"Ours is the safe side," says the Christian; "for if Infidelity be
true then both Infidel and Christian have the same destiny, namely
to die and end all, but if Christianity be true what will become
of the Infidel?" In reply to this we say, that although at death
both believer and unbeliever fall asleep side by side upon the
bosom of mother earth, yet it does not make yours the safe side;
because if Christianity be true then the most of the human race
go into eternal torment. Orthodoxy has always taught that "many
are called but few are chosen." Now if nine tenths of the race are
going to suffer endless pain I do not see how those who are going to
constitute a large part of that number and are to be eternally lost,
can call it the "safe side." For it should not be forgotten that
the vast majority of those who are going to suffer the wrath of God,
are professed Christians. "Many will say unto me in that day, Lord,
Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name done many
wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them--I never knew you,
depart from me ye that work iniquity." (Mat. 7 : 22, 23.)
No, no, it will not do to trust that side as the "safe side" where
"many are called but few are chosen."
We need something safer than that.
Again, we do not see how it can be the "safe side," to despise this
life, in hopes of another that we know nothing of. If Infidelity be
true, all Christians are superstitious idolaters. If Infidelity be
true, Christians are deceived and are corrupting the minds of millions
of children with superstition which will render them bigoted, cruel,
and unhappy. And this is about the size of it. How, then, can it be
the safe side. The safe side is always to be fair and honorable. It
is safe always to examine both sides. It is safe to be on the alert
for more truth. It is safe to accept the truth even when it cuts away
old prejudices and old beliefs. It is safe not to be a sectarian. It
is not safe to be a partizan, but it is safe to be free, courageous,
and honest in all things. It is not safe for you to cling to myths,
fables, and superstitions, and to leave them as a blighting inheritance
to your children.
Popular Objections to Infidelity Answered, Showing Some Mistakes
of Christians.
1. That we are negative, only.--We deny what we deem to be false,
we affirm what we believe to be true, Christians do the same;
only much that they affirm, we deny, and much that they deny,
we affirm. Negation is necessary and healthful. No affirmation is
possible that does not presuppose a negation. Negation is but the
assailing side of affirmation. We deny the fables of mythology;
we affirm the demonstrable truths of science.
2. That we have no incentive to good deeds.--If the Christian acts
as he believes, he does good to escape hell and gain heaven--he
respects the rights of others through fear of punishment and hope of
reward. Hence it is that he cannot understand how the man who rejects
his creed can be a good man. We do right because all the experience of
the race has shown that what we call "right" is conducive to happiness;
because the line of right action is the line of least resistance;
because we believe in the principle of reciprocity, and because every
act of every individual becomes a part of the inheritance of the race,
and thus as we are, so shall be our children. If we are intemperate,
diseased, and criminal, our children shall suffer in consequence
thereof. What higher or stronger incentive to right action can
be offered?
3. That we are unhappy.--Why should we be more unhappy than the
Christian? Why should we not be more happy? We live in the same world;
we believe in making the most of its opportunities for obtaining
happiness, while he (theoretically, at least,) believes that earthly
joy depreciates heavenly bliss; we are cursed by no fear of an angry
God, by no dreams of an endless hell and of a revengeful devil; the
Christian no more than the Infidel, is exempt from accident, sickness
and death, and the agony of parting with loved ones is his no less
than ours. He accepts Revelation and Creation, and hence believes
that we belong to a falling race; we accept Science and Evolution,
and hence believe that we belong to a rising race. Which is the most
rational and hope inspiring belief?
4. That it is "safest to believe."--If this proves anything it proves
too much. If our future (if we have one) can be rendered more secure
by pretending to believe when we do not, then the Protestant should
accept Catholicism, and the Catholic, Protestantism, while the members
of every sect should believe all that is taught by all other sectarists
and Christians of every school should believe all that is contained
in the sacred books of other religions.
5. That we hurt the feelings of those who cherish the old faith.--Why
should the Christian complain that we disturb settled convictions and
cut loose the anchored bark of faith? Has not Christianity ever been
a missionary religion? It seeks to disturb the religion of the whole
world. Christians attack all religions other than their own--our
offence is that we include Christianity in the category of false
faiths. (Lucifer.)
"All Owing to the Bible."
"It is a very common argument with Christians, that only those nations
which have had the Bible are refined, civilized and learned. The
following is the boastful manner in which Christians set forth the
claims of their religion: "Take a map of the world, draw a line around
those countries that have enjoyed the highest degree of refinement,
and you will encircle just those nations that have received the Bible
as their authority in religion." In refutation of this assumption
Horace Seaver writes: "From this language the plain inference is,
that those nations have been indebted to the influence of the Bible
for the positions to which they have attained. Let us follow out a
little this line of argument and see where it will lead.
"The ancient Egyptians stood as far in advance of their contemporaries
as do the nations of Christendom at the present day, as the remains of
their cities and temples fully attest. And if the argument is good,
they were indebted for that superiority to their worship of cats,
crocodiles, and onions!
"The ancient Greek might have exclaimed, as he beheld the proud
position to which Greece attained--'See what we owe to a belief in our
glorious mythology; we have reached the highest point of enlightenment
the world has ever witnessed; we stand unequaled in power, wealth,
the cultivation of the arts, and all that makes a nation refined,
polished, and great!'
"How immeasurably would his faith in the elevating tendency of his
religion have been increased could he have looked with prophetic eye
into the distant ages of the future, and beheld the enlightened and
Christianized nations of the nineteenth century adopting the remains
of Grecian architecture, sculpture, painting, oratory, music and
literature as their models! Pagan Rome, too, once mistress of the
world and arbitress of nations--the home of philosophers and sages--the
land in which the title 'I am a Roman citizen,' was the proudest that
mortal could wear--Rome, by the above Christian argument, should have
ascribed all her honor, praise, and glory to her mythology.
"The Turk and the Saracen, likewise, have had their day of power and
renown. Bagdad was the seat of science and learning at a time when
the nations of Europe were sunk in darkness and superstition. The
Turk and Saracen should have pointed to the Koran as the source of
their refinement.
"Thus we see that the Christian argument we are noticing, if it
proves anything, it proves too much. If the nations of Christendom
are indebted to the Bible for their enlightenment, likewise were
the Egyptians indebted to their cat and crocodile and onion worship,
the Greeks and Romans to their mythology and the Turks and Saracens
to their Koran."--Seaver.
The following is from William Denton's "Common Sense Thoughts on
the Bible:"
"'But it is well known, that in those countries where the Bible is
read, studied, and believed in, there is more knowledge and greater
freedom, more virtue and happiness, than in any other countries.'"
"If true, and if all this was the result of reading and believing the
Bible, it would not prove the Bible to be divine. A book may be useful,
though merely human. But where is the proof that we owe our virtue,
liberty, and enlightenment to the Bible? The Abyssinians have had the
Bible in their possession twice as long as the Anglo-Saxons, and yet
they are a race of barbarians still. What did the Bible accomplish for
the people of Syria, and Asia Minor, who were first blessed with it? So
little, that the Koran superseded it; the Mohammedans being superior
in almost every respect, to the Christians whom they conquered and
converted. The Greeks and Romans were as far in advance of surrounding
nations as we are or profess to be. Was it the Bible that elevated
and made them and made their unsurpassed poets, painters, sculptors,
and orators? Their priests, doubtless, attributed their superiority
to the superior religion they possessed. So Bible believers oppose
science and reform to the last; but when they triumph in spite of
their opposition, they are the first to shout glory to the Bible for
what it has accomplished."--Denton.
"I had a conversation with a gentleman once--and these gentlemen are
always mistaking something that goes along with a thing for the cause
of the thing--and he stated to me that his particular religion was
the cause of all advancement. I said to him, 'No, sir; the causes of
all advancement in my judgment, are plug hats and suspenders.' And
I said to him, 'You go to Turkey, where they are semi-barbarians,
and you won't find a pair of suspenders or a plug hat in all that
country; you go to Russia, and you will find now and then a pair of
suspenders at Moscow or St. Petersburg; but you go on down until you
strike Austria, and black hats begin; then you go to Paris, Berlin, and
New York, and you will find everybody wears suspenders and everybody
wears black hats. Wherever you find education and music, there you
will find black hats and suspenders.' He said that any man who said
to him that plug hats and suspenders had done more for mankind than
the Bible and religion he would not talk to." (Ingersoll's "Ghosts.")