In the matter of religion, men are but overgrown children. The more
absurd a religion is, and the fuller of marvels, the more power it
exerts; the devotee thinks himself obliged to place no limits to his
credulity; the more inconceivable things are, the more divine they
appear to him; the more incredible they are, the more merit he gives
himself for believing them.
XIV.--THERE WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN ANY RELIGION IF THERE HAD NEVER BEEN
ANY DARK AND BARBAROUS AGES.
The origin of religious opinions dates, as a general thing, from the
time when savage nations were yet in a state of infancy. It was to
coarse, ignorant, and stupid men that the founders of religion addressed
themselves in all ages, in order to present them with Gods, ceremonies,
histories of fabulous Divinities, marvelous and terrible fables. These
chimeras, adopted without examination by the fathers, have been
transmitted with more or less changes to their polished children, who
often do not reason more than their fathers.