I don't know, do you?Ricker, Marilla M. (Marilla Marks)
Religion
I don't know, do you?
Ricker, Marilla M. (Marilla Marks)
Agnosticism; Free thought
There is too much faith in this country and too little sense. Men have
given up about everything they possess to be saved; but it is more
necessary, and more commendable in the workingmen of this nation, to
save their dollars than to save their souls.
* * * * *
A subject that needs to be investigated quite as much as, if not more
than, the high cost of living is the high cost of worship. There may be
some justice in the criticism of the price of meats. We must remember,
however, that we do get something for our money when we buy meat, but
let us not forget that we get absolutely nothing for the money spent
for worship. Money given to the Church is lost to the world. It is
not used to improve homes; to help the poor and needy; to alleviate
suffering; to bring hope to the sick or to give a few comforts to old
age. It goes into the pocket of ecclesiastical greed.
This country just at present is suffering from those twin curses of
humanity--religion and Bull-Mooseism. The priest and Bull-Mooseism
are the two worst trouble-makers in this country. To get rid of this
precious pair of knaves would be to bring peace on earth and hasten the
dawn.
I don't know which is the bigger knave, the priest or the Bull-Mooser,
but I do know that the priest is engaged in the meaner business of the
two.
When a man tries to sell me a mouse-trap to catch elephants, I am
suspicious of his mental sanity; and when a man tells me that eternal
happiness can be won by enlisting in his salvation army, I question
his moral sanity. I know that religion is offered at cut rates, but
there is no discount on morality. You can not have the reward of good
behavior unless you behave. You may save your soul by saying, "I
believe," but you have to _do_ something to save your body.
There is too much of this "believe-in-me" business. You don't want to
believe in any one you know nothing about. The faith of a little child
in its parents is beautiful, but the faith of a grown-up man in a
priest is idiotic. Faith has ruined more than it has saved. With faith
goes obedience, and he or she who obeys is lost.
There is no honest call today to believe, because there is opportunity
to know. Faith is hatched in the nest of imposition. He who yields
obedience is a fool, and he who demands it is a scoundrel.
In this age, as in the past, a lie made "holy" is allowed to
assassinate the truth. Nothing is cursing this nation; nothing is
cursing human life; nothing is cursing honest effort and brave striving
so much as what is called holiness. It is holy to believe all you are
told; holy to wear the robes of hypocrisy; holy to rob the poor in the
name of God, and holy to put the poison of faith to the lips of a
child. It is holy to repudiate Nature and make a lie of your body, your
mind, your life. To purify the dwelling-place of man, it is necessary
to drive from the earth everything that religion has made holy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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