficult to determine whether such intelligence is the +friend or enemy of man. If phenomena were all good, we might say they +were all produced by a perfectly beneficent being. If they were all bad, +we might say they were produced by a perfectly malevolent power; but, +as phenomena are, as they affect man, both good and bad, they must be +produced by different and antagonistic spirits; by one who is sometimes +actuated by kindness, and sometimes by malice; or all must be produced +of necessity, and without reference to their consequences upon man. + +The foolish doctrine that all phenomena can be traced to the +interference of good and evil spirits, has been, and still is, almost +universal. That most people still believe in some spirit that can change +the natural order of events, is proven by the fact that nearly all +resort to prayer. Thousands, at this very moment, are probably imploring +some supposed power to interfere in their behalf. Some want health +restored; some ask that the loved and absent be watched over and +protected, some pray for riches, some for rain, some want diseases +stayed, some vainly ask for food, some ask for revivals, a few ask for +more wisdom, and now and then one tells the Lord to do as he may think +best. Thousands ask to be protected from the devil; some, like David, +pray for revenge, and some implore, even God, not to lead them into +temptation. All these prayers rest upon, and are produced by, the idea +that some power not only can, but probably will, change the order of the +universe. This belief has been among the great majority of tribes +and nations. All sacred books are filled with the accounts of such +interferences, and our own bible is no exception to this rule. + +If we believe in a power superior to nature, it is perfectly natural to +suppose that such power can and will interfere in the affairs of this +world. If there is no interference, of what practical use can such +power be? The scriptures give us the most wonderful accounts of divine +interference: Animals talk like men; springs gurgle from dry bones; the +sun and moon stop in the heavens in order that General Joshua may have +more time to murder; the shadow on a dial goes back ten degrees to +convince a petty king of a barbarous people that he is not going to die +of a boil; fire refuses to burn; water positively declines to seek its +level, but stands up like a wall; grains of sand become lice; common +walking-sticks, to gratify a mere freak, twist themselves into serpents, +and then swallow each other by way of exercise; murmuring streams, +laughing at the attraction of gravitation, run up hill for years, +following wandering tribes from a pure love of frolic; prophecy becomes +altogether easier than history; the sons of God become enamored of the +world's girls; women are changed into salt for the purpose of keeping a +great event fresh in the minds of men; an excellent article of brimstone +is imported from heaven free of duty; clothes refuse to wear out for +forty years; birds keep restaurants and feed wandering prophets free of +expense; bears tear children in pieces for laughing at old men without +wigs; muscular development depends upon the length of one's hair; dead +people come to life, simply to get a joke on their enemies and heirs; +witches and wizards converse freely with the souls of the departed, and +God himself becomes a stone-cutter and engraver, after having been a +tailor and dressmaker. + +The veil between heaven and earth was always rent or lifted. The shadows +of this world, the radiance of heaven, and the glare of hell mixed +and mingled until man became uncertain as to which country he really +inhabited. Man dwelt in an unreal world. He mistook his ideas, his +dreams, for real things. His fears became terrible and malicious +monsters. He lived in the midst of furies and fairies, nymphs and +naiads, goblins and ghosts, witches and wizards, sprites and spooks, +deities and devils. The obscure and gloomy depths were filled with +claw and wing--with beak and hoof--with leering looks and sneering +mouths--with the malice of deformity--with the cunning of hatred, and +with all the slimy forms that fear can draw and paint upon the shadowy +canvas of the dark. + +It is enough to make one almost insane with pity to think what man in +the long night has suffered; of the tortures he has endured, surrounded, +as he supposed, by malignant powers and clutched by the fierce phantoms +of the air. No wonder that he fell upon his trembling knees--that he +built altars and reddened them even with his own blood. No wonder that +he implored ignorant priests and impudent magicians for aid. No wonder +that he crawled groveling in the dust to the temple's door, and there, +in the insanity of despair, besought the deaf gods to hear his bitter +cry of agony and fear. + +The savage, as he emerges from a state of barbarism, gradually loses +faith in his idols of wood and stone, and in their place puts a +multitude of spirits. As he advances in knowledge, he generally discards +the petty spirits, and in their stead believes in one, whom he supposes +to be infinite and supreme. Supposing this great spirit to be superior +to nature, he offers worship or flattery in exchange for assistance. At +last, finding that he obtains no aid from this supposed deity--finding +that every search after the absolute must of necessity end in +failure--finding that man cannot by any possibility conceive of the +conditionless--he begins to investigate the facts by which he is +surrounded, and to depend upon himself The people are beginning to +think, to reason and to investigate. Slowly, painfully, but surely, the +gods are being driven from the earth. Only upon rare occasions are they, +even by the most religious, supposed to interfere in the affairs of men. +In most matters we are at last supposed to be free. Since the invention +of steamships and railways, so that the products of all countries can be +easily interchanged, the gods have quit the business of producing +famine. Now and then they kill a child because it is idolized by its +parents. As a rule they have given up causing accidents on railroads, +exploding boilers, and bursting kerosene lamps. Cholera, yellow fever, +and small-pox are still considered heavenly weapons; but measles, itch +and ague are now attributed to natural causes. As a general thing, the +gods have stopped drowning children, except as a punishment for +violating the Sabbath. They still pay some attention to the affairs of +kings, men of genius and persons of great wealth; but ordinary people +are left to shirk for themselves as best they may. In wars between great +nations, the gods still interfere; but in prize fights, the best man +with an honest referee, is almost sure to win. + +The church cannot abandon the idea of special providence. To give up +that doctrine is to give up all. The church must insist that prayer +is answered--that some power superior to nature hears and grants the +request of the sincere and humble Christian, and that this same power in +some mysterious way provides for all. + +A devout clergyman sought every opportunity to impress upon the mind +of his son the fact, that God takes care of all his creatures; that the +falling sparrow attracts his attention, and that his loving kindness is +over all his works. Happening, one day, to see a crane wading in quest +of food, the good man pointed out to his son the perfect adaptation of +the crane to get his living in that manner. "See," said he, "how his +legs are formed for wading! What a long slender bill he has! Observe how +nicely he folds his feet when putting them in or drawing them out of +the water! He does not cause the slightest ripple. He is thus enabled +to approach the fish without giving them any notice of his arrival." +"My son," said he, "it is impossible to look at that bird without +recognizing the design, as well as the goodness of God, in thus +providing the means of subsistence." "Yes," replied the boy, "I think I +see the goodness of God, at least so far as the crane is concerned; but +after all, father, don't you think the arrangement a little tough on the +fish?" + +Even the advanced religionist, although disbelieving in any great amount +of interference by the gods in this age of the world, still thinks, +that in the beginning, some god made the laws governing the universe. +He believes that in consequence of these laws a man can lift a greater +weight with, than without, a lever; that this god so made matter, and so +established the order of things, that two bodies cannot occupy the same +space at the same time; so that a body once put in motion will keep +moving until it is stopped; so that it is a greater distance around, +than across a circle; so that a perfect square has four equal sides, +instead of five or seven. He insists that it took a direct interposition +of providence to make the whole greater than a part, and that had it not +been for this power superior to nature, twice one might have been more +than twice two, and sticks and strings might have had only one end +apiece. Like the old Scotch divine, he thanks God that Sunday comes at +the end instead of in the middle of the week, and that death comes at +the close instead of at the commencement of life, thereby giving us time +to prepare for that holy day and that most solemn event These religious +people see nothing but design everywhere, and personal, intelligent +interference in everything. They insist that the universe has been +created, and that the adaptation of means to ends is perfectly apparent. +They point us to the sunshine, to the flowers, to the April rain, and +to all there is of beauty and of use in the world. Did it ever occur to +them that a cancer is as beautiful in its development as is the reddest +rose? That what they are pleased to call the adaptation of means to +ends, is as apparent in the cancer as in the April rain? How beautiful +the process of digestion! By what ingenious methods the blood is +poisoned so that the cancer shall have food! By what wonderful +contrivances the entire system of man is made to pay tribute to this +divine and charming cancer! See by what admirable instrumentalities it +feeds itself from the surrounding quivering, dainty flesh! See how it +gradually but surely expands and grows! By what marvelous mechanism +it is supplied with long and slender roots that reach out to the most +secret nerves of pain for sustenance and life! What beautiful colors +it presents! Seen through the microscope it is a miracle of order and +beauty. All the ingenuity of man cannot stop its growth. Think of the +amount of thought it must have required to invent a way by which the +life of one man might be given to produce one cancer? Is it possible to +look upon it and doubt that there is design in the universe, and that +the inventor of this wonderful cancer must be infinitely powerful, +ingenious and good? + +We are told that the universe was designed and created, and that it is +absurd to suppose that matter has existed from eternity, but that it is +perfectly self-evident that a god has. + +If a god created the universe, then, there must have been a time when he +commenced to create. Back of that time there must have been an eternity, +during which there had existed nothing--absolutely nothing--except +this supposed god. According to this theory, this god spent an eternity, +so to speak, in an infinite vacuum, and in perfect idleness. + +Admitting that a god did create the universe, the question then arises, +of what did he create it? It certainly was not made of nothing. Nothing, +considered in the light of a raw material, is a most decided failure. It +follows, then, that the god must have made the universe out of himself, +he being the only existence. The universe is material, and if it was +made of god, the god must have been material. With this very thought in +his mind, Anaximander of Miletus said: "Creation is the decomposition of +the infinite." + +It has been demonstrated that the earth would fall to the sun, only for +the fact, that it is attracted by other worlds, and those worlds must +be attracted by other worlds still beyond them, and so on, without +end. This proves the material universe to be infinite. If an infinite +universe has been made out of an infinite god, how much of the god is +left? + +The idea of a creative deity is gradually being abandoned, and nearly +all truly scientific minds admit that matter must have existed from +eternity. It is indestructible, and the indestructible cannot be +created. It is the crowning glory of our century to have demonstrated +the indestructibility and the eternal persistence of force. Neither +matter nor force can be increased nor diminished. Force cannot exist +apart from matter. Matter exists only in connection with force, and +consequently, a force apart from matter, and superior to nature, is a +demonstrated impossibility. + +Force, then, must have also existed from eternity, and could not have +been created. Matter in its countless forms, from dead earth to the +eyes of those we love, and force, in all its manifestations, from simple +motion to the grandest thought, deny creation and defy control. + +Thought is a form of force. We walk with the same force with which we +think. Man is an organism, that changes several forms of force into +thought-force. Man is a machine into which we put what we call food, and +produce what we call thought. Think of that wonderful chemistry by which +bread was changed into the divine tragedy of Hamlet! + +A god must not only be material, but he must be an organism, capable of +changing other forms of force into thought-force. This is what we call +eating. Therefore, if the god thinks, he must eat, that is to say, he +must of necessity have some means of supplying the force with which to +think. It is impossible to conceive of a being who can eternally impart +force to matter, and yet have no means of supplying the force thus +imparted. + +If neither matter nor force were created, what evidence have we, then, +of the existence of a power superior to nature? The theologian will +probably reply, "We have law and order, cause and effect, and beside all +this, matter could not have put itself in motion." + +Suppose, for the sake of the argument, that there is no being superior +to nature, and that matter and force have existed from eternity. Now +suppose that two atoms should come together, would there be an effect? +Yes. Suppose they came in exactly opposite directions with equal force, +they would be stopped, to say the least. This would be an effect. If +this is so, then you have matter, force and effect without a being +superior to nature. Now suppose that two other atoms, just like the +first two, should come together under precisely the same circumstances, +would not the effect be exactly the same? Yes. Like causes, producing +like effects, is what we mean by law and order. Then we have matter, +force, effect, law and order without a being superior to nature. Now, we +know that every effect must also be a cause, and that every cause must +be an effect. The atoms coming together did produce an effect, and as +every effect must also be a cause, the effect produced by the collision +of the atoms, must as to something else have been a cause. Then we have +matter, force, law, order, cause and effect without a being superior +to-nature. Nothing is left for the supernatural but empty space. His +throne is a void, and his boasted realm is without matter, without force +without law, without cause, and without effect. + +But what put all this matter in motion? If matter and force have existed +from eternity, then matter must have always been in motion. There can +be no force without motion. Force is forever active, and there is, and +there can be no cessation. If, therefore, matter and force have existed +from eternity, so has motion. In the whole universe there is not even +one atom in a state of rest. + +A deity outside of nature exists in nothing, and is nothing. Nature +embraces with infinite arms all matter and all force. That which is +beyond her grasp is destitute of both, and can hardly be worth the +worship and adoration even of a man. + +There is but one way to demonstrate the existence of a power independent +of and superior to nature, and that is by breaking, if only for one +moment, the continuity of cause and effect Pluck from the endless chain +of existence one little link; stop for one instant the grand procession, +and you have shown beyond all contradiction that nature has a master. +Change the fact, just for one second, that matter attracts matter, and a +god appears. + +The rudest savage has always known this fact, and for that reason always +demanded the evidence of miracle. The founder of a religion must be +able to turn water into wine--cure with a word the blind and lame, and +raise with a simple touch the dead to life. It was necessary for him to +demonstrate to the satisfaction of his barbarian disciple, that he +was superior to nature. In times of ignorance this was easy to do. The +credulity of the savage was almost boundless. To him the marvelous +was the beautiful, the mysterious was the sublime. Consequently, every +religion has for its foundation a miracle--that is to say, a violation +of nature--that is to say, a falsehood. + +No one, in the world's whole history, ever attempted to substantiate a +truth by a miracle. Truth scorns the assistance of miracle. Nothing but +falsehood ever attested itself by signs and wonders. No miracle ever was +performed, and no sane man ever thought he had performed one, and until +one is performed, there can be no evidence of the existence of any power +superior to, and independent of nature. + +The church wishes us to believe. Let the church, or one of its +intellectual saints, perform a miracle, and we will believe. We are told +that nature has a superior, Let this superior, for # one single instant, +control nature, and we will admit the truth of your assertions. + +We have heard talk enough. We have listened to all the drowsy, idealess, +vapid sermons that we wish to hear. We have read your bible and the +works of your best minds. We have heard your prayers, your solemn groans +and your reverential amens. All these amount to less than nothing. We +want one fact. We beg at the doors of your churches for just one little +fact We pass our hats along your pews and under your pulpits and implore +you for just one fact We know all about your mouldy wonders and your +stale miracles. We want a this year's fact We ask only one. Give us one +fact for charity. Your miracles are too ancient The witnesses have been +dead for nearly two thousand years. Their reputation for "truth and +veracity" in the neighborhood where they resided is wholly unknown to +us. Give us a new miracle, and substantiate it by witnesses who still +have the cheerful habit of living in this world. Do not send us to +Jericho to hear the winding horns, nor put us in the fire with Shadrach, +Meshech, and Abednego. Do not compel us to navigate the sea with Captain +Jonah, nor dine with Mr. Ezekiel. There is no sort of use in sending us +fox-hunting with Samson. We have positively lost all interest in that +little speech so eloquently delivered by Balaam's inspired donkey. It +is worse than useless to show us fishes with money in their mouths, +and call our attention to vast multitudes stuffing themselves with five +crackers and two sardines. We demand a new miracle, and we demand it +now. Let the church furnish at least one, or forever after hold her +peace. + +In the olden time, the church, by violating the order of nature, proved +the existence of her God. At that time miracles were performed with the +most astonishing ease. They became so common that the church ordered her +priests to desist. And now this same church--the people having found +some little sense--admits, not only, that she cannot perform a miracle, +but insists that the absence of miracle--the steady, unbroken march +of cause and effect, proves the existence of a power superior to nature. +The fact is, however, that the indissoluble chain of cause and effect +proves exactly the contrary. + +Sir William Hamilton, one of the pillars of modern theology, in +discussing this very subject, uses the following language: "The +phenomena of matter taken by themselves, so far from warranting any +inference to the existence of a god, would on the contrary ground even +an argument to his negation. The phenomena of the material world are +subjected to immutable laws; are produced and reproduced in the same +invariable succession, and manifest only the blind force of a mechanical +necessity." + +Nature is but an endless series of efficient causes. She cannot create, +but she eternally transforms. There was no beginning, and there can be +no end. + +The best minds, even in the religious world, admit that in material +nature there is no evidence of what they are pleased to call a god. +They find their evidence in the phenomena of intelligence, and very +innocently assert that intelligence is above, and in fact, opposed to +nature. They insist that man, at least, is a special creation; that +he has somewhere in his brain a divine spark, a little portion of the +"Great First Cause." They say that matter cannot produce thought; but +that thought can produce matter. They tell us that man has intelligence, +and therefore there must be an intelligence greater than his. Why not +say, God has intelligence, therefore there must be an intelligence +greater than his? So far as we know, there is no intelligence apart +from matter. We cannot conceive of thought, except as produced within a +brain. + +The science, by means of which they demonstrate the existence of an +impossible intelligence, and an incomprehensible power is called, +metaphysics or theology. The theologians admit that the phenomena of +matter tend, at least, to disprove the existence of any power superior +to nature, because in such phenomena we see nothing but an endless chain +of efficient causes--nothing but the force of a mechanical necessity. +They therefore appeal to what they denominate the phenomena of mind to +establish this superior power. + +The trouble is, that in the phenomena of mind we find the same endless +chain of efficient causes; the same mechanical necessity. Every thought +must have had an efficient cause. Every motive, every desire, every +fear, hope and dream must have been necessarily produced. There is no +room in the mind of man for providence or chance. The facts and forces +governing thought are as absolute as those governing the motions of +the planets. A poem is produced by the forces of nature, and is as +necessarily and naturally produced as mountains and seas. You will seek +in vain for a thought in man's brain without its efficient cause. +Every mental operation is the necessary result of certain facts and +conditions. Mental phenomena are considered more complicated than those +of matter, and consequently more mysterious. Being more mysterious, they +are considered better evidence of the existence of a god. No one infers +a god from the simple, from the known, from what is understood, but from +the complex, from the unknown, and incomprehensible. Our ignorance is +God; what we know is science. + +When we abandon the doctrine that some infinite being created matter +and force, and enacted a code of laws for their government, the idea +of interference will be lost. The real priest will then be, not the +mouth-piece of some pretended deity, but the interpreter of nature. From +that moment the church ceases to exist The tapers will die out upon the +dusty altar; the moths will eat the fading velvet of pulpit and pew; +the Bible will take its place with the Shastras, Puranas, Vedas, Eddas, +Sagas and Korans, and the fetters of a degrading faith will fall from +the minds of men. + +"But," says the religionist, "you cannot explain everything; you cannot +understand everything; and that which you cannot explain, that which you +do not comprehend, is my God." + +We are explaining more every day. We are understanding more every day; +consequently your God is growing smaller every day. + +Nothing daunted, the religionist then insists that nothing can exist +without a cause, except cause, and that this uncaused cause is God. + +To this we again reply: Every cause must produce an effect, because +until it does produce an effect, it is not a cause. Every effect must +in its turn become a cause. Therefore, in the nature of things, there +cannot be a last cause, for the reason that a so-called last cause would +necessarily produce an effect, and that effect must of necessity become +a cause. The converse of these propositions must be true. Every effect +must have had a cause, and every cause must have been an effect. +Therefore, there could have been no first cause. A first cause is just +as impossible as a last effect Beyond the universe there is nothing, +and within the universe the supernatural does not and cannot exist +The moment these great truths are understood and admitted, a belief in +general or special providence becomes impossible. From that instant men +will cease their vain efforts to please an imaginary being, and will +give their time and attention to the affairs of this world. They will +abandon the idea of attaining any object by prayer and supplication. +The element of uncertainty will, in a great measure, be removed from the +domain of the future, and man, gathering courage from a succession of +victories over the obstructions of nature, will attain a serene grandeur +unknown to the disciples of any superstition. The plans of mankind will +no longer be interfered with by the finger of a supposed omnipotence, +and no one will believe that nations or individuals are protected or +destroyed by any deity whatever. Science, freed from the chains of pious +custom and evangelical prejudice, will, within her sphere, be supreme. +The mind will investigate without reverence, and publish its conclusions +without fear. Agassiz will no longer hesitate to declare the Mosaic +cosmogony utterly inconsistent with the demonstrated truths of geology, +and will cease pretending any reverence for the Jewish scriptures. The +moment science succeeds in rendering the church powerless for evil, the +real thinkers will be outspoken. The little flags of truce carried by +timid philosophers will disappear, and the cowardly parley will give +place to victory--lasting and universal. + +If we admit that some infinite being has controlled the destinies of +persons and peoples, history becomes a most cruel and bloody farce. +Age after age, the strong have trampled upon the weak; the crafty +and heartless have ensnared and enslaved the simple and innocent, +and nowhere, in all the annals of mankind, has any god succored the +oppressed. + +Man should cease to expect aid from on high. By this time he should know +that heaven has no ear to hear, and no hand to help. The present is the +necessary child of all the past. There has been no chance, and there can +be no interference. + +If abuses are destroyed, man must destroy them. If slaves are freed, man +must free them. If new truths are discovered, man must discover them. +If the naked are clothed; if the hungry are fed; if justice is done; +if labor is rewarded; if superstition is driven from the mind; if the +defenseless are protected, and if the right finally triumphs, all must +be the work of man. The grand victories of the future must be won by +man, and by man alone. + +Nature, so far as we can discern, without passion and without intention, +forms, transforms, and retransforms forever. She neither weeps nor +rejoices. She produces man without purpose, and obliterates him without +regret. She knows no distinction between the beneficial and the hurtful. +Poison and nutrition, pain and joy, life and death, smiles and tears are +alike to her. She is neither merciful nor cruel. She cannot be flattered +by worship nor melted by tears. She does not know even the attitude of +prayer. She appreciates no difference between poison in the fangs of +snakes and mercy in the hearts of men. Only through man does nature take +cognizance of the good, the true, and the beautiful; and, so far as we +know, man is the highest intelligence. And yet man continues to believe +that there is some power independent of and superior to nature, +and still endeavors, by form, ceremony, supplication, hypocrisy and +sacrifice, to obtain its aid. His best energies have been wasted in the +service of this phantom. The horrors of witchcraft were all born of an +ignorant belief in the existence of a totally depraved being superior +to nature, acting in perfect independence of her laws; and all religious +superstition has had for its basis a belief in at least two beings, one +good and the other bad, both of whom could arbitrarily change the order +of the universe. The history of religion is simply the story of man's +efforts in all ages to avoid one of these powers, and to pacify the +other. Both powers have inspired little else than, abject fear. The +cold, calculating sneer of the devil, and the frown of, God, were +equally terrible. In any event, man's fate was to be arbitrarily fixed +forever by an unknown power superior to all law, and to all fact. Until +this belief is thrown aside, man must consider himself the slave of +phantom masters--neither of whom promise liberty in this world nor in +the next. + +Man must learn to rely upon himself. Reading bibles will not protect +him from the blasts of winter, but houses, fires, and clothing will. +To prevent famine, one plow is worth a million sermons, and even patent +medicines will cure more diseases than all the prayers uttered since the +beginning of the world. + +Although many eminent men have endeavored to harmonize necessity and +free will, the existence of evil, and the infinite power and goodness +of God, they have succeeded only in producing learned and ingenious +failures. Immense efforts have been made to reconcile ideas utterly +inconsistent with the facts by which we are surrounded, and all persons +who have failed to perceive the pretended reconciliation, have been +denounced as infidels, atheists and scoffers. The whole power of the +church has been brought to bear against philosophers and scientists +in order to compel a denial of the authority of demonstration, and to +induce some Judas to betray Reason, one of the saviors of mankind. + +During that frightful period known as the "Dark Ages" Faith reigned, +with scarcely a rebellious subject. Her temples were "carpeted with +knees," and the wealth of nations adorned her countless shrines. The +great painters prostituted their genius to immortalize her vagaries, +while the poets enshrined them in song. At her bidding, man covered the +earth with blood. The scales of Justice were turned with her gold, and +for her use were invented all the cunning instruments of pain. She built +cathedrals for God, and dungeons for men. She peopled the clouds with +angels and the earth with slaves. For centuries the world was retracing +its steps--going steadily back towards barbaric night! A few +infidels--a few heretics cried, "Halt!" to the great rabble of ignorant +devotion, and made it possible for the genius of the nineteenth century +to revolutionize the cruel creeds and superstitions of mankind. + +The thoughts of man, in order to be of any real worth, must be free. +Under the influence of fear the brain is paralyzed, and instead of +bravely solving a problem for itself, tremblingly adopts the solution +of another. As long as a majority of men will cringe to the very earth +before some petty prince or king, what must be the infinite abjectness +of their little souls in the presence of their supposed creator and God? +Under such circumstances, what can their thoughts be worth? + +The originality of repetition, and the mental vigor of acquiescence, are +all that we have any right to expect from the Christian world. As long +as every question is answered by the word "god," scientific inquiry is +simply impossible. As fast as phenomena are satisfactorily explained the +domain of the power, supposed to be superior to nature must decrease, +while the horizon of the known must as constantly continue to enlarge. + +It is no longer satisfactory to account for the fall and rise of nations +by saying, "It is the will of God." Such an explanation puts ignorance +and education upon an exact equality, and does away with the idea of +really accounting for anything whatever. + +Will the religionist pretend that the real end of science is to +ascertain how and why God acts? Science, from such a standpoint would +consist in investigating the law of arbitrary action, and in a grand +endeavor to ascertain the rules necessarily obeyed by infinite caprice. + +From a philosophical point of view, science is knowledge of the laws +of life; of the conditions of happiness; of the facts by which we are +surrounded, and the relations we sustain to men and things--by means +of which, man, so to speak, subjugates nature and bends the elemental +powers to his will, making blind force the servant of his brain. + +A belief in special providence does away with the spirit of +investigation, and is inconsistent with personal effort Why should man +endeavor to thwart the designs of God? Which of your by taking thought, +can add one cubit to his stature? Under the influence of this belief, +man, basking in the sunshine of a delusion, considers the lilies of the +field and refuses to take any-thought for the morrow. Believing himself +in the power of an infinite being, who can, at any moment, dash him +to the lowest hell or raise him to the highest heaven, he necessarily +abandons the idea of accomplishing anything by his own efforts. As +long as this belief was general, the world was filled with ignorance, +superstition and misery. The energies of man were wasted in a vain +effort to obtain the aid of this power, supposed to be superior to +nature. For countless ages, even men were sacrificed upon the altar of +this impossible god. To please him, mothers have shed the blood of their +own babes; martyrs have chanted triumphant songs in the midst of flame; +priests have gorged themselves with blood; nuns have forsworn the +ecstacies of love; old men have tremblingly implored; women have sobbed +and entreated; every pain has been endured, and every horror has been +perpetrated. Through the dim long years that have fled, humanity has +suffered more than can be conceived Most of the misery has been endured +by the weak, the loving and the innocent Women have been treated like +poisonous beasts, and little children trampled upon as though they had +been vermin. Numberless altars have been reddened, even with the blood +of babes; beautiful girls have been given to slimy serpents; whole races +of men doomed to centuries of slavery, and everywhere there has been +outrage beyond the power of genius to express. During all these years +the suffering have supplicated; the withered lips of famine have prayed; +the pale victims have implored, and Heaven has been deaf and blind. + +Of what use have the gods been to man? + +It is no answer to say that some god created the world, established +certain laws, and then turned his attention to other matters, leaving +his children weak, ignorant and unaided, to fight the battle of life +alone. It is no solution to declare that in some other world this god +will render a few, or even all, his subjects happy. What right have we +to expect that a perfectly wise, good and powerful being will ever +do better than he has done, and is doing? The world is filled with +imperfections. If it was made by an infinite being, what reason have we +for saying that he will render it nearer perfect than it now is? If the +infinite "Father" allows a majority of his children to live in ignorance +and wretchedness now, what evidence is there that he will ever improve +their condition? Will God have more power? Will he become more merciful? +Will his love for his poor creatures increase? Can the conduct of +infinite wisdom, power and love ever change? Is the infinite capable of +any improvement whatever? + +We are informed by the clergy that this world is a kind of school; that +the evils by which we are surrounded are for the purpose of developing +our souls, and that only by suffering can men become pure, strong, +virtuous and grand. + +Supposing this to be true, what is to become of those who die in +infancy? The little children, according to this philosophy, can never +be developed. They were so unfortunate as to escape the ennobling +influences of pain and misery, and as a consequence, are doomed to +an eternity of mental inferiority. If the clergy are right on this +question, none are so unfortunate as the happy, and we should envy only +the suffering and distressed. If evil is necessary to the development +of man, in this life, how is it possible for the soul to improve in the +perfect joy of paradise? + +Since Paley found his watch, the argument of "design" has been relied +upon as unanswerable. The Church teaches that this world, and all that +it contains, were created substantially as we now see them; that the +grasses, the flowers, the trees, and all animals, including man, were +special creations, and that they sustain no necessary relation to each +other. The most orthodox will admit that some earth has been washed into +the sea; that the sea has encroached a little upon the land, and that +some mountains may be a trifle lower than in the morning of creation. +The theory of gradual development was unknown to our fathers; the idea +of evolution did not occur to them. Our fathers looked upon the then +arrangement of things as the primal arrangement The earth appeared to +them fresh from the hands of a deity. They knew nothing of the slow +evolutions of countless years, but supposed that the almost infinite +variety of vegetable and animal forms had existed from the first. +Suppose that upon some island we should find a man a million years of +age, and suppose that we should find him in the possession of a most +beautiful carriage, constructed upon the most perfect model. And +suppose, further, that he should tell us that it was the result of +several hundred thousand years of labor and of thought; that for +fifty thousand years he used as flat a log as he could find, before +it occurred to him, that by splitting the log, he could have the same +surface with only half the weight; that it took him many thousand years +to invent wheels for this log; that the wheels he first used were solid, +and that fifty thousand years of thought suggested the use of spokes +and tire; that for many centuries he used the wheels without linch-pins; +that it took a hundred thousand years more to think of using four +wheels, instead of two; that for ages he walked behind the carriage, +when going down hill, in order to hold it back, and that only by a lucky +chance he invented the tongue; would we conclude that this man, from +the very first, had been an infinitely ingenious and perfect mechanic? +Suppose we found him living in an elegant mansion, and he should inform +us that he lived in that house for five hundred thousand years before +he thought of putting on a roof, and that he had but recently invented +windows and doors; would we say that from the beginning he had been an +infinitely accomplished and scientific architect? + +Does not an improvement in the things created, show a corresponding +improvement in the creator? + +Would an infinitely wise, good and powerful God, intending to produce +man, commence with the lowest possible forms of life; with the simplest +organism that can be imagined, and during immeasurable periods of time, +slowly and almost imperceptibly improve upon the rude beginning, until +man was evolved? Would countless ages thus be wasted in the production +of awkward forms, afterwards abandoned? Can the intelligence of man +discover the least wisdom in covering the earth with crawling, creeping +horrors, that live only upon the agonies and pangs of others? Can we see +the propriety of so constructing the earth, that only an insignificant +portion of its surface is capable of producing an intelligent man? Who +can appreciate the mercy of so making the world that all animals devour +animals; so that every mouth is a slaughterhouse, and every stomach +a tomb? Is it possible to discover infinite intelligence and love in +universal and eternal carnage? + +What would we think of a father, who should give a farm to his children, +and before giving them possession should plant upon it thousands of +deadly shrubs and vines; should stock it with ferocious beasts, and +poisonous reptiles; should take pains to put a few swamps in the +neighborhood to breed malaria; should so arrange matters, that the +ground would occasionally open and swallow a few of his darlings, and +besides all this, should establish a few volcanoes in the immediate +vicinity, that might at any moment overwhelm his children with rivers of +fire? Suppose that this father neglected to tell his children which of +the plants were deadly; that the reptiles were poisonous; failed to say +anything about the earthquakes, and kept the volcano business a profound +secret; would we pronounce him angel or fiend? + +And yet this is exactly what the orthodox God has done. + +According to the theologians, God prepared this globe expressly for the +habitation of his loved children, and yet he filled the forests with +ferocious beasts; placed serpents in every path; stuffed the world with +earthquakes, and adorned its surface with mountains of flame. + +Notwithstanding all this, we are told that the world is perfect; that +it was created by a perfect being, and is therefore necessarily perfect. +The next moment, these same persons will tell us that the world was +cursed; covered with brambles, thistles and thorns, and that man was +doomed to disease and death, simply because our poor, dear mother ate an +apple contrary to the command of an arbitrary God. + +A very pious friend of mine, having heard that I had said the world +was full of imperfections, asked me if the report was true. Upon being +informed that it was, he expressed great surprise that any one could +be guilty of such presumption. He said that, in his judgment, it was +impossible to point out an imperfection. "Be kind enough," said he, "to +name even one improvement that you could make, if you had the power." +"Well," said I, "I would make good health catching, instead of disease." +The truth is, it is impossible to harmonize all the ills, and pains, +and agonies of this world with the idea that we were created by, and +are watched over and protected by an infinitely wise, powerful and +beneficent God, who is superior to and independent of nature. + +The clergy, however, balance all the real ills of this life with the +expected joys of the next We are assured that all is perfection in +heaven--there the skies are cloudless--there all is serenity and +peace. Here empires may be overthrown; dynasties may be extinguished in +blood; millions of slaves may toil 'neath the fierce rays of the sun, +and the cruel strokes of the lash; yet all is happiness in heaven. +Pestilences may strew the earth with corpses of the loved; the survivors +may bend above them in agony--yet the placid bosom of heaven is +unruffled. Children may expire vainly asking for bread; babes may be +devoured by serpents, while the gods sit smiling in the clouds. The +innocent may languish unto death in the obscurity of dungeons; brave +men and heroic women may be changed to ashes at the bigot's stake, while +heaven is filled with song and joy. Out on the wide sea, in darkness and +in storm, the shipwrecked struggle with the cruel waves while the angels +play upon their golden harps. The streets of the world are filled with +the diseased, the deformed and the helpless; the chambers of pain are +crowded with the pale forms of the suffering, while the angels float +and fly in the happy realms of day. In heaven they are too happy to have +sympathy; too busy singing to aid the imploring and distressed. Their +eyes are blinded; their ears are stopped and their hearts are turned to +stone by the infinite selfishness of joy. The saved mariner is too happy +when he touches the shore to give a moment's thought to his drowning +brothers. With the indifference of happiness, with the contempt of +bliss, heaven barely glances at the miseries of earth. Cities are +devoured by the rushing lava; the earth opens and thousands perish; +women raise their clasped hands towards heaven, but the gods are too +happy to aid their children. The smiles of the deities are unacquainted +with the tears of men. The shouts of heaven drown the sobs of earth. + +Having shown how man created gods, and how he became the trembling slave +of his own creation, the questions naturally arise: How did he free +himself even a little, from these monarchs of the sky, from these +despots of the clouds, from this aristocracy of the air? How did he, +even to the extent that he has, outgrow his ignorant, abject terror, and +throw off the yoke of superstition? + +Probably, the first thing that tended to disabuse his mind was the +discovery of order, of regularity, of periodicity in the universe. From +this he began to suspect that everything did not happen purely with +reference to him. He noticed, that whatever he might do, the motions +of the planets were always the same; that eclipses were periodical, +and that even comets came at certain intervals. This convinced him that +eclipses and comets had nothing to do with him, and that his conduct had +nothing to do with them. He perceived that they were not caused for +his benefit or injury. He thus learned to regard them with admiration +instead of fear. He began to suspect that famine was not sent by some +enraged and revengeful deity, but resulted often from the neglect and +ignorance of man. He learned that diseases were not produced by evil +spirits. He found that sickness was occasioned by natural causes, +and could be cured by natural means. He demonstrated, to his own +satisfaction at least, that prayer is not a medicine. He found by +sad experience that his gods were of no practical use, as they never +assisted him, except when he was perfectly able to help himself. At +last, he began to discover that his individual action had nothing +whatever to do with strange appearances in the heavens; that it was +impossible for him to be bad enough to cause a whirlwind, or good enough +to stop one. After many centuries of thought, he about half concluded +that making mouths at a priest would not necessarily cause an +earthquake. He noticed, and no doubt with considerable astonishment, +that very good men were occasionally struck by lightning, while very bad +ones escaped. He was frequently forced to the painful conclusion (and it +is the most painful to which any human being ever was forced) that the +right did not always prevail. He noticed that the gods did not interfere +in behalf of the weak and innocent. He was now and then astonished +by seeing an unbeliever in the enjoyment of most excellent health. He +finally ascertained that, there could be no possible connection between +an unusually severe winter and his failure to give a sheep to a priest. +He began to suspect that the order of the universe was not constantly +being changed to assist him because he repeated a creed. He observed +that some children would steal after having been regularly baptized. +He noticed a vast difference between religion and justice, and that +the worshipers of the same God, took delight in cutting each other's +throats. He saw that these religious disputes filled the world with +hatred and slavery. At last he had the courage to suspect, that no God +at any time interferes with the order of events. He learned a few +facts, and these facts positively refused to harmonize with the ignorant +superstitions of his fathers. Finding his sacred books incorrect and +false in some particulars, his faith in their authenticity began to be +shaken; finding his priests ignorant upon some points, he began to +lose respect for the cloth. This was the commencement of intellectual +freedom. + +The civilization of man has increased just to the same extent that +religious power has decreased. The intellectual advancement of man +depends upon how often he can exchange an old superstition for a new +truth. The Church never enabled a human being to make even one of these +exchanges; on the contrary, all her power has been used to prevent them. +In spite, however, of the Church, man found that some of his religious +conceptions were wrong. By reading his bible, he found that the ideas +of his God were more cruel and brutal than those of the most depraved +savage. He also discovered that this holy book was filled with +ignorance, and that it must have been written by persons wholly +unacquainted with the nature of the phenomena by which we are +surrounded; and now and then, some man had the goodness and courage to +speak his honest thoughts. In every age some thinker, some doubter, some +investigator, some hater of hypocrisy, some despiser of sham, some +brave lover of the right, has gladly, proudly and heroically braved +the ignorant fury of superstition for the sake of man and truth. These +divine men were generally torn in pieces by the worshipers of the +gods. Socrates was poisoned because he lacked reverence for some of the +deities. Christ was crucified by a religious rabble for the crime of +blasphemy. Nothing is more gratifying to a religionist than to destroy +his enemies at the command of God. Religious persecution springs from a +due admixture of love towards God and hatred towards man. + +The terrible religious wars that inundated the world with blood tended +at least to bring all religion into disgrace and hatred. Thoughtful +people began to question the divine origin of a religion that made its +believers hold the rights of others in absolute contempt. A few began +to compare Christianity with the religions of heathen people, and were +forced to admit that the difference was hardly worth dying for. They +also found that other nations were even happier and more prosperous than +their own. They began to suspect that their religion, after all, was not +of much real value. + +For three hundred years the Christian world endeavored to rescue from +the "Infidel" the empty sepulchre of Christ For three hundred years the +armies of the cross were baffled and beaten by the victorious hosts +of an impudent impostor. This immense fact sowed the seeds of distrust +throughout all Christendom, and millions began to lose confidence in +a God who had been vanquished by-Mohammed. The people also found that +commerce made friends where religion made enemies, and that religious +zeal was utterly incompatible with peace between nations or individuals. +They discovered that those who loved the gods most were apt to love men +least; that the arrogance of universal forgiveness was amazing; that the +most malicious had the effrontery to pray for their enemies, and that +humility and tyranny were the fruit of the same tree. For ages, a deadly +conflict has been waged between a few brave men and women of thought and +genius upon the one side, and the great ignorant religious mass on the +other. This is the war between Science and Faith. The few have appealed +to reason, to honor, to law, to freedom to the known, and to happiness +here in this world. The many have appealed to prejudice, to fear, to +miracle, to slavery, to the unknown, and to misery hereafter. The few +have said, "Think!" The many have said, "Believe!" + +The first doubt was the womb and cradle of progress, and from the first +doubt, man has continued to advance. Men began to investigate, and the +church began to oppose. The astronomer scanned the heavens, while the +church branded his grand forehead with the word, "Infidel;" and now, +not a glittering star in all the vast expanse bears a Christian name. +In spite of all religion, the geologist penetrated the earth, read her +history in books of stone, and found, hidden within her bosom, souvenirs +of all the ages. Old ideas perished in the retort of the chemist, and +useful truths took their places. One by one religious conceptions have +been placed in the crucible of science, and thus far, nothing but dross +has been found. A new world has been discovered by the microscope; +everywhere has been found the infinite; in every direction man has +investigated and explored, and nowhere, in earth or stars, has been +found the footstep of any being superior to or independent of nature. +Nowhere has been discovered the slightest evidence of any interference +from without. + +These are the sublime truths that enabled man to throw off the yoke of +superstition. These are the splendid facts that snatched the sceptre of +authority from the hands of priests. + +In that vast cemetery, called the past, are most of the religions of +men, and there, too, are nearly all their gods. The sacred temples of +India were ruins long ago. Over column and cornice; over the painted and +pictured walls, cling and creep the trailing vines. Brahma, the golden, +with four heads and four arms; Vishnu, the sombre, the punisher of the +wicked, with his three eyes, his crescent, and his necklace of skulls; +Siva, the destroyer, red with seas of blood; Kali, the goddess; +Draupadi, the white-armed, and Chrishna, the Christ, all passed away and +left the thrones of heaven desolate. Along the banks of the sacred +Nile, Isis no longer wandering weeps, searching for the dead Osiris. The +shadow of Typhon's scowl falls no more upon the waves. The sun rises +as of yore, and his golden beams still smite the lips of Memnon, but +Mem-non is as voiceless as the Sphinx. The sacred fanes are lost in +desert sands; the dusty mummies are still waiting for the resurrection +promised by their priests, and the old beliefs, wrought in curiously +sculptured stone, sleep in the mystery of a language lost and dead. +Odin, the author of life and soul, Vili and Ve, and the mighty giant +Ymir, strode long ago from the icy halls of the North; and Thor, with +iron glove and glittering hammer, dashes mountains to the earth no more. +Broken are the circles and cromlechs of the ancient Druids; fallen upon +the summits of the hills, and covered with the centuries' moss, are the +sacred cairns. The divine fires of Persia and of the Aztecs, have died +out in the ashes of the past, and there is none to rekindle, and none to +feed the holy flames. The harp of Orpheus is still; the drained cup of +Bacchus has been thrown aside; Venus lies dead in stone, and her white +bosom heaves no more with love. The streams still murmur, but no naiads +bathe; the trees still wave, but in the forest aisles no dryads dance. +The gods have flown from high Olympus. Not even the beautiful women can +lure them back, and Danse lies unnoticed, naked to the stars. Hushed +forever are the thunders of Sinai; lost are the voices of the prophets, +and the land once flowing with milk and honey, is but a desert waste. +One by one, the myths have faded from the clouds; one by one, the +phantom host has disappeared, and one by one, facts, truths and +realities have taken their places. The supernatural has almost gone, but +the natural remains. The gods have fled, but man is here. + +Nations, like individuals, have their periods of youth, of manhood and +decay. Religions are the same. The same inexorable destiny awaits them +all. The gods created by the nations must perish with their creators. +They were created by men, and like men, they must pass away. The deities +of one age are the by-words of the next. The religion of our day, and +country, is no more exempt from the sneer of the future than the others +have been. When India was supreme, Brahma sat upon the world's throne. +When the sceptre passed to Egypt, Isis and Osiris received the homage of +mankind. Greece, with her fierce valor, swept to empire, and Zeus put +on the purple of authority. The earth trembled with the tread of Rome's +intrepid sons, and Jove grasped with mailed hand the thunderbolts of +heaven. Rome fell, and Christians from her territory, with the red sword +of war, carved out the ruling nations of the world, and now Christ sits +upon the old throne. Who will be his successor? + +Day by day, religious conceptions grow less and less intense. Day by +day, the old spirit dies out of book and creed. The burning enthusiasm, +the quenchless zeal of the early church have gone, never, never to +return. The ceremonies remain, but the ancient faith is fading out +of the human heart. The worn-out arguments fail to convince, and +denunciations that once blanched the faces of a race, excite in us +only derision and disgust. As time rolls on, the miracles grow mean and +small, and the evidences our fathers thought conclusive utterly fail to +satisfy us. There is an "irrepressible conflict" between religion and +science, and they cannot peaceably occupy the same brain nor the same +world. + +While utterly discarding all creeds, and denying the truth of all +religions, there is neither in my heart nor upon my lips a sneer for the +hopeful, loving and tender souls who believe that from all this discord +will result a perfect harmony; that every evil will in some mysterious +way become a good, and that above and over all there is a being who, in +some way, will reclaim and glorify every one of the children of men; +but for those who heartlessly try to prove that salvation is almost +impossible; that damnation is almost certain; that the highway of the +universe leads to hell; who fill life with fear and death with horror; +who curse the cradle and mock the tomb, it is impossible to entertain +other than feelings of pity, contempt and scorn. + +Reason, Observation and Experience--the Holy Trinity of +Science--have taught us that happiness is the only good; that the time +to be happy is now, and the way to be happy is to make others so. This +is enough for us. In this belief we are content to live and die. If by +any possibility the existence of a power superior to, and independent +of, nature shall be demonstrated, there will then be time enough to +kneel. Until then, let us stand erect. + +Notwithstanding the fact that infidels in all ages have battled for +the rights of man, and have at all times been the fearless advocates +of liberty and justice, we are constantly charged by the Church with +tearing down without building again. The Church should by this time know +that it is utterly impossible to rob men of their opinions. The history +of religious persecution fully establishes the fact that the mind +necessarily resists and defies every attempt to control it by violence. +The mind necessarily clings to old ideas until prepared for the new. +The moment we comprehend the truth, all erroneous ideas are of necessity +cast aside. + +A surgeon once called upon a poor cripple and kindly offered to render +him any assistance in his power. The surgeon began to discourse very +learnedly upon the nature and origin of disease; of the curative +properties of certain medicines; of the advantages of exercise, air and +light, and of the various ways in which health and strength could be +restored. These remarks were so full of good sense, and discovered so +much profound thought and accurate knowledge, that the cripple, becoming +thoroughly alarmed, cried out, "Do not, I pray you, take away my +crutches. They are my only support, and without them I should be +miserable indeed!" "I am not going," said the surgeon, "to take away +your crutches. I am going to cure you, and then you will throw the +crutches away yourself." + +For the vagaries of the clouds the infidels propose to substitute the +realities of earth; for superstition, the splendid demonstrations and +achievements of science; and for theological tyranny, the chainless +liberty of thought. + +We do not say that we have discovered all; that our doctrines are the +all in all of truth. We know of no end to the development of man. We +cannot unravel the infinite complications of matter and force. The +history of one monad is as unknown as that of the universe; one drop of +water is as wonderful as all the seas; one leaf, as all the forests; and +one grain of sand, as all the stars. + +We are not endeavoring to chain the future, but to free the present. We +are not forging fetters for our children, but we are breaking those our +fathers made for us. We are the advocates of inquiry, of investigation +and thought. This of itself, is an admission that we are not perfectly +satisfied with all our conclusions. Philosophy has not the egotism of +faith. While superstition builds walls and creates obstructions, +science opens all the highways of thought. We do not pretend to have +circumnavigated everything, and to have solved all difficulties, but we +do believe that it is better to love men than to fear gods; that it is +grander and nobler to think and investigate for yourself than to repeat +a creed. We are satisfied that there can be but little liberty on earth +while men worship a tyrant in heaven. We do not expect to accomplish +everything in our day; but we want to do what good we can, and to render +all the service possible in the holy cause of human progress. We know +that doing away with gods and supernatural persons and powers is not an +end. It is a means to an end: the real end being the happiness of man. + +Felling forests is not the end of agriculture. Driving pirates from the +sea is not all there is of commerce. + +We are laying the foundations of the grand temple of the +future--not the temple of all the gods, but of all the people--wherein, +with appropriate rites, will be celebrated the religion of Humanity. We +are doing what little we can to hasten the coming of the day when +society shall cease producing millionaires and mendicants--gorged +indolence and famished industry--truth in rags, and superstition robed +and crowned. We are looking for the time when the useful shall be the +honorable; and when Reason, throned upon the world's brain, shall be the +King of Kings, and God of Gods. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Gods, by Robert G. 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