The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 07 (of 12): Dresden Edition—DiscussionsIngersoll, Robert Green
Religion
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 07 (of 12): Dresden Edition—Discussions
Ingersoll, Robert Green
Free thought
Now, then, the foundation of the idea of right and wrong is the effect
in nature that we are capable of enjoying or capable of suffering. That
is the foundation of conscience; and if man could not suffer, if man
could not enjoy, we never would have dreamed of the word conscience; and
the words right and wrong never could have passed human lips. There are
no supernatural fields. We get our ideas from experience--some of them
from our forefathers, many from experience. A man works--food does not
come of itself. A man works to raise it, and, after he has worked in
the sun and heat, do you think it is necessary that he should have a
revelation from heaven before he thinks that he has a better right to it
than the man who did not work? And yet, according to these gentlemen,
we never would have known it was wrong to steal had not the Ten
Commandments been given from Mount Sinai.
You go into a savage country where they never heard of the Bible, and
let a man hunt all day for game, and finally get one little bird, and
the hungry man that staid at home endeavor to take it from him, and you
would see whether he would need a direct revelation from God in order
to make up his mind who had the better right to that bird. Our ideas of
right and wrong are born of our surroundings, and if a man will think
for a moment he will see it. But they deny that the mind thinks in spite
of us. I heard a story of a man who said, "No man can think of one thing
a minute, he will think of something else." Well, there was a little
Methodist preacher. He said he could think of a thing a minute--that he
could say the Lord's Prayer and never think of another thing. "Well,"
said the man, "I'll tell you what I will do. There is the best
road-horse in the country. I will give you that horse if you will just
say the Lord's Prayer, and not think of another thing." And the little
fellow shut up his eyes: "Our Father which art in Heaven, Hallowed be
thy name. Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done--I suppose you will throw
in the saddle and bridle?"
I have always insisted, and I shall always insist, until I find some
fact in Nature correcting the statement, that Nature sows the seeds of
thought--that every brain is a kind of field where the seeds are sown,
and that some are very poor, and some are very barren, and some are very
rich. That is my opinion.
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.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account