THERE are two ways,--the natural and the supernatural.
One way is to live for the world we are in, to develop the brain by
study and investigation, to take, by invention, advantage of the forces
of nature, to the end that we may have good houses, raiment and food, to
the end that the hunger of the mind may be fed through art and science.
The other way is to live for another world that we expect, to sacrifice
this life that we have for another that we know not of. The other way is
by prayer and ceremony to obtain the assistance, the protection of some
phantom above the clouds.
One way is to think--to investigate, to observe, and follow the light of
reason. The other way is to believe, to accept, to follow, to deny the
authority of your own senses, your own reason, and bow down to those who
are impudent enough to declare that they know.
One way is to live for the benefit of your fellow-men--for your wife
and children--to make those you love happy and to shield them from the
sorrows of life.
The other way is to live for ghosts, goblins, phantoms and gods with the
hope that they will reward you in another world.
One way is to enthrone reason and rely on facts, the other to crown
credulity and live on faith.
One way is to walk by the light within--by the flame that illumines the
brain, verifying all by the senses--by touch and sight and sound.
The other way is to extinguish the sacred light and follow blindly the
steps of another.
One way is to be an honest man, giving to others your thought, standing
erect, intrepid, careless of phantoms and hells.
The other way is to cringe and crawl, to betray your nobler self, and to
deprive others of the liberty that you have not the courage to enjoy.
Do not imagine that I hate the ones who have taken the wrong side and
traveled the wrong road.
Our fathers did the best they could. They believed in the Supernatural,
and they thought that sacrifices and prayer, fasting and weeping, would
induce the Supernatural to give them sunshine, rain and harvest--long
life in this world and eternal joy in another. To them, God was an
absolute monarch, quick to take offence, sudden in anger, terrible in
punishment, jealous, hateful to his enemies, generous to his favorites.
They believed also in the existence of an evil God, almost the equal
of the other God in strength, and a little superior in cunning. Between
these two Gods was the soul of man like a mouse between two paws.
Both of these Gods inspired fear. Our fathers did not quite love God,
nor quite hate the Devil, but they were afraid of both. They really
wished to enjoy themselves with God in the next world and with the Devil
in this. They believed that the course of Nature was affected by their
conduct; that floods and storms, diseases, earthquakes and tempests were
sent as punishments, and that all good phenomena were rewards.
Everything was under the direction and control of supernatural powers.
The air, the darkness, were filled with angels and devils; witches
and wizards planned and plotted against the pious--against the true
believers. Eclipses were produced by the sins of the people, and
the unusual was regarded as the miraculous. In the good old times
Christendom was an insane asylum, and insane priests and prelates were
the keepers. There was no science. The people did not investigate--did
not think. They trembled and believed. Ignorance and superstition ruled
the Christian world.
At last a few began to observe, to make records, and to think.
It was found that eclipses came at certain intervals, and that their
coming could be foretold. This demonstrated that the actions of men had
nothing to do with eclipses. A few began to suspect that earthquakes and
storms had natural causes, and happened without the slightest reference
to mankind.
Some began to doubt the existence of evil spirits, or the interference
of good ones in the affairs of the world. Finding out something about
astronomy, the great number of the stars, the certain and continuous
motions of the planets, and the fact that many of them were vastly
larger than the earth; ascertaining something about the earth, the
slow development of forms, the growth and distribution of plants, the
formation of islands and continents, the parts played by fire, water
and air through countless centuries; the kinship of all life; fixing
the earth's place in the constellation of the sun; by experiment and
research discovering a few secrets of chemistry; by the invention of
printing, and the preservation and dissemination of facts, theories and
thoughts, they were enabled to break a few chains of superstition, to
free themselves a little from the dominion of the supernatural, and to
set their faces toward the light. Slowly the number of investigators and
thinkers increased, slowly the real facts were gathered, the sciences
began to appear, the old beliefs grew a little absurd, the supernatural
retreated and ceased to interfere in the ordinary affairs of men.
Schools were founded, children were taught, books were printed and the
thinkers increased. Day by day confidence lessened in the supernatural,
and day by day men were more and more impressed with the idea that
man must be his own protector, his own providence. From the mists and
darkness of savagery and superstition emerged the dawn of the Natural.
A sense of freedom took possession of the mind, and the soul began to
dream of its power. On every side were invention and discovery, and
bolder thought. The church began to regard the friends of science as
its foes: Theologians resorted to chain and fagot--to mutilation and
torture.
The thinkers were denounced as heretics and Atheists--as the minions
of Satan and the defamers of Christ. All the ignorance, prejudice and
malice of superstition were aroused and all united for the destruction
of investigation and thought. For centuries this conflict was waged.
Every outrage was perpetrated, every crime committed by the believers
in the supernatural. But, in spite of all, the disciples of the Natural
increased, and the power of the church waned. Now the intelligence of
the world is on the side of the Natural. Still the conflict goes on--the
supernatural constantly losing, and the Natural constantly gaining. In a
few years the victory of science over superstition will be complete and
universal.
So, there have been for many centuries two philosophies of life;
one in favor of the destruction of the passions--the lessening of
wants,--and absolute reliance on some higher power; the other, in favor
of the reasonable gratification of the passions, the increase of wants,
and their supply by industry, ingenuity and invention, and the reliance
of man on his own efforts. Diogenes, Epictetus, Socrates to some extent,
Buddha and Christ, all taught the first philosophy. All despised riches
and luxury, all were the enemies of art and music, the despisers of
good clothes and good food and good homes. They were the philosophers
of poverty and rags, of huts and hovels, of ignorance and faith. They
preached the glories of another world and the miseries of this. They
derided the prosperous, the industrious, those who enjoyed life, and
reserved heaven for beggars.
This philosophy is losing authority, and now most people are anxious
to be happy here in this life. Most people want food and roof and
raiment--books and pictures, luxury and leisure. They believe in
developing the brain--in making servants and slaves of the forces of
Nature.
Now the intelligent men of the world have cast aside the teachings,
the philosophy of the ascetics. They no longer believe in the virtue of
fasting and self-torture. They believe that happiness is the only good,
and that the time to be happy is now--here, in this world. They no
longer believe in the rewards and punishments of the supernatural. They
believe in consequences, and that the consequences of bad actions are
evil, and the consequences of good actions are good.
They believe that man by investigation, by reason, should find out the
conditions of happiness, and then live and act in accordance with
such conditions. They do not believe that earthquakes, or tempests, or
volcanoes, or eclipses are caused by the conduct of men. They no longer
believe in the supernatural. They do not regard themselves as the serfs,
servants, or favorites of any celestial king. They feel that many evils
can be avoided by knowledge, and for that reason they believe in the
development of the brain. The schoolhouse is their church and the
university their cathedral.
So, there have been for some centuries two theories of government,--one
theological, the other secular.
The king received his power directly from God. It was the business of
the people to obey. The priests received their creeds from God and it
was the duty of the people to believe.
The theological government is growing somewhat unpopular. In England,
Parliament has taken the place of God, and in the United States,
government derives its powers from the consent of the governed.
Probably Emperor William is the only man in Germany who really believes
that God placed him on the throne and will keep him there whether the
German people are satisfied or not. Italy has retired the Catholic God
from politics, France belongs to and is governed by the French, and
even in Russia there are millions who hold the Czar and all his divine
pretensions in contempt.
The theological governments are passing away and the secular are slowly
taking their places. Man is growing greater and the Gods are becoming
vague and indistinct. These "divine" governments rest on the fear and
ignorance of the many, the cunning, the impudence and the mendacity of
the few. A secular government is born of the intelligence, the honesty
and the courage, not only of the few, but of the many.
We have found that man can govern himself without the assistance of
priest or pope, of ghost or God. We have found that religion is not
self-evident, and that to believe without evidence is not a praiseworthy
action. We know that the self-evident is the square and compass of the
brain, the polar star in the firmament of mind. And we know that no
one denies the self-evident. We also know that there is no particular
goodness in believing when the evidence is sufficient, and certainly
there is' none in saying; that you believe when the evidence is
insufficient.
The believers have not all been good. Some of the worst people in the
whole world have been believers. The gentlemen who made Socrates drink
hemlock were believers. The Jews who crucified Christ were believers in
and worshipers of God. The devil believes in the Trinity, the Father,
Son and Holy Ghost, and yet it does not seem to have affected his moral
character. According to the Bible, he trembles, but he does not reform.
At last we have concluded that we have a right to examine the religion
of our fathers.