The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 08 (of 12): Dresden Edition—InterviewsIngersoll, Robert Green
Religion
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 08 (of 12): Dresden Edition—Interviews
Ingersoll, Robert Green
Free thought
_Answer_. Well, I think my views have not undergone any change
that I know of. I still insist that observation, reason and
experience are the things to be depended upon in this world. I
still deny the existence of the supernatural. I still insist that
nobody can be good for you, or bad for you; that you cannot be
punished for the crimes of others, nor rewarded for their virtues.
I still insist that the consequences of good actions are always
good, and those of bad actions always bad. I insist that nobody
can plant thistles and gather figs; neither can they plant figs
and gather thistles. I still deny that a finite being can commit
an infinite sin; but I continue to insist that a God who would
punish a man forever is an infinite tyrant. My views have undergone
no change, except that the evidence of that truth constantly
increases, and the dogmas of the church look, if possible, a little
absurder every day. Theology, you know, is not a science. It
stops at the grave; and faith is the end of theology. Ministers
have not even the advantage of the doctors; the doctors sometimes
can tell by a post-mortem examination whether they killed the man
or not; but by cutting a man open after he is dead, the wisest
theologians cannot tell what has become of his soul, and whether
it was injured or helped by a belief in the inspiration of the
Scriptures. Theology depends on assertion for evidence, and on
faith for disciples.
--_The Tribune_, Denver, Colorado, January 17, 1886.
MORALITY AND IMMORTALITY.
_Question_. I see that the clergy are still making all kinds of
charges against you and your doctrines.
_Answer_. Yes. Some of the charges are true and some of them are
not. I suppose that they intend to get in the vicinity of veracity,
and are probably stating my belief as it is honestly misunderstood
by them. I admit that I have said and that I still think that
Christianity is a blunder. But the question arises, What is
Christianity? I do not mean, when I say that Christianity is a
blunder, that the morality taught by Christians is a mistake.
Morality is not distinctively Christian, any more than it is
Mohammedan. Morality is human, it belongs to no ism, and does not
depend for a foundation upon the supernatural, or upon any book,
or upon any creed. Morality is itself a foundation. When I say
that Christianity is a blunder, I mean all those things distinctively
Christian are blunders. It is a blunder to say that an infinite
being lived in Palestine, learned the carpenter's trade, raised
the dead, cured the blind, and cast out devils, and that this God
was finally assassinated by the Jews. This is absurd. All these
statements are blunders, if not worse. I do not believe that Christ
ever claimed that he was of supernatural origin, or that he wrought
miracles, or that he would rise from the dead. If he did, he was
mistaken--honestly mistaken, perhaps, but still mistaken.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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