The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 11 (of 12): Dresden Edition—MiscellanyIngersoll, Robert Green
Religion
The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 11 (of 12): Dresden Edition—Miscellany
Ingersoll, Robert Green
Free thought
Every orthodox creed is savage, ignorant and idiotic.
In the orthodox heaven there is no mercy, no pity. In the orthodox hell
there is no hope, no reform. God is an eternal jailer, an everlasting
turnkey.
And yet Christians now say that while there may be no fire in hell--no
actual flames--yet the lost souls will feel forever the tortures of
conscience.
What will conscience trouble the people in hell about? They tell us that
they will remember their sins.
Well, what about the souls in heaven? They committed awful sins, they
made their fellow-men unhappy. They took the lives of others--sent many
to eternal torment. Will they have no conscience? Is hell the only place
where souls regret the evil they have done? Have the angels no regret,
no remorse, no conscience?
If this be so, heaven must be somewhat worse than hell.
In old times, if people wanted to know anything they asked the preacher.
Now they do if they don't.
The Bible has, with intelligent men, lost its authority.
The miracles are now regarded by sensible people as the spawn of
ignorance and credulity. On every hand people are looking for facts--for
truth--and all religions are taking their places in the museum of myths.
Yes, the people are becoming civilized, and so they are putting out the
fires of hell. They are ceasing to believe in a God who seeks eternal
revenge.
The people are becoming sensible. They are asking for evidence. They
care but little for the winged phantoms of the air--for the ghosts and
devils and supposed gods. The people are anxious to be happy here and
they want a little heaven in this life.
Theology is a curse. Science is a blessing. We do not need preachers,
but teachers; not priests, but thinkers; not churches, but schools; not
steeples, but observatories. We want knowledge.
Let us hope that Mr. Moody will read some really useful books.
SHOULD INFIDELS SEND THEIR CHILDREN TO SUNDAY SCHOOL?
SHOULD parents, who are Infidels, unbelievers or Atheists, send their
children to Sunday schools and churches to give them the benefit of
Christian education?
Parents who do not believe the Bible to be an inspired book should
not teach their children that it is. They should be absolutely honest.
Hypocrisy is not a virtue, and, as a rule, lies are less valuable than
facts.
An unbeliever should not allow the mind of his child to be deformed,
stunted and shriveled by superstition. He should not allow the child's
imagination to be polluted. Nothing is more outrageous than to take
advantage of the helplessness of childhood to sow in the brain the seeds
of falsehoods, to imprison the soul in the dungeon of Fear, to teach
dimpled infancy the infamous dogma of eternal pain--filling life with
the glow and glare of hell.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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