In all ages reason has been regarded as the enemy of religion. Nothing
has been considered so pleasing to the Deity as a total denial of the
authority of your own mind. Self-reliance has been thought a deadly
sin; and the idea of living and dying without the aid and consolation
of superstition has always horrified the Church. By some unaccountable
infatuation, belief has been and still is considered of immense
importance. All religions have been based upon the idea that God will
forever reward the true believer, and eternally damn the man who doubts
or denies. Belief is regarded as the one essential thing. To practice
justice, to love mercy, is not enough. You must believe in some
incomprehensible creed. You must say, "Once one is three, and three
times one is one." The man who practiced every virtue, but failed to
believe, was execrated. Nothing so outrages the feelings of the Church
as a moral unbeliever--nothing so horrible as a charitable Atheist.