The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 03 (of 12): Dresden Edition—LecturesIngersoll, Robert Green
General
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 03 (of 12): Dresden Edition—Lectures
Ingersoll, Robert Green
Free thought
Each orange is a life. Let us squeeze it dry, get all the juice there
is, so that when death comes we can say; "There is nothing left but
withered peel."
Let us travel the broad and natural way. Let us live for man.
To think of what the world has suffered from superstition, from
religion, from the worship of beast and stone and god, is almost enough
to make one insane. Think of the long, long night of ignorance and fear!
Think of the agony, the sufferings of the past, of the days that are
dead!
I look. In gloomy caves I see the sacred serpents coiled, waiting for
their sacrificial prey. I see their open jaws, their restless tongues,
their glittering eyes, their cruel fangs. I see them seize and crush in
many horrid folds the helpless children given by fathers and mothers to
appease the Serpent-God. I look again. I see temples wrought of stone
and gilded with barbaric gold. I see altars red with human blood. I see
the solemn priests thrust knives in the white breasts of girls. I look
again. I see other temples and other altars, where greedy flames devour
the flesh and blood of babes. I see other temples and other priests and
other altars dripping with the blood of oxen, lambs and doves.
I look again. I see other temples and other priests and other altars on
which are sacrificed the liberties of man. I look. I see the cathedrals
of God, the huts of peasants, the robes of priests and kings, the rags
of honest men. I look again. The lovers of God are the murderers of
men. I see dungeons filled with the noblest and the best. I see exiles,
wanderers, outcasts, millions of martyrs, widows and orphans. I see the
cunning instruments of torture and hear the shrieks and sobs and moans
of millions dead.
I see the dungeon's gloom, I hear the clank of chains. I see the fagot's
flames, the scorched and blackened face, the writhing limbs. I hear the
jeers and scoffs of pious fiends. I see the victim on the rack, I hear
the tendons as they break. I see a world beneath the feet of priests,
liberty in chains, every virtue a crime, every crime a virtue,
intelligence despised, stupidity sainted, hypocrisy crowned and the
white forehead of honor wearing the brand of shame. This was.
I look again, and in the East of hope's fair sky the first pale light
shed by the herald star gives promise of another dawn. I look, and
from the ashes, blood and tears the heroes leap to bless the future and
avenge the past. I see a world at war, and in the storm and chaos of the
deadly strife thrones crumble, altars fall, chains break, creeds change.
The highest peaks are touched with holy light. The dawn has blossomed.
I look again. I see discoverers sailing across mysterious seas. I see
inventors cunningly enslave the forces of the world. I see the houses
being built for schools. Teachers, interpreters of nature, slowly take
the place of priests. Philosophers arise, thinkers give the world their
wealth of brain, and lips grow rich with words of truth. This is.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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