Is The Bible Worth Reading, and Other EssaysWashburn, L. K. (Lemuel Kelley)
Religion
Is The Bible Worth Reading, and Other Essays
Washburn, L. K. (Lemuel Kelley)
Free thought
A great many people are afraid of knowledge, but we have seen hundreds of
people that we thought would be improved if they knew more, but we have
never seen one that we thought would be better if he knew less.
LORD AND MASTER
The Christian is fond of referring to Jesus as his lord and master. We
wonder why, for it is evident that not a Christian of this century takes
Jesus for his lord and master. The fact is, that there is nothing that a
_man_ objects to more strongly than a master. Man wants to be independent.
He does not want anybody to be lord over him. The struggle of the race for
ages has been to get rid of lords and masters, to be free from tyrants.
Religion is after all only dead politics. The church makes sacred what the
state casts off. What sense is there in fighting for long centuries to
liberate the body, and voluntarily accepting slavery for the mind? Jesus
is the ghost of a dead king. But why should the world prostrate itself
before his invisible throne when it refuses to acknowledge by its
obedience that he is fit to rule the kingdom of conduct?
What hypocrites Christians are! What a farce it is for men and women to
call Jesus lord and master! They do not obey his slightest command, and
they ignore his teachings as undeserving their regard. There is not a
precept, that the Christian church teaches came from the lips of Jesus,
that Christians honor by practice, not one. Never did a lord receive so
little honest respect from his vassals; never a master so little true
obedience from his servants.
Men and women are not sincere when they profess to accept Jesus as their
lord and master. They doubtless feel grateful to him for saving them from
the fires of hell hereafter, but they look upon him as a mighty poor
example for them to follow here. As everybody knows, the church does not
require that its members shall practice the precepts given by Jesus. If
she did demand this of men and women her membership would speedily be
reduced to zero. We do not regard a man as honest, or worthy of respect,
who calls Jesus his lord and master and turns his back in contempt upon
the precepts he gave his disciples to practice.
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
You cannot stuff your minds with the lives of saints and grow good on the
stuffing.
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
Some persons are remembered solely for their virtues and others solely for
their faults. This is why we have a Jesus and a Judas.
ARE CHRISTIANS INTELLIGENT OR HONEST
Future generations will regard the men who accept the Christian
superstitions either as simple or dishonest.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account