Christianity is opposed to freedom, and consequently freedom is opposed to
Christianity. A Christian cannot be a freethinker, and a freethinker
cannot be a Christian. When a man is required to believe certain
doctrines, he is not free to think. A creed is to keep the mind from
inquiry. Questions lead to doubt, and doubt is the death of faith.
The church condemns freethought, because freethought cannot be bound by
its chain of dogma. There is no place in the Christian church for the
exercise of liberty. If the mind finds a new truth that contradicts the
old dogma, the truth must be strangled that the dogma may hold its power
over the thoughts and deeds of men.
To be a Christian is to surrender to the priest or minister in the name of
Christ. It is to be a monkey on the end of an ecclesiastical string to get
pennies for his master. It is to crawl at the feet of superstition.
To be a freethinker is to search for truth without fear. Where there is
love of freedom there is no reverence for authority. There is no faith in
God as sacred as love of man.
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
There may be lots of Providence in the world, but no man seems to know
just where it can be found.