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
To me, it has always been a matter of wonder that Christ said nothing as
to the obligation man is under to his country, nothing as to the rights
of the people as against the wish and will of kings, nothing against the
frightful system of human slavery--almost universal in his time. What
he did not say is altogether more wonderful than what he did say. It is
marvelous that he said nothing upon the subject of intemperance, nothing
about education, nothing about philosophy, nothing about nature, nothing
about art. He said nothing in favor of the home, except to offer a
reward to those who would desert their wives and families. Of course,
I do not believe that he said the words that were attributed to him, in
which a reward is offered to any man who will desert his kindred. But if
we take the account given in the four Gospels as the true account, then
Christ did offer a reward to a father who would desert his children. It
has always been contended that he was a perfect example of mankind, and
yet he never married. As a result of what he did not teach in connection
with what he did teach, his followers saw no harm in slavery, no harm
in polygamy. They belittled this world and exaggerated the importance of
the next. They consoled the slave by telling him that in a little while
he would exchange his chains for wings. They comforted the captive by
saying that in a few days he would leave his dungeon for the bowers
of Paradise. His followers believed that he had said that "Whosoever
believeth not shall be damned." This passage was the cross upon which
intellectual liberty was crucified.
If Christ had given us the laws of health; if he had told us how to
cure disease by natural means; if he had set the captive free; if he had
crowned the people with their rightful power; if he had placed the home
above the church; if he had broken all the mental chains; if he had
flooded all the caves and dens of fear with light, and filled the future
with a common joy, he would in truth have been the Savior of this world.
_Question_. How do you account for the difference between the Christian
and other modern civilizations?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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