The man that does what his reason says is right is the man that should be
honored by men. There can be no higher authority for doing a thing than
that it is right. It is not whether a thing has ever been done before,
but, _Is it right_? If there is no precedent, then it is a duty to
establish one.
How many accept the opinions of others because they fear to question their
authority! This regard for what other people think and say is well enough
only when it does not destroy independence of thought and speech in
ourselves. Another’s opinion is not to be respected when it is a fetter to
our freedom.
We need not rehearse the evils which the world has borne on account of its
fear to do right _alone_. Man must have someone to share the danger, to
share the blame, but a dozen cowards are not worth so much as one brave
man, and right is no _more_ right because ten say it instead of one. A
thousand felt what Luther said; a thousand believed what Parker did. The
best man in us is often the one that does not speak. The truest belief of
the heart is the one never confessed. Man seldom comes to the surface. He
rarely has a call to be himself, but to be somebody that will please the
world. Man is obliged to make himself into a theological likeness; into a
political representation. It will be centuries before men can assert
themselves fearlessly without injury.
It is no easy matter for a man to set himself against popular opinion and
maintain his position. Every power is brought to bear upon him that
falsehood can invent and malice employ. A person who refuses to
acknowledge the authority of the hour asserts a higher. When a man slaps
the world in the face he should have truth on his side and courage to meet
the stake and the cross. The majority never forgives him who denies its
judgment. The individual that challenges the majority must prove his right
of defiance. When a man is greater or better than men he must pay the
penalty. The world cannot yet forgive anyone for excelling it. Authority
when it debases man should be disputed; when it denies man his rights
should be rejected.
It is plain to be seen, without illustration or example, that man’s
authority is not found in his own mind. He has no history that reaches
beyond custom. Man begins with man so far as facts prove. Society rests
upon hearsay and religion upon tradition. A claim has only to be made upon
ignorance to be granted. This good-natured world of ours would believe
anything, or make-believe believe it, to save its soul. It takes either a
very shrewd man or a moderately mean one to dodge every duty of life and
remain respectable. It is dangerous to go outside the beaten path, not
only on account of the persecution of the present but on account of the
folly of the future. The world can easily twist an action into a law or a
man into a God if profit hang on the end of its deed. The authority of
half man’s actions to-day depends upon some accident or fraud of the past.
Man wants a little of the fabulous yet in his meat and drink. He loves to
think that Jesus is present when he drinks his wine and eats his bit of
bread, although it is a mystery.
Popular opinion is the authority of most words and actions. We speak to
men as to children—to please them. We tell them some parable or fairy
story instead of telling them their faults honestly and trying to make
them better. Most men begin by bowing to public opinion and end by
carrying it on their backs.
The authority of the world may be disputed without any of the stars being
thrown out of their course or any of the processes of life being
disturbed. The notion that all has been discovered that is essential to
the welfare of man is a mistaken one. The other notion that the
preservation of whatever is elevating and refining depends upon the
religious opinions of mankind, is equally delusive. The authority of the
Bible, of Jesus, of the church, has been quoted until the world is
prepared for a better. We might lose the Bible and not lose our place in
the ranks of civilization. Jesus might be forgotten and man would still
strive for a higher life. The church might perish in a night and not a
single particle of goodness be lost. If we speak honest words, do honest
work and live honest lives, we need not ask for God’s help or the help of
anybody. We do not give to immorality the hours we redeem from
superstition. We give to manhood and womanhood every hour which we make
natural and free. It is not necessary for a man to go to church in order
to be righteous. The world found assistance before Jesus was born. There
has always been saints outside of a convent. We need no book holy that
good counsel shall be valuable. The highest authority is the highest human
enlightenment. It needs no priest back of opinion to give it force.
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
Why does a man enter the Christian ministry?
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
The reason that revelation is always made to the simple is that the wise
could not be imposed upon.
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
There is no sadder grief than that which lies at the bottom of a life that
has been wrecked through deception.
‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐‐
An organization that requires the suppression of facts and the
discouragement of knowledge in order to maintain its supremacy, is the
relic of a tyranny which our free age and our free thought are in duty
bound to remove from the earth.