The Creation of God - Jacob Hartmann (readict TXT) 📗

corrupting their morals and their understanding. It is paralyzing to every human effort. It is degrading manhood and womanhood. Analyze the meaning of the belief, the language employed, the associations of ideas, and seriously consider the amount of sense you can discover. Does not this rigid system of changeless belief prevent intellectual development? Does it not bar proper inquiry into the phenomena of nature? Does it not encourage a cowardly dependence on priestcraft and hypocritical cunning? Does it not extinguish every impulse towards the evolution of thought? Does it not stamp out the energies and aspirations of man and woman? Is not the kneeling and praying before some daub of a picture or the figure of some supposed God or saint debasing and degrading to the individual? Is not the act of prayer a humiliating acknowledgement either of an enfeebled mind or of a contemptible slave? Is not the will power subdued and deteriorated and the natural energy destroyed? Are not the functions of the brain seriously interfered with, the mental faculties checked in the normal process of development, and the powers of reason stifled by the asphyxiating influences of prayer? Does it not blunt the sense of responsibility, breed insincerity, foster falsehood, promote lying, and offer a premium for wrong-doing and a shelter for crime? Imagine the stupefying effect of counting beads. The “Rosary” is a series of prayers, and consists of fifteen decades. Each decade contains ten Ave Marias, marked by small beads, preceded by a pater noster, marked by a larger bead, and concluded by a gloria patri. Five decades make a chaplet, which is a third of a rosary. What a sluggardizing effect on the intellect, what a suppression of intelligence, and how near it brings them to the borderland of monomaniacs, by the constant mumbling of those insipid compositions. The sooner we get rid of the belief in this supernatural intervention in human affairs the better for our physical, moral, and mental welfare. Every time the priest induces his pupil to repeat a prayer, he stupefies and degrades his pupil. He knocks the pins of self-restraint and self-reliance right from under him. The blessing the pupil receives, and the forgiveness at the confessional, shift the responsibility for his acts off his shoulders, thus leading him to believe himself irresponsible for any wrong he may commit. The absurd doctrine inculcated, that God made him necessarily makes him irresponsible. If God was a fool big enough to make him bad, or silly, why should he be responsible? The priest who helps to maintain and sustain this belief, helps to weaken the pupil’s mind and rather gives him license to indulge than restrains him.

You are taught to deceive yourselves and deceive others by prayer, but you cannot bribe nature; you cannot deceive nature. The penalty must be paid for every transgression. And prayers are absolutely useless, nay, every prayer is an admission of an act of cowardice, just as every blessing pronounced is a humiliation to those receiving it. What necessity is there for a man who is supposed to teach morality to be dressed like a clown in scarlet, purple, or other-colored coat and decorated with an antiquated headgear like a mountebank going through a series of peculiar gesticulations and ceremonials of buffoonery, in order to sustain this ecclesiastical humbug? Would it not be better to train the intellect by teaching the young how to observe accurately, to reason soundly from facts, to think honestly and act sincerely, have the truth revealed and nature and nature’s laws soundly and practically interpreted? An insight into the secret workings of nature would lead to a more precise adjustment on the part of man to his complex surroundings, guard cautiously against the infringement of nature’s laws, and correspondingly produce gain in intellectual power. How can a man be otherwise than reckless, or willfully disobedient, to laws he is entirely ignorant of, though he brings certain punishment upon himself? Can there be any better discipline than to learn the cause and know the root of all evils, in order to avoid them, thus improving the morals and inducing one to take earnest pains to do well in the future? There is more satisfaction in doing right than many may think, if people were instructed how. Unfortunately, the ecclesiastical mills of forgiveness are too busy teaching supernatural follies, which actually mislead the ignorant and the foolish. As a foolish woman spoils her own child by her own silly conduct, so the supernatural creeds have spoilt humanity by perverting the moral responsibility in teaching their pernicious beliefs. Wonder why the world has not become better? Teach men the moral and physical laws of nature, by lessons of experience, that may guide them in their conduct through life. Teach them to learn prudence, and observe them faithfully and sincerely. Good, natural, healthy thoughts produce good actions; by their frequent repetition, generate good habits of doing well, of doing right. The nervous structures that are brought into play, the mental activities, function these excellences, developing these faculties, generating higher moral feelings. We finally come to regard as doing wrong acting contrary to our acquired habit. Good impulses to act right and do well come out of good feelings. To act otherwise becomes repugnant to our acquired habits, our second nature, and is judged unwise by our reason and understanding. Let nature teach you to be wise, and when you understand the natural you will cease to believe in aught supernatural.

Do not believe in a God—there is no such thing. Do not believe in the divinity of any man, whether he be called Moses, Jesus Christ, or Martin Luther. Do not believe that the book called the Bible, sacred scripture, and Testaments, new or old, is sacred, holy, or inspired by any supernatural being. Do not believe the story of the creation as recited in the five books of Moses—they are not true. It is a fiction, a sort of fairy tale. It is the work of the imagination of man. Do not believe in any miracle. No man can perform a miracle, except to the ignorant and stupid. No man in the Bible ever performed a miracle. Those said to have been performed were deceptions, tricks, and delusions. Do not believe in the Holy Ghost. There are no ghosts, either holy or unholy. And above all, do not give credence to that very silly piece of nonsense, that the Holy Ghost committed adultery with Mrs. Mary Joseph, the reputed mother of Jesus Christ. Nor believe that the young man Jesus was the son of God, nor that he came upon earth to save the world from sinning. Do not believe that there are three Gods in one, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost; nor God the Father, God the Son, or God the Holy Ghost. This fallacy, compounded of Hebraic theology and Grecian mythology, is an absurd fabrication—this trinity in unity, and unity in trinity. Do not believe in a heaven, nor in a hell. You make your own heaven, and your own hell. Nor place any reliance on future rewards, or future punishments. Your good conduct will bring your rewards and your bad conduct your punishments. Do not believe in angels, spirits, or any supernatural existences. Have no faith in anything you do not understand. Place no reliance on divine interference. Do not follow blindly any ecclesiastical teachings. Rely upon yourself. Let reason and common sense be your guide. Do not pray—praying makes a coward of you. Nor place confidence in the blessing of any man, be he the pope or some fanatical preacher. Never kneel before any image, whether it be the nude figure of Christ, or a daub painting of the Virgin Mary. Do not be the dupe of priestly cunning. Do not be afraid of anything except your own bad deeds, your vicious habits, and your own transgressions.

Some Rules and Duties in Life.

Health is essential for physical and mental labor. The maintenance of health consists in having proper food, proper clothing, and proper shelter. Work is a duty, nature demands it. Exercise that duty. Earn so much as will provide the necessary comforts in life. Indolence is a vice, and laziness a crime. They are of no good to their practicers, and a curse to others. Economy is a law of nature. Save your surplus produce of industry. It comes useful in time of need. Avoid excesses of all kinds. Do not overtax or over-stimulate the organs of the body. Luxuries are injurious to health. Remember the stomach is only a receptacle for food and not a cesspool for all kinds of refuse. Cleanliness of stomach and body is necessary for the healthy action both of mind and body. A rigid adherence to the natural rules is the surest safeguard against disease. Make judicious use of everything. Abuse neither yourself nor others. Each individual is his own guardian over his own acts. He himself is responsible for his own misdeeds, whether through ignorance, want of proper education or understanding, or weakness.

Our guide through life should be: Speak the truth always. Let yes and no be the form of speech. Every promise fulfill. Never deceive yourself, or deceive others. Promise nothing you cannot perform. Honesty is ennobling, dishonesty debasing. Let every word and act be strictly reliable, never waver or fail in your integrity. Be punctilious in your duties towards others. Do not cheat yourself or your neighbors. Misrepresentation is wrong. Have confidence in yourself, others will have confidence in you. Do not slander others, lest you do an injury, doing evil without benefit to yourself. A slanderer is despised. Let your motives be pure, your purpose upright. Be mild in speech, even in temper. Kind words are inexpensive. Anger and passion are brutal qualities, be human. Do not get excited over trifles, it does not prolong life. If your habits are bad, mend them. Good impulses come from good feelings, as bad impulses from bad feelings. Our character is molded by our habits, as our habits are by our instruction. By your conduct gain the esteem of your fellow-men. It is better to be loved than hated. Injure no one. Despise no one. Be neither prejudiced nor bigoted. Gain the respect of every man, and respect those that deserve to be respected. Obey the existing laws. Learn to depend on yourself. Trust in your own judgment, none will be so true to you as yourself. Hope is delusive, action is certain. Reveal not your own thoughts to others lest they betray you. Confidence, self-possession, and presence of mind guard against surprises. Do not mind other people’s business, you may not find time to mind your own. Negligence is a fault, diligence is a virtue. Frivolity is the froth of life. It has neither strength nor substance. There is more satisfaction in an ounce of peace than in a ton of wrangling. Control your appetites, subdue your passions, if you would be human. Remember there is no heaven beyond this life, therefore make your home and your life as beautiful as you can. Few wants well supplied, is better than many wants unsatisfied. Desire nothing you cannot obtain, it will save you annoyance. Do not assume to be what you are not. Nature has marked you. Do not be tempted by trifles, life is too short and time too precious. Pleasures are enjoyable where the senses are not overstrained. Be not too proud, nor too vain, no matter how great you are; man, like the animal, is composed only of eighteen elements. Ambition is laudable, when others are not made to suffer. Do not try to be greater than you are; a gill will never fill a pint. Gain understanding, and let reason and common sense guide you in all your acts. Look out. Save your honor,