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
According to this, George III. was ordained of God. He was King of Great
Britian by divine right, and by divine right was the lawful King of the
American Colonies. The leaders in the Revolutionary struggle resisted
the power, and according to these passages, resisted the ordinances of
God; and for that resistance they are promised the eternal recompense of
damnation.
3. "For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt
thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou
shalt have praise of the same....
5. "Wherefore, ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also
for conscience sake.
6. "For, for this cause pay ye tribute also; for they are God's
ministers, attending continually upon this very thing."--_Romans, xiii._
13. "Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake;
whether it be to the king as supreme.
14. "Or unto governors, as unto them that are sent by him for the
punishment of evil-doers, and for the praise of them that do well.
15. "For so is the will of God."--_1 Pet. ii._
Had these ideas been carried out, political progress in the world would
have been impossible. Upon the necks of the people still would have been
the feet of kings. I deny this wretched, this infamous doctrine.
Whether higher powers are ordained of God or not, if those higher powers
endeavor to destroy the rights of man, I for one shall resist. Whenever
and wherever the sword of rebellion is drawn in support of a human
right, I am a rebel. The despicable doctrine of submission to titled
wrong and robed injustice finds no lodgment in the brain of a man.
The real rulers are the people, and the rulers so-called are but the
servants of the people. They are not ordained of any God. All political
power comes from and belongs to man. Upon these texts of Scripture rest
the thrones of Europe. For fifteen hundred years these verses have been
repeated by brainless kings and heardess priests. For fifteen hundred
years each one of these texts has been a bastile in which has been
imprisoned the pioneers of progress. Each one of these texts has been
an obstruction on the highway of humanity. Each one has been a
fortification behind which have crouched the sainted hypocrites and the
titled robbers. According to these texts, a robber gets his right to rob
from God. And it is the duty of the robbed to submit. The thief gets his
right to steal from God. The king gets his right to trample upon human
liberty from God. I say, fight the king--fight the priest.
THE RELIGIOUS LIBERTY OF GOD.
X.
THE Bible denounces religious liberty. After covering the world with
blood, after having made it almost hollow with graves, Christians
are beginning to say that men have a right to differ upon religious
questions provided the questions about which they differ are not
considered of great importance. The motto of the Evangelical Alliance
is: "In non-essentials, Liberty; in essentials, Unity."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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