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diff --git a/38107.txt b/38107.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..84f7753 --- /dev/null +++ b/38107.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1974 @@ +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] + +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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