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diff --git a/39455.txt b/39455.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a56fec1 --- /dev/null +++ b/39455.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1292 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Is Life Worth Living Without Immortality?, by +M. M. Mangasarian + +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/license + + +Title: Is Life Worth Living Without Immortality? + A Lecture Delivered Before the Independent Religious Society, Chicago + +Author: M. M. Mangasarian + +Release Date: April 16, 2012 [EBook #39455] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK IS LIFE WORTH LIVING WITHOUT *** + + + + +Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Paul Clark and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This +file was produced from images generously made available +by The Internet Archive/American Libraries.) + + + + + + + + Transcriber's Note: + + Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as + possible, including non-standard spelling and punctuation. + + Some changes of spelling and punctuation have been made. They are + listed at the end of the text. + + OE ligatures have been expanded. + + Italic text has been marked with _underscores_. + + Bold text has been marked with =equals signs=. + + + + + _Sacrificing the earth for paradise is giving up + the substance for the shadow._ + + --Victor Hugo. + + Is Life Worth Living + Without Immortality? + + A Lecture Delivered Before + the Independent Religious + Society, Chicago + + By + M. M. MANGASARIAN + + I may be doing you an injustice, Bertie, but it seemed to me in + your last that there were indications that the free expression of + my religious views had been distasteful to you. That you should + disagree with me I am prepared for; but that you should object to + free and honest discussion of those subjects which above all others + men should be honest over, would, I confess, be a disappointment. + The Free-thinker is placed at this disadvantage in ordinary + society, that whereas it would be considered very bad taste upon + his part to obtrude his unorthodox opinion, no such consideration + hampers those with whom he disagrees. There was a time when it took + a brave man to be a Christian. Now it takes a brave man not to be. + + SIR A. CONAN DOYLE, + The Stark Munro Letters--Fourth Letter. + + + + +Is Life Worth Living Without Immortality? + + +Is life worth living? If we are in good health, it certainly is. In a +certain sense, even to ask such a question implies that we are not at +our best. It is the sick, mentally as well as physically, who question +the value of life. We cannot appreciate health too highly. Our +philosophy of life is more profoundly affected by the condition of our +body than we have any idea. If I were composing a new set of beatitudes, +one of them would be in exaltation of health: + +_Blessed are they that have health, for they shall take pleasure in +life._ + +Health also inspires _faith_ in life. The first commandment of the +decalogue, instead of reading, "Thou shalt have no other gods before +me," which is metaphysical and without definite meaning, could with much +advantage be altered to read: + +_Thou shalt not trifle with thy health._ + +How fortunate it would have been for man had the "Deity" given that as +his first and best thought to the world! Then, indeed, would he have +been the friend of man. We cannot preserve our health without observing +all the other commandments--of temperance, purity, sanity, self +possession, contentment, and serenity of mind. "Behold I bring unto you +health" ought to be the glad tidings of salvation. Give us that, and all +the rest will be added unto us. Health is the foundation of character. +If the foundation is insecure--if we have inherited disease and +corruption, we can be sound, neither in our thoughts nor in our actions. +The time may come when to be sickly will be considered a crime. A +revolution in our feelings in this matter is already taking place. +Formerly it was thought that the path to self-development is through +sorrow and suffering, and that the sick were the saints. The verdict of +science today, which has been confirmed by the growing experience of +man, is that pleasurable activity is the most wholesome environment for +man. Happiness has upon human nature the same effect that the sunshine +has upon the soil. Man is a failure if he is not happy. The highest +accomplishment is the ability to enjoy life. To those who say that +service or usefulness is the noblest aim of life, we answer, "Why should +those who serve the noblest ends of life be unhappy?" + +But let me first present to you the answer which one of America's best +known psychologists, Prof. William James, of Harvard, gives to this most +interesting question. Prof. James is a teacher not only of the young men +in one of our leading Universities, but his ideas have become a part of +the furniture of the American mind. Both his thought and the candor with +which he expresses himself have secured for him a large following. Prof. +James has an engaging style. Not that he is not also a profound thinker, +but his sentences are as symmetrical as they are solid. He writes to be +understood. That, I take it, is the secret of the masters of style. The +gods always speak from behind "clouds and darkness." That explains why +it is so difficult to understand what they say. But the great teachers +permit no screens, draperies, curtains, or hangings of any sort to come +between them and the public. There is nothing hidden about their +thoughts. Neither do they speak in parables. Whoever can not make +himself understood should hold his peace. + +The parents of this renowned psychologist were Swedenborgians, and I +believe the professor is still, nominally, at least, a member of the +Swedenborgian church. Swedenborg, as you know, was a mystic; he was, +indeed, a sort of a medium, who claimed to have seen and conversed with +God face to face, and to have received from him a supplementary +revelation, in some such sense that Mrs. Eddy or Joseph Smith received +one. Of course, Swedenborg was also a philosopher, which Smith and Eddy +are not. The early connections and training of Prof. James explain in +part his interest in the work of the Psychical Research Society, of +which he is one of the officers. So-called spiritist or occult +phenomena, such as automatic slate writing, table tipping and telepathy, +have always interested Prof. James, but he is by no means an easy +victim, though he looks forward hopefully to the time when science will +definitely locate the undiscovered country whose bourne has not yet been +sighted. + +Some years ago when Prof. James and I were summer neighbors in New +Hampshire--near Chocorua lake--I heard the professor deliver a lecture +on hypnotism in the village church of Tamworth. An incident occurred at +the time which has its bearing on the experience our Society is having +with the directors of the Orchestral Association. While Prof. James was +explaining the phenomena of hypnotism from the pulpit, I saw, from where +I was sitting, an elderly woman showing signs of restlessness in her +seat. Presently she rose to her feet, walked up the aisle slowly, and +taking her stand directly in front of Prof. James on the platform, she +upbraided him for desecrating the House of God by delivering in it a +lecture on hypnotism. In clear, though trembling tones, she ordered him +out of the church. Naturally the professor was greatly embarrassed, as +was also his audience. The old woman, however, was soon prevailed upon +by the elders of the church to resume her seat and keep the peace. But +she was trying to oust Prof. James from the church, as the trustees of +this building are trying to oust our Society from this hall, on account +of religious differences. The old woman of New Hampshire was not +successful, and I trust that the old woman of Chicago will not fare any +better. To close a hall to a movement is an easy thing, but to close the +ear of the world to its message is not so easy. + +I have spoken of the early education of Prof. James in order to explain +the metaphysical bent of his mind. As a psychologist, he has an +international reputation, but his greatest vogue is among, what are +called, the liberal Christians. The orthodox have no use for him, but to +those who are endeavoring to interpret Christianity so as to make it +harmonize with modern thought--who are filling the ancient skins with +wine newly pressed--he is a defender and a champion of the faith. Prof. +James seems to have discovered a way by which one can be a scientist and +a supernaturalist at the same time. He appears to be of the opinion that +a person may deny or reject many of the orthodox dogmas, and still be +justified in calling himself a Christian. He is, in fact, one of the +New Theologians, who are supposed to have reconstructed Christianity, +and saved the supernatural. For this service, Prof. James and his +_confreres_ are held in high esteem by those who would have had to give +up Christianity but for their timely help. + +In his lecture on, "Is Life Worth Living," the professor admits that he +is writing for the pessimists. It is they who are in the "to be or not +to be" mood of mind. The optimist does not need consolation, for he is +incapable of even suspecting that life is not worth living. Some +temperaments are as incapable of depression or gloom, as others are of +happiness. If there are parts of the world on which the sun never goes +down, so there are natures which know no night. We make a mistake, +however, if we think that the pessimist represents a lower type of +mental evolution. On the contrary, pessimism comes with civilization, +and it generally attacks men and women of a higher culture. Suicide is +rare among the negroes or the less advanced races; but in the United +States, representing the most perfect type of civilization, dowered +magnificently, and rich in the possession of the treasures of art and +nature; in America, the home of hope and opportunity--with its immense +prairies, its great West, its army of earth-subduers, empire-builders, +large-natured, generous, daring, enduring, restless, resistless +pioneers--more than three thousand people every year kill themselves. If +we were to seek for an explanation of this strange phenomenon, the +nearest we can come to it would be to say that these people prefer death +to life because they do not find life worth their while. There is not +enough in it to satisfy them. To use an Emersonian phrase, life is to +them no more than "a sucked orange." When the perfume, the aroma, the +taste, the tints, and the juices have been extracted from the fruit--who +cares for what is left. + +Of course, these remarks have no reference to the cases of sudden +suicide, committed in a moment of frenzy--when a man driven, as it were, +by a storm in the brain, lets go of his hold and slips into the +darkness. The professor has in mind rather those who even though they do +not commit suicide, live on reluctantly, under protest, and who treat +life as we would a guest who has overstaid his welcome, and to whose +final departure we look forward with pleasure. + +But there is still another class of pessimists who need to be reasoned +with. These are the people who brood over the existence of evil in the +world, and feel the misery of the many so keenly, that they think it +involves a point of honor to consent to be happy in such a world. The +contemplation of human sorrow, the surging waves of which break upon +every shore; and the cry of human anguish rising like the blind cry of +all the seas that roll, has a tendency to slacken the hold of the +reflective mind upon life. Prof. James admits that pessimism is +essentially a religious disease, in the sense that it results from the +inability of man to entertain two contradictory thoughts at the same +time: A father in heaven, whose tender mercies are over all his +children, and children dying of hunger and neglect! Infinite wisdom +enthroned in heaven, and a world running topsy-turvy. The refined mind +cannot contemplate this contradiction without distress. If God is +everywhere, why is there darkness anywhere? If there is within reach an +ocean of truth, why is it doled out to us in driblets which hardly wet +our lips, when we are burning with thirst? Religion provokes desires +which it cannot satisfy, and makes promises which it will not fulfil. It +is this contradiction which bites the soul black and blue. God is +infinite! and behold we are starving. God is light! and we grope in +darkness. God is great! and we cannot budge without crutches. It is this +thought which teases us out of our peace of mind. The idea of a God, +gifted with infinite parts, measured against the helplessness of man, +makes for pessimism. + +But in the opinion of Prof. James, religion alone can cure the disease +which religion creates. By religion, he does not mean merely loving +one's neighbor and being loyal to one's best thoughts. Religion, +according to Prof. James, means the belief that beyond this present +life, "there is an unseen world of which we now know nothing positive +but in its relation to which the significance of our mundane life +consists." If this is the first act of an unending drama, it would have +great worth and significance, but if it is a detached and disconnected +piece, upon which the curtain will soon fall never to rise again--if it +is never going to be finished--it loses, according to Prof. James, its +seriousness. In other words, it is the belief that man is an eternal +being whom no catastrophe can crush or annihilate, which makes our +present existence worth while, and which also reconciles us to the +discipline of pain and evil. Life is worth living, in short, if man is +immortal. This is the drift of Prof. James' teaching, as it is also that +of all supernaturalists. + +What evidence does the professor offer to prove the existence of an +unseen world and the immortality of man? He offers none. He admits that +science has not as yet demonstrated the reality of an invisible world. +Perhaps it never will, but what of that? "You have got a right to +believe in an unseen world," declares the professor. Is it not +interesting? It will be seen that if the professor has no evidence, he +has many arguments. One of his arguments is that, since, we must either +believe or disbelieve in a future life, neutrality in the matter being +an unattainable thing, why not take our choice, and while we are at it, +choose immortality. Another argument is, that as our longings and +yearnings in other directions have turned out to be prophetic, we have +every reason to believe that the desire for eternal life also will be +fulfilled. Art, science, music, health, have come to us because of an +inner impulse which prompted us to go after them. A similar impulse +urges us to seek the divine, which is a sort of proof that the divine +exists. Still another argument is this: All the great successes or +achievements of life came as a result of the courage that takes risks. +Without audacity, man would never have crossed the ocean, or invented +the aeroplane. If the belief in immortality requires the taking of +risks, if it is hazardous even to hold it, we should not hesitate on +that account, since some of the best things have come to us by taking +risks. Start out for God and immortality; and some day you may cast +anchor in the shining waters that lap the shores of a divine continent. +"We are free to trust at our own risk anything that is not impossible," +concludes the professor. Finally, there is the argument from analogy, +which I may explain by a personal experience. In the Pasteur Institute +in Paris, last summer, I saw in the vivisection room, physicians in +their white aprons, operating upon live rabbits, cutting and dissecting +them, while the helpless creatures were so fastened to the tables that +they could not move a muscle. Now all this must seem very cruel to the +rabbit. It must think the physician a butcher, devoid of all feeling, +or justice, and it must perforce denounce the world in which such wanton +torture is inflicted by the strong upon the weak. But if the rabbit +could take a larger view, if it could be made to see that its sufferings +are contributing to the progress of science and the amelioration of the +conditions of life upon this planet, and thereby helping to hasten the +day when disease shall be conquered, would it not be reconciled to the +physician's knife and the operating table? The larger view which would +embrace the world unseen will help to give to evil, suffering and +misery, which now we do not understand, a _raison d'etre_. The part of +wisdom as well as of courage then, is to "believe what is in the line of +our needs, for only by the belief is the need fulfilled. Refuse to +believe, and you shall indeed be right, for you shall irretrievably +perish. But believe, and again you shall be right, for you shall save +yourself." + +It will be seen by what has preceded, that Prof. James of Harvard +University, throws the weight of his influence on the side of those who +have always maintained that God and immortality are indispensable to the +happiness of man. In his opinion, what a man would be if deprived of his +reason, the universe would be if deprived of a God, and life, of a +future existence. The eminent psychologist takes the further position +that it is immaterial whether or not there is any evidence to prove the +existence of a God or of a life after death. If the belief is essential +to our happiness and usefulness, he thinks we have got the right to +entertain it, irrespective of the question of evidence. "If there is a +belief of any kind to which you have taken a special fancy, or one that +you feel like crying for," the professor seems to say, "help yourself to +it; you have only yourself to suit." Even if such a belief should +involve an element of risk, we are urged to take the risk. If it +requires audacity even to believe in a God and immortality, we are told +to have the audacity. It is his idea that when we are dealing with the +unknown, the important thing is the heart's desire, and not the question +of evidence. In passing, I might suggest that Prof. James would never +have thought of pushing aside with such nonchalance, the question of +evidence, were it not for an irrepressible suspicion that the evidence +is against him. He hopes to do without the evidence because the evidence +will not help him. This reminds us of the saying of the philosopher +Hobbes, that, men are generally against reason when reason is against +_them_. + +As already intimated, the liberal party in the church regards Prof. +James as a defender of the faith. He is classed with such men as Sir +Oliver Lodge and Lord Kelvin, who though scientists still believe in the +supernatural, and by their example have made such a belief respectable. +It must be borne in mind, however, that these distinguished men are +Christians only, if at all, in a very loose sense of the word. All the +cardinal doctrines of revelation, such as the creation, the atonement, +the incarnation, and a personal God--even one, to say nothing of a +trinity--they reject. These gentlemen have not enough faith to be +baptised to-day, had they not been baptised in their childhood,--or to +be received into any Christian church without greatly stretching the +rules in their behalf. It remains then quite true, and the argument has +not yet been answered, that there is not a single eminent thinker in +the world to-day who will subscribe to the creed of Christendom +without first going through it with a blue pencil, or a pair of +scissors. But Prof. James, as also Lodge and Kelvin, if they are +not supernaturalists in the ordinary sense of the word, neither are they +anti-supernaturalists. They are between and betwixt, if I may use that +phrase--not quite ready to part with supernaturalism altogether, nor yet +able to hold on to it in its entirety, and so they linger somewhere on +the borders or the edge of it. + +The first remark I have to make on the position of these newly recruited +defenders of supernaturalism--even though the supernaturalism which they +defend be of the attenuated kind--is, that their argument is not even an +improvement on that of the theologian. I like the dogmatic and +autocratic, "thus saith the Lord," of theology, much better than the +"suit yourself" of these gentlemen. The one position is as destructive +of intellectual integrity, as the other. The theologian starts with the +fallacy that God can make a thing true by an act of his will--that his +_say so_ makes all need of evidence superfluous. Prof. James and the men +of his school start with a proposition equally fatal to the +truth--namely; that whatever we wish to be true concerning the unknown +is true. All that is needed, for instance, to give the universe a God is +to wish for one. All that is necessary to make a man immortal is to +desire and believe that he is. "The Will to Believe," which is the +title of one of the professor's writings, makes truth the creature of +man, as theology makes it the creature of God. You see that after all, +the theologian and the "scientific" supernaturalist pull together. That +is to say, when science lends itself to theology, it ceases to be +scientific. It is not theology that goes over to science, but science +that goes over to theology. As soon as science appears at the camp of +theology, it is forthwith swallowed up. When Prof. James speaks of the +"will to believe," and never mind the evidence, he is borrowing from +theology, the "will to create" of God. + +Even as the Deity in creating did not have to consider anything but his +glory and pleasure, likewise man in believing does not have to consider +anything but his needs and desires. Ask, "What is Truth?" and the +theologian answers: "Whatever God wants it to be." Ask now the scientist +allies of the supernatural, "What is Truth," and they answer: "Whatever +man desires or craves it to be." Of course, it may be objected that it +is only concerning the unknown that man is permitted to dispense with +evidence and consult his will. But there is no merit, for instance, in a +man not telling any falsehoods where he is sure of being found out; his +character is tested by his refusal to lie where he is sure he never will +be found out. It is concerning the unknown about which we can say +anything and everything we please without the fear of ever being caught, +that we should restrain ourselves and show our loyalty to the +everlasting law of honor, never to depart from veracity. To make any +assertions about the unknown is to take an undue advantage of one's +neighbors. "Truth is not mine to do with it as I please," said Giordano +Bruno, "I must obey the truth, not command it." But the +theologico-scientific position is the very reverse of this. If a god +were to ask the question, "What is Truth?" His priests would answer, +"Lord, suit thyself." If men asked, "What is Truth?" the Harvard +professor and his colleagues would reply, "It depends upon your will to +believe." + +The name given to this "free and easy philosophy," if I may use such +an expression--is pragmatism, which is a word from the Greek root +_pragmatikos_, whence our word "practice" and "practical." The idea +at the basis of this philosophy is that whatever is practical and +business-like--whatever is necessary to a given program, is +authoritative. The philosopher, Kant, was one of the first to urge that +we have a right to believe as we please concerning the things which we +can neither prove nor disprove by evidence, if such beliefs are +necessary to morality. His modern disciples following his leadership, +take the position that it is the usefulness of a hypothesis or a belief, +and not its truth, that should concern us. "Does it work," is the test, +they say, of the value of a scheme or statement, and not, "Is it true?" +If it works, what do we care whether or not it be true. If it does not +work, it is of no help to us even if it were true. This is identically +the same argument which is advanced by the Roman Catholics, to justify +for instance, the belief in the existence, somewhere in the universe, of +a place called purgatory. "The doctrine of purgatory works," argues the +priest, and therefore, it makes no difference whether or not such a +place really exists. It is a useful, consoling and profitable doctrine. +Therefore it is as good as true. In the phraseology of pragmatism, +millions of people want a purgatory, therefore, there is one. And once +again, to the question, "What is Truth," the answer of both the +theologian and the pragmatist is, "Do not bother about it." And this +describes the attitude of the Protestant as well as of the Catholic +toward truth. They do not bother about it. Yes, _they do not bother +about it_. That is why progress limps and the darkness lingers. People +have been brought up not to bother about truth, which explains why error +is still king of more than half of the world. I cannot find the +words--all words fail me to express my disappointment that a teacher of +the youth in one of our great institutions, who are to be the America of +tomorrow, should in any way contribute to the impression that truth is +secondary; that our needs, our interests, our inclinations, or our +whims, come first, and that if we have not the courage to look the truth +in the face, we can turn around and make terms with myth and fable. + +If we were disposed to trip the professor, or by one single thrust to +disqualify him for further action in the arena of thought, we could say +that even from the point of view of the pragmatist, truth comes first, +and that by no imaginable manoeuvring can truth be shifted to a +subordinate rank. It cannot be done. Listen! You may not have to prove +the existence of a God, or of a future, or of a purgatory, before +believing in it. Granted: but you have to prove and you are trying to +prove, that it is _true_ that you do not have to prove them. Even +pragmatists who say that utility is before truth, labor to prove that it +is _true_ that utility is before truth. In other words, they have got to +prove the truth of their theory, whatever that may be, before they can +make it have any value, or before it can command our respect. Things +have to be true else they cannot exist. All the labor of Prof. James has +for its object the demonstration of what he considers to be a truth, +namely: that the truth of the belief concerning the unknown is not +essential. In other words, God may be true or not, a future life may be +true or not, but it has to be true that it makes no difference whether +they are true or not. Wiggle as we may, we cannot escape the ring of +reason that embraces life. This is what I mean when I say that the stars +fight for Rationalism. Truth is so tightly screwed and made fast to the +top of the flag-pole that even hands of iron and steel cannot pull it +down to a lower notch. + +A second remark I would make on Prof. James' manner of reasoning is that +such arguments as he uses to prop up the belief in God and immortality +show, not confidence, but desperation, if it is not too strong a word to +use. Urging us to take risks, to have the audacity, to ignore the +question of evidence, to suit ourselves, and, not to mind the facts, is +not the language of sobriety, but of recklessness. To say to a man +standing on the edge of a precipice and looking down into a chasm of +unknown depth and darkness, to jump over, because, perchance, he may +discover his heart's desire at the bottom, is frantic advice, and a man +has to be in a panicky state of mind to let go of the sun and of the +green earth for a possible world at the bottom of the abyss. It was a +thought of Emerson that the humblest bug crawling in the dust with its +back to the sun, and shining with the colors of the rainbow, is a thing +more sublime than any possible angel. If there were the slightest +foundation for the belief in an unseen world, no one would think of +resorting to such extreme measures as our learned professor does, to +uphold it. When I see a man huffing and puffing, I do not conclude that +he has a strong case, on the contrary, I am apt to suspect that it is +the weakness of his cause which has disturbed his serenity. To tell us +that we can will ourselves immortal, or will God into existence, and +that all we need is the audacity to plunge into the unknown, whatever +the risks, reminds me of La Fontaine's parable of the frog--who thought +he could will himself into the size of a cow--with fatal results. The +beginning of wisdom is to recognize one's limitations. To tell a man +that he can _will_ things into existence is to do him an injury. Pitiful +is the God, and chimerical the immortality that has no better foundation +than the whim of man. + +According to the doctrine of "The will to believe" there would be no God +if there were no men to "will" his existence, and no immortality if men +did not desire it. This is theology dressed up as philosophy or science. +How was the world made? And the theologians answer, God said, "Let there +be light, and there was light." How was God made? And the pragmatists +answer, "Man said, let there be a God, and there was one." This is +trifling. If the word is not too harsh, I shall call it sophistry, or +mental gymnastics, to which men never resort except when straight +reasoning will not help them. + +Sophistry is a plea of guilty. I was debating the other evening in a +Milwaukee theater on the question of the responsibility for the burning +of Joan of Arc. While listening to the defense of the gentleman who was +trying to prove that the Catholic Church was not responsible for her +martyrdom, I said to myself that such a defense would never have been +thought of were it not for the fact that the old claim that the church +of God cannot err had not broken down. In the same way the defense that +the bible should be taken allegorically, proves that the old position +that the bible is from cover to cover the word of God with every letter +and punctuation, as well as word and meaning inspired, is no longer +tenable. To say that the bible must not be taken literally is but +another way of saying that the bible is not true, or that you can make +it mean what you please. Men never put up such a defense for anything +unless they are driven to it by sheer desperation. + +My third remark on the pragmatic philosophy of Professor James is that, +besides doing violence to our reason, his doctrine that an unseen world +is indispensable to make life worth living, or to help make the world +moral, places man not only in an unenviable light, but it also does him +a great injustice. If it is true that a man will make a beast of himself +if he finds out that he is not a God, I take the position that he is +beyond hope. Nothing can save him. But it is not true. It is a priestly +tale that a man will not behave himself unless we can promise him the +moon, or the sun, or eternity. A man would only be a contemptible animal +if he must be given toys and trinkets and sawdust dolls to divert his +attention from mischief. The claim of the preachers that unless men are +assured of black-eyed houris and golden harps, or at least,--some sort +of a ghostly existence,--somewhere and at sometime in the future, they +will convert life into a debauch, is simply a falsehood. Man is not so +depraved as that. Indeed, the doctrine of total depravity was invented +by the priests to create a demand for the offices of the church. The +priest cannot afford to believe in human nature. If a man can save +himself, or if he can do good by his own effort, what need would there +be of the mysteries and the sacraments,--the rites and the dogmas? + +I had occasion to tell you a few Sundays ago that if a lily can be +white, or a rose so wondrous fair, or a dog so loyal and heroic, without +dickering with the universe for a future reward, man can do, at least, +as much. Would this be expecting too much of him? + +In France, there is, in one of the close-by suburbs of Paris, a cemetery +for dogs. Of course, no priest or pastor would think of officiating at +the interment of a dog, however useful or faithful the animal may have +been. They are brought here by their owners and quietly buried. The +visitor finds here, however, many tokens of appreciation and gratitude +for the services and value of the dog to man. Little monuments are +raised over the remains of some of the occupants of the modest graves. +One of these bears the inscription: "He saved forty lives, and lost his +own in the attempt to save the forty-first." He did his best without the +hope of a future reward. Is man lower than the animal? Does he require +the help of the Holy Ghost, the holy angels, the holy Trinity, the holy +infallible church, and all the terrors of hell fire to make him prefer +sense to nonsense, cleanliness to dirt, honor to disgrace, the respect +of his fellows to their contempt, and a peaceful mind to one full of +scorpions? Do we have to swing into existence fabled and mythical beings +and worlds before we can induce a human being to be as natural as a +plant and as faithful as a dog? The doctrine of total depravity is a +disgrace to those who have invented it, and a blight to those who +believe in it. It is not true that we have to be put through acrobatic +exercises,--make our reason turn somersaults, resort to +sophistry,--become frantic with fear about our future,--postulate the +existence of ghosts, Gods, and celestial abodes before we can prefer the +good to the bad and the light to darkness. Supernaturalism is both +negative and destructive. It denies goodness, and it destroys in man the +power of self-help. Von Humboldt's indignation seems pardonable, when he +used the word "infamous," to characterize the theologian's attempt to +make the well-being of the human race depend upon such supernatural +gossip as he had to market. + +And what is the verdict of history on this question? Does the belief in +God and immortality make for morality? How then shall we explain the +dark ages which were ages of faith, and why are not the Moslems, whose +faith in Allah and in a future life is very much stronger than ours, a +more moral people than the Europeans or Americans? Why was King Leopold, +the Christian, a moral leper to the hour of his death, while Socrates, +the pagan, who was uncertain about the future, has perfumed the +centuries with his virtues? Has the belief in the supernatural prevented +the criminal waste of human life, protected the child from the +sweat-shop and the factory, or even robbed religion of its sting--the +sting whose bite is mortal to tolerance, brotherhood and intellectual +honesty? There are excellent people who believe in the supernatural and +equally excellent people who ignore the supernatural, from which it +would follow that excellence of character is independent of one's +speculations about either the eternal past, or the eternal future. It is +not true then that we have to prove to man that he has always existed, +or that he shall always exist before we can make him see that the sunset +is beautiful, or that the sea is vast, or that love is the greatest +thing in the world. + +A man will be careful of his health whether he expects to live again or +not. He will avoid headaches, fevers, colds, anaemia, nervous +prostrations and diseases of every kind which rack the body and make +life a misery, irrespective of his attitude to the question of survival +after death. The question of health, then, which is a very important +one, is independent of any supernatural belief. It would not affect our +health a particle were the heavens empty or full of gods. In the same +way, men will continue the culture of the mind irrespective of +theological beliefs. Will a man neglect the pleasures of the mind, +despise knowledge and remain content in his ignorance, if he cannot be +sure that he is going to live forever? But if neither the culture of the +body nor that of the mind is in danger of being neglected, is there any +reason to fear that the culture of the affections and the conscience +will suffer without a belief in an unseen world? We have only to look +into the motives which govern human actions to recover our confidence in +the essential soundness of human nature, and in the ability of morality +to take care of itself without the help of ghosts and gods. You love +your country and you are willing to defend its institutions, if need be, +with your life, but is it because your country is immortal? Is America +going to live forever? Is it going to have a future existence? And yet +Washington and his soldiers loved it dearly and risked their lives for +it. Were the ancient Greeks and Romans, to whom patriotism was a +religion, and who loved and fought for their country--fools, because +they did not first make sure that their country was going to live +forever? You are devoted to art, you have built palaces for the +treasures of the brush and the chisel. You have paid fabulous prices for +the works of a Rembrandt and a Titian. Is it because these paintings are +never going to perish? Is the canvas which you adore immortal? You prize +the works of genius--of a Shakespeare, a Goethe, a Voltaire, a Darwin. +You have edifices of marble and steel in which to house the great books +of the world. And yet a fire tomorrow may wipe them out of +existence--they may become lost, as many great works have been lost in +the past. Nevertheless, are they not precious while we have them? If a +humane society will interest itself in the welfare of the horse and the +cat and the dog, which live but a few years; if the flower which blooms +in the morning and fades in the evening can command our attention and +devotion--must a man be a god before we can take any interest in him? +Must somebody be always whispering in our ears, "Ye are gods; ye are +gods," to prevent us from doing violence to ourselves or to our fellows? +And men seek health for the present, not for the future. And they +cultivate the mind to make life richer now and here. And love is desired +because it makes each passing moment a thrill and an ecstasy. What then +is the value of any speculation about the unseen world, since man can +care for his body, mind and heart, without venturing out on an ocean for +which he has neither the sails nor the compass? + + * * * * * + +But the unseen world is necessary, the professor seems to think, in +order to explain the suffering and the injustice in this. In my opinion, +such a belief has done more to postpone the reform of present abuses +than anything else. The time to suppress injustice and to relieve human +suffering is now, not in some distant future,--here and not in an +undiscovered country. The belief in God has tempted man to shirk his +responsibilities. He has left many things to be done by God which he +should have done himself. It is a nobler religion that tells man to do +all he can now, and to do it himself. Moreover, how can what is wrong +here be made right in the next world? What, for instance, can make Joan +of Arc's atrocious murder--a girl of nineteen, who had saved her +country, roasted over a slow fire--right in heaven? What explanation can +the Deity give to us which shall reconcile us to so infamous a crime. A +million eternities, it seems to me, cannot alter the character of that +act. The deed cannot be undone. That frightful page cannot be torn from +the book of life. You cannot destroy the memory of that injustice; you +cannot rub so foul a stain from the hands of even a God. Suppose God +were to say to us in the next world that this crime was necessary to the +progress of civilization. Would that satisfy us? Would we not still wish +for a God who could have contributed to the progress of civilization +without resorting to so unspeakable a murder? And there you are. Another +world can never reconcile us to a policy that required the commission +of crimes whose stench rises to our nostrils. What is wrong can never be +made right. + +You remember that to illustrate the thought of Professor James, I spoke +of my visit to the Pasteur Institute in Paris, where, in the vivisection +hall, I saw the physicians operating on live rabbits. Professor James +thinks that if the rabbit could see everything, it might say to the +physician, "Thy will be done." But the rabbit might also say this: "It +is well to advance science and civilization; and if it is a part of the +_scheme_ to make me contribute to it by my sufferings, I am resigned; +but what about the character of the _schemer_ who must torture to death +some of his creatures--slaughter with excruciating pain a portion of his +family--in order to make secure the lives of the rest?" The existence of +evil in a world created by a perfect God is the rock upon which all +religions go to pieces. If God can prevent misery and crime, but prefers +to work through them, he is to be feared; if he cannot help himself, +then he is to be pitied. Who would not rather be the rabbit on the +operating table, with the knife in his flesh, than such a God! A God who +cannot make a rose red except by dipping it in human blood can be sure +that no human being would ever envy him his office. On the last day of +judgment, if such a day there be, it will not be the rabbit, or man, who +will fear the opening of the books; it will be God. + +And how do we know that things will be better in the unseen world? +Suppose they should be worse? Jesus intimated that the next world would +be worse, for he says in Matthew 7:13-14, "Wide is the gate, and broad +is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in +thereat; because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which +leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." + +Surely this is not an encouraging prospect. A future which offers +happiness to a small minority cannot be looked forward to with +enthusiasm. Neither is the thought of a few saved and the many damned a +consolation. One of the oft-repeated claims is that the belief in God +and immortality is such a happiness that he must be an enemy of his race +who would deprive people of it. Even Rationalists are said to envy the +believer his peace of mind. But the truth is the very opposite of this. +There is abundant testimony to prove that of all people the real and +consistent believer is the most unhappy being in the world. The +proverbial unhappiness of the Rationalist, like the proverbial death-bed +horrors of a Thomas Paine and a Voltaire, is a pure fabrication. While +there is absolutely nothing in Rationalism to make anybody miserable, +since it does away with fear, which is the only thing to fear, +Orthodoxy, on the other hand, starts by not only calling this a vale of +tears, but proceeds forthwith to make it so. If we were to place the +greatest known Christian saints on the stand to interrogate them on this +subject, they would one and all confirm our statement. Listen, for +instance, to the confession of Thomas a Kempis: "Lord, I am not worthy +of thy consolation.... Thou dealest justly with me when thou leavest me +poor and desolate, for if I could shed tears as the sea, yet should I +not be worthy of thy consolation. I am worthy only to be scourged and +punished."[A] These are not the words of a buoyant and happy soul. And +listen to the lamentation of John Bunyan: "Sometimes I could for whole +days together feel my very body as well as my mind to shake and totter +under the sense of this dreadful judgment of God.... I felt also such a +clogging and heat in my stomach by reason of this terror that I thought +my breast-bone would split asunder. Oh, how gladly would I have been +anything but a man."[B] I could quote long chapters from the biographies +of the saints to show the wretchedness, the despair and the agony of the +believer, shuddering upon the brink of eternity--uncertain whether +heaven or hell awaits to receive him. I could give you a similar chapter +from my own experience. When I was much younger, I had implicit faith in +the bible and the unseen world. What was the effect of this belief upon +me? Did it make me happy? I can never forget the moments of agony I +spent on my knees, at the "throne of grace." My pillow was often wet +with weeping over sins I had never committed, and fearing a depravity I +could never be guilty of. Christianity in its virile form took hold of +my young heart as the roots of a tree take hold of the earth in which +they grow. I was as sensitive and responsive to its influence as fire is +to the wind that fans it into flame. "Am I saved? How can I be sure that +God has forgiven me? Where would I open my eyes if I should die tonight? +Oh, God! what if I should after all be one of the reprobates--damned +forever." Such was the terrible superstition that cheated me out of a +thousand glorious moments, and made my youth a punishment to me. One day +a member of my church came to me in great distress of mind. He behaved +like one who had actually seen hell. "I am damned, I am damned," he +cried. "God has forsaken me; there is no hope for me." If a wild beast +had its paws in his hair, or a hound its teeth in his flesh, he could +not have been more scared. If he could have only laughed at the stupid +superstition, all the devils of his distorted imagination would have +melted into thin air. + + [A] _Imitation_--III 52. + + [B] Quoted by Cotter Morrison, _Service of Man_--34. + + * * * * * + +"Our religion does not trouble us that way," I hear the Christians say +in reply. Of course not, they no longer believe in it. They let art, +music, science, the drama, business, to divert their attention from this +Asiatic fetish. Rationalism has dissipated the terrors of the future, +and tinted the horizon with beauty and light. But let them believe in +Christianity as their fathers believed in it, let them be sincere with +it, and it will make life miserable for them as it has for thousands of +others. Yes, believe in Christianity as the Apostle Paul did, for +example, and you must agree with him, that, "If in this life only we +have a hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." And listen to +the cry of despair from the lips of the Son of God: "My God, My God, why +hast Thou forsaken me?" The nails in his hands and feet tore his flesh, +but it was the thought that he had been forsaken by God that broke his +heart. Surely, if a belief in a future life could make anybody happy, it +should have made the death of Jesus a symphony, instead of a tragedy. + + * * * * * + +In conclusion: Not God, nor the unseen world, but Truth is the sovereign +good. There is nothing more excellent. If there be philosophies, they +shall pass away; if there be theologies, they shall pass away; if there +be creeds, cults, gods, they shall pass away. But Truth is _from_ +everlasting _to_ everlasting. + + In my mind's eye, I see a wonderful building, something like the + Coliseum of ancient Rome. The galleries are black with people; tier + upon tier rise like waves the multitude of spectators who have come + to see a great contest. A great contest, indeed! A contest in which + all the world and all the centuries are interested. It is the + contest--the fight to death--between Truth and Error. + + The door opens, and a slight, small, shy and insignificant looking + thing steps into the arena. It is Truth. The vast audience bursts + into hilarious and derisive laughter. Is this Truth? This + shuddering thing in tattered clothes, and almost naked? And the + house shakes again with mocking and hisses. + + The door opens again, and Error enters,--clad in cloth of gold, + imposing in appearance, tall of stature, glittering with gems, + sleek and huge and ponderous, causing the building to tremble with + the thud of its steps. The audience is for a moment dazzled into + silence, then it breaks into applause, long and deafening. + "Welcome!" "Welcome!" is the greeting from the multitude. + "Welcome!" shout ten thousand throats. + + The two contestants face each other. Error, in full armor,--backed + by the sympathies of the audience, greeted by the clamorous + cheering of the spectators; and Truth, scorned, scoffed at, and + _hated_. "The issue is a foregone conclusion," murmurs the vast + audience. "Error will trample Truth under its big feet." + + The battle begins. The two clinch, separate, and clinch again. + Truth holds its own. The spectators are alarmed. Anxiety appears in + their faces. Their voices grow faint. Is it possible? Look! See! + There! Error recedes! It fears the gaze of Truth! It shuns its + beauteous eyes! Hear it squeak and scream as it feels Truth's + squeeze upon its wrists. Error is trying to break away from Truth's + grip. It is making for the door. It is gone! + + The spectators are mute. Every tongue is smitten with the palsy. + The people bite their lips until they bleed. They cannot explain + what they have seen. "Who would have believed it?" "Is it + possible?"--they exclaim. But they can not doubt what their eyes + have seen. That puny and insignificant looking thing called Truth + has put ancient and entrenched Error, backed by the throne, the + altar, the army, the press, the people, and the gods--to rout. + +The pursuit of truth! Is not that worth living for? To seek the truth, +to love the truth, to live the truth? Can any religion offer more? + +What is the remedy for the pessimism that asks, "Is life worth living?" +A sound mind in a sound body. There is no better preventive of that +depression of spirits whence proceed the diseases which menace life, +and mar the happiness of man, than health--moral, intellectual, +physical--health; individual and social health. The highest ideal of +Christianity is a man of sorrows. The highest ideal of Rationalism is a +man of joy! + + + + +THE STORY OF MY MIND OR HOW I BECAME A RATIONALIST + +_Price, Fifty Cents_ + +# In this latest publication of the Independent Religious Society, M. M. +Mangasarian describes his religious experience--how, starting as a +Calvinist, a graduate of Princeton Theological Seminary, and a pastor of +the Spring Garden Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia, he thought and +fought his way up to + +RATIONALISM + +# The book contains a dedication to "My Children," in which the author +says: + + "I am going to put the story in writing, that you may have it with + you when I am gone, to remind you of the aims and interests for + which I lived, as well as to acquaint you with the most earnest and + intimate period in my career as a teacher of men." + + _ORDER THROUGH_ + THE INDEPENDENT RELIGIOUS SOCIETY + CHICAGO + + +EARLIER PUBLICATIONS BY MR. MANGASARIAN + + =A New Catechism.= Fifth Edition, Revised and Enlarged, with Portrait + of Author. Price $1.00 + + =The Truth About Jesus: Is He a Myth?= A new book of 295 pages. + Illustrated. Cloth, $1.00; Paper $0.50 + + =Mangasarian-Crapsey Debate on the Historicity of Jesus.= 25c. + + =Pearls.= (New Edition.) Brave Thoughts from Brave Minds. Selected + and arranged by M. M. Mangasarian. 25c. Presentation Edition, + limp leather $1.00 + + +A FEW LECTURES--10c A COPY + + Is the Morality of Jesus Sound? + Rome-Rule in Ireland, with Postlude on Ferrer. + How the Bible Was Invented. + Morality Without God. + +Sent postpaid on receipt of price. Ask for complete list. + + INDEPENDENT RELIGIOUS SOCIETY + CHICAGO + + + + +Transcriber's Note: + + +The following is a list of changes made to the original. The first line +is the original line, the second the corrected one. + + other gods before me" which is metaphysical and without + other gods before me," which is metaphysical and without + + a _raison d'etre_. The part of wisdom as well as of courage then, + a _raison d'etre_. The part of wisdom as well as of courage then, + + take an undue advantage of one's neighbors," "Truth is not + take an undue advantage of one's neighbors. "Truth is not + + manoeuvreing can truth be shifted to a subordinate rank. + manoeuvring can truth be shifted to a subordinate rank. + + frantic advice, and a man has to be in a panicy state of mind + frantic advice, and a man has to be in a panicky state of mind + + because it makes each passing moment a thrill and an ecstacy. + because it makes each passing moment a thrill and an ecstasy. + + straight is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth + strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth + + instance, to the confession of Thomas A'Kempis: "Lord, I + instance, to the confession of Thomas a Kempis: "Lord, I + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Is Life Worth Living Without +Immortality?, by M. M. 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