ALL religion has for its basis the tyranny of God and the slavery of
man.
18. "If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey
the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they
have chastened him, will not hearken unto them.
19. "Then shall his father and his mother lay hold on him, and bring him
out unto the elders of his city, and unto, the gate of his place.
20. "And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is
stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice, he is a glutton and
a drunkard.
21. "And all the men of his city shall stone him with stones, that he
die; so shalt thou put evil away from among you; and all Israel shall
hear, and fear."--_Deut. xxi._
Abraham was commanded to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice. He
proceeded to obey. And the boy, being then about thirty years of age,
was not consulted. At the command of a phantom of the air, a man was
willing to offer upon the altar his only son. And such was the slavery
of children, that the only son had not the spirit to resist.
Have you ever read the story of Jephthah?
30 "And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou shalt
without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,
31. "Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my
house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon,
shall surely be the Lord's, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.
32. "So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against
them; and the Lord delivered them into his hands.
33. "And he smote them from Aroer, even till thou come to Minnith, even
twenty cities, and unto the plain of the vineyards, with a very great
slaughter. Thus the children of Ammon were subdued before the children
of Israel.
34."And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and behold, his daughter
came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances; and she was his only
child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.
35. "And it came to pass, when he saw her, that he rent his clothes, and
said, Alas, my daughter! thou hast brought me very low, and thou art one
of them that trouble me: for I have opened my mouth unto the Lord, and I
cannot go back....
39. "And it came to pass at the end of two months, that she returned
unto her father, who did with her according to his vow which he had
vowed."--_Judges xi._
Is there in the history of the world a sadder thing than this? What can
we think of a father who would sacrifice his daughter to a demon God?
And what can we think of a God who would accept such a sacrifice? Can
such a God be worthy of the worship of man? I plead for the rights of
children. I plead for the government of kindness and love. I plead
for the republic of home, the democracy of the fireside. I plead for
affection. And for this I am pursued by invective. For this I am called
a fiend, a devil, a monster, by Christian editors and clergymen,
by those who pretend to love their enemies and pray for those that
despitefully use them.
Allow me to give you another instance of affection related in the
Scriptures. There was, it seems, a most excellent man by the name of
Job. The Lord was walking up and down, and happening to meet Satan, said
to him: "Are you acquainted with my servant Job? Have you noticed what
an excellent man he is?" And Satan replied to him and said: "Why should
he not be an excellent man--you have given him everything he wants? Take
from him what he has and he will curse you." And thereupon the Lord gave
Satan the power to destroy the property and children of Job. In a little
while these high contracting parties met again; and the Lord seemed
somewhat elated with his success, and called again the attention of
Satan to the sinlessness of Job. Satan then told him to touch his body
and he would curse him. And thereupon power was given to Satan over the
body of Job, and he covered his body with boils. Yet in all this, Job
did not sin with his lips.
This book seems to have been written to show the excellence of patience,
and to prove that at last God will reward all who will bear the
afflictions of heaven with fortitude and without complaint. The sons and
daughters of Job had been slain, and then the Lord, in order to reward
Job, gave him other children, other sons and other daughters--not the
same ones he had lost; but others. And this, according to the writer,
made ample amends. Is that the idea we now have of love? If I have a
child, no matter how deformed that child may be, and if it dies, nobody
can make the loss to me good by bringing a more beautiful child. I want
the one I loved and the one I lost.