Letters To Eugenia; Or, A Preservative Against Religious PrejudicesHolbach, Paul Henri Thiry, baron d'
Religion
Letters To Eugenia; Or, A Preservative Against Religious Prejudices
Holbach, Paul Henri Thiry, baron d'
Christianity -- Controversial literature
These are laws so clear, so demonstrable, and whose infraction is so
evidently punished, whose observance is so surely recompensed, that
they constitute the code of nature of all living beings, sentient
and reasoning; all acknowledge their authority; all find in them the
evidence of Deity, and consider those as sceptics who doubt their
efficacy. The Freethinker does not refuse to acknowledge as fundamental
laws, those which are obviously founded on the God of Nature, and on
the immutable and necessary circumstances of things cognizable to the
faculties of sentient natures. The Indian, the Chinese, the savage,
perceives these self-evident laws, whenever he is not carried headlong
by his passions into crime and error. In fine, these laws, so true, and
so evident, never can appear uncertain, obscure, or false, as are those
superstitious chimeras of the imagination, which knaves have substituted
for the truths of nature and the dicta of common sense; and those
devotees who know no other laws than those of the caprices of their
priests, necessarily obey a morality little calculated to produce
personal or general happiness, but much calculated to lead to
extravagance and inconvenient practices.
Hence, charming Eugenia, you will allow mankind to think as they please,
and judge of them after their actions. Oppose reason to their systems,
when they are pernicious to themselves or others; remove their
prejudices if you can, that they may not become the victims of their
caprices; show them the truth, which may always remove error; banish
from their minds the phantoms which disturb them; advise them not to
meditate on the mysteries of their priests; bid them renounce all those
illusions they have substituted for morality; and advise them to turn
their thoughts on that which conduces to their happiness. Meditate
yourself on your own nature, and the duties which it imposes on you.
Fear those chastisements which follow inattention to this law. Be
ambitious to be approved by your own understanding, and you will rarely
fail to receive the applauses of the human kind, as a good member of
society.
If you wish to meditate, think with the greatest strength of your
mind on your nature. Never abandon the torch of reason; cherish truth
sincerely. When you are in uncertainty, pause, or follow what appears
the most probable, always abandoning opinions that are destitute of
foundation, or evidence of their truth and benefit to society. Then will
you, in good truth, yield to the impulse of your heart when reason
is your guide; then will you consult in the calmness of passion, and
counsel yourself on the advantages of virtue, and the consequences of
its want; and you may flatter yourself that you cannot be displeasing to
a wise God, though you disbelieve absurdities, nor agreeable to a good
God in doing things hurtful to yourself or to others.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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