,,morality ,,without ,,god ,including ,letter to ,right ,rev4 ,bishop ,anderson ,a ,lecture ,delivered ,before the ,independent ,religious ,society4 ,orchestra ,hall1 ,michigan ,ave4 and ,adams1 ,chicago1 ,sunday at #aa ,a4 ,m4 ,by ,m4 ,m4 ,mangasarian #aije ,right ,rev4 ,bishop ,anderson1 ,chicago1 ,ill4 ,reverend and ,dear ,sir3-- ,last ,sunday's papers announced that the ,episcopal ,church has arranged for a series of meetings in this city to arouse a national revival of interest in church extension at home and abroad4 ,the report also furnished the names of the distinguished speakers who will address these meetings at ,orchestra ,hall4 ,i write this note to suggest that1 if agreeable to you and your committee1 a representative of your church be sent next ,sunday morning to deliver an address before the ,independent ,religious ,society1 which holds its ,sunday meetings at ,orchestra ,hall4 ,we shall be very much pleased to have you deliver this address1 but it will be equally agreeable to us to welcome anyone whom you may delegate in your place4 ,if you have no objection1 ,i request that your address be on the following important and timely question3 ,can there be any morality without a belief in ,god8 ,this subject will offer you1 or your representative whom you may send in your place1 an opportunity to show the importance of the church in the moral education of the people4 ,it is understood1 of course1 that the lecturer of the ,independent ,religious ,society will be upon the platform with you at ,orchestra ,hall1 to introduce you1 and to present his thoughts on the same subject ,you may speak first1 or if you prefer to make the closing address1 there will be no objection to it4 ,let me assure you that this meeting will not be in the nature of a debate1 as no interruptions from the audience or comments by the lecturer upon your address will be permitted4 ,immediately upon the conclusion of the two addresses1 the house will be dismissed4 ,if it will be a help to you to know in advance what position ,i will take on the subject of the proposed addresses1 let me say as clearly as ,i can1 that ,i will try to show that morality is independent of a belief in ,god or gods1 and that1 therefore1 church attendance is not essential1 but that1 on the contrary1 often church going retards both intellectual and moral progress2 and further1 that the countries in which a larger proportion of the people go to church1 and the ,ages of ,faith1 in which everybody went to church1 are and have been1 the least moral4 ,hoping that you will not refuse to come and present your views on this serious question to the large audience which will receive you most cordially at ,orchestra ,hall1 next ,sunday morning1--or if you cannot come next ,sunday1 on any other ,sunday morning that you may appoint1--,i remain1 ,yours with all good wishes1 ,m4 ,m4 ,mangasasian4 ,,morality ,,without ,,god ,when ,i invited ,bishop ,anderson of the ,episcopal ,church of this city to address you1 it was from a sincere desire to give you an opportunity to hear in this house1 and under the auspices of this movement1 a strong and comprehensive statement from the other side1 if ,i may use that expression4 ,i invited the bishop because he is freer on ,sundays than the average clergyman who has his own people to preach to1 and in the second place1 because he has the authority to send someone in his place if he could not come himself4 ,in the third place1 ,i addressed my letter to the ,episcopalians because they were to have a convention in this same hall for the purpose of rousing interest in church work4 ,the ,right ,reverend ,bishop ,anderson of ,chicago should have accepted cordially our invitation1 yet not even of the courtesy of a reply has he deemed either you or me worthy4 ,i do not know how to explain the good bishop's indifference to our invitation1 except by saying that1 either the bishop considered us hopelessly beyond the saving power of his religion1 or that in his own heart he considered his creed1 while good enough for the unquestioning1 a little antiquated for an inquiring ,american audience4 ,but the fact is now on record that he was invited to deliver his message to us1 and he has not even acknowledged the invitation4 ,to reconcile such action with the spirit of brotherly love1 publicly professed by the bishop1 or with the divine command to preach the gospel to every creature1 will require considerable mental dexterity4 ,we have heard the bishop and his people sing the hymn ,onward1 ,christian soldiers1 marching as to war4 ,where are the soldiers8 ,why do they avoid a conflict if they are soldiers8 ,we did not invite them to a fight3 we did not ask them to a debate2 we did not care to enter into a duel of words1 as some papers have put it4 ,far from it3 we assured the bishop that there would be no questions asked by the audience1 and no comments permitted4 ,he would listen to our message and deliver his4 ,but suppose we had invited him to a clash of ideas--to an argument--suppose we had asked him to give us the reasons for the hope that is in him1 as the ,bible says--how could he decline such an invitation8 ,the ,apostle ,paul reasoned before pagan rulers1 and from ,mars ,hill1 in ,athens1 he preached to pagan philosophers--to doubters4 ,why should ,bishop ,anderson have less courage1 or be more cautious8 ,when a great cause1 or a cause that has been great once1 declines a public opportunity to advance its interests1 to justify its claims1 to convince--to convert1 it is a pretty sure sign that its fires are burning low1 and that it has fallen into the sere and yellow leaf4 ,christianity1 once an aggressive and virile movement1 now resorts to apologetics1 compromise and concession to prolong her life4 ,she seeks shelter against the spirit of the age4 ,she is cultivating the art of silence4 ,yes1 ,christianity is seeking a lower level4 ,it attacks wooden idols seven thousand miles away1 but at home1--in the presence of intellectual inquiry1 it is paralyzed4 ,of course it could be said that if we wished to hear the bishop's gospel we could have gone to his church4 ,yes1 we could4 ,but so could he have come to us4 ,furthermore1 the bishop does not say to the ,hindoo1 or to the ,japanese1 ,if you want my religion1 come and get it4 ,he sends it to them1 and he even asks for iron-clads to compel the ,japanese and the ,chinese to hear his gospel4 ,yet at home he will not step around the corner to deliver his message to us4 ,the invitation to the bishop is a standing one2 it will never be withdrawn4 ,the same invitation is extended herewith1 this morning1 to any clergyman or layman who is willing to come and deliver his message to us and to hear ours--on one condition1 however--that the clergyman or the layman who accepts our invitation shall come as the representative of his denomination or church--he must come with his credentials--he must be commissioned by his church to speak for the church4 ,and whenever any denomination in this city or country shall send a delegate to address us1 he will be received with the greatest cordiality1 and his message shall be listened to in a spirit of fairness4 ,the question3 ,can there be any morality without a belief in ,god1 is a fundamental one1 and the fact that we are willing to study it proves that we take more than a superficial interest in what might be called radical problems4 ,to this question the first answer is that of philosophy1 and the second is that of history4 ,this morning we will confine ourselves to the theoretical or philosophical aspect of the question4 ,what is there in a belief in ,god which should be indispensable to the moral life8 ,why should the moral life be inseparably associated with a belief in ,god8 ,the theological position1 in which you and ,i were brought up1 is1 that morality is impossible without a belief in ,god4 ,the scientist's position is that morality is independent of a belief in ,god4 ,the scientist does not deny dogmatically1 the existence of a ,god4 ,the scientist is far from denying even that there is at the heart of the universe a mystery1--an insoluble problem1 at least a problem that hitherto has refused to reveal its secret to the human mind1--but he contends that to associate the moral life with this mystery1 this insoluble problem1 is to envelope it in darkness and uncertainty4 ,no ,god1 no morals1 says the theologian4 ,he even earnestly desires all unbelievers in his creed to be immoral4 ,he is really grieved and disappointed when he finds goodness among unbelievers in his religion4 he knows that the people must have morality4 ,he knows that the world cannot last without morality1 and if he can get the people to think that they can't have morality without his creed1 the future of his creed will be secure4 ,he either denies that goodness without his creed is goodness at all1 or he tries to show that the credit of it really belongs to his religion4 ,these good unbelievers are really believers1 without knowing it1 argues the theologian4 ,if the ,japanese can be patriotic and honest1 it is due to ,christian missions1 declares the preacher4 ,if ,darwin and ,huxley were noble men1 it was because they lived in a ,christian atmosphere4 ,in short1 directly or indirectly1 according to the theologian1 his religion is responsible for all the goodness in the world4 ,we shall not stop to inquire1 for the present1 how so conceited and partisan a spirit can be reconciled with true morality4 ,but it is evident that in associating belief with morality the preacher is trying to save belief1 not morality4 ,but how are we going to dislodge him from his position8 ,it is as if the ,czar of ,russia1 whose people are having a strenuous time just now1 were to say to them1 ,you cannot have either order or peace in ,russia without the autocracy4 ,he knows the people desire order and security1 and hopes to make autocracy permanent by associating it with the things the people want4 ,it is like the ,republican party going before the country and saying ,you cannot have prosperity in ,america1 unless you keep the ,republican party in power1 or the ,democrat-claiming that they alone can save the country4 ,it is taking advantage of the people's dependence upon order1 peace and prosperity to promote partisan politics4 ,and so the theologian who says ,you cannot have morality unless you have my creed1 is trying to play the role of a politician4 ,he too would see the country ruined if that would advance his party or church4 ,we wish to see this morning how much truth there is in the theological position4 ,the believer in ,god argues that to question the existence of ,god is a crime4 ,he insinuates1 nay1 he declares boldly1 that only the wicked question the existence of the deity1--just as only rebels would question the right of the ,czar to be a despot4 ,but to call the man who questions the existence of ,god wicked1 is no answer to his question at all4 ,when you have no way of meeting the argument of your opponent and you attack his character1 you only prove yourself to be in great distress4 ,to call a man whose questions you can not answer1 a monster1 a blasphemer1 a devil1 is1 if ,i may have permission to say it1 the policy of cowards4 ,if you cannot answer his question1 why attack his character8 ,but the theologian knows what he is about4 ,if he can get people to believe that whoever questions his creed is a scoundrel and a wretch1 he will succeed in associating1 in the popular mind1 inquiry or doubt with immorality1 and thereby he will be strengthening his position that only believers in his creed could be good4 ,another result would be that1 if he succeeds in defaming the character of the inquirer1 people will avoid him--it will not be respectable to be seen in his company or to think as he does1 all of which will protect him a little longer against the disturbing inquirer4 ,but1 listen to this3 ,let us suppose that every one who questions the existence of ,god is a villain1 would that relieve clergymen from the solemn obligation of producing their evidence--of proving their dogmas8 ,the other day a mass meeting was held in one of our public schools to denounce reckless automobile driving4 ,one of the speakers1 a clergyman1 said that ,darwinism and infidelity were responsible for criminal driving4 ,this was the clergyman's way of confuting ,darwinism4 ,he thinks that if he can prove that the evolutionists kill people1 he will have disproved ,darwinism4 ,but ,darwinism is a scientific theory1 and if it is true1 why1 even if it killed people wholesale1 that would not prove it false4 ,if ,darwinism is false1 on the other hand1 all the painstaking and respect for human life on the part of ,darwinian automobiles would not make it true4 ,darwinism does not stand or fall with the characters of automobilists4 ,but this clergyman had no other way of answering ,darwinism1 so he said that4 ,it is the argument of sheer desperation4 ,he is trifling with a subject he feels is beyond him4 ,instead of discussing it1 he calls it names4 ,small talk for small people6 ,the ,christian religion in which we were brought up1 teaches that to believe is a virtue1 and--not to believe is a crime4 ,is it true8 ,if ,i were to say to you1 ,you must believe that ,george ,washington was the first president of ,america1 would you deserve any credit for believing it8 ,the evidence is so overwhelming that you cannot help but believe it4 ,there is no virtue in believing in a statement which cannot be reasonably doubted4 ,but suppose ,i were to say ',you must also believe that ,george ,washington invented the theory of evolution4 ,could you be blamed for refusing to credit a statement which there is no evidence to establish8 ,you believe in the first statement because it agrees with the facts1 you object to the second because it does not agree with the facts4 ,in other words1 you believe or question according to the nature or force of the evidence4 ,it is precisely the same with religion4 ,the priest says ,god made the world in six days4 ,if he can prove it we have to believe it4 ,if he can not prove it1 we are not to be blamed for saying not proven4 ,the priest says ,jesus was born of a ,virgin4 ,we don't deny it--we ask for evidence4 ,if a doctrine or proposition should be accepted as true in the absence of convincing evidence1 why then is not ,mohammedanism as true as ,christianity8 ,why is not a bit of blue glass as good as a ,god8 ,to believe intelligently1 one must have evidence2 to believe blindly1 one religion is as good as another4 ,the existence of ,god has always been disputed and is still in dispute today4 ,a hundred books are written to prove his existence2 a hundred others question his existence4 ,a great thinker in the eighteenth century said ,that which is the subject of eternal dispute cannot be a foundation for anything4 ,the scientist1 therefore1 in striving to separate morality from theology 7for it is theology and not true religion that we object to7 is rendering a great service to the cause of righteousness4 ,he is removing morality from the sphere of uncertainty and controversy into the air and light of day4 ,but it is not about the existence of ,god alone that there is uncertainty2 there is misunderstanding and disagreement also about his character4 ,it is not enough to say there is a ,god1--we must agree about his character4 ,yet that question is even more in dispute than his existence4 ,if the mere belief in a ,god is enough1 why is not the ,mohammedan ,god enough8 ,the ,christian god has a son1 and you cannot approach him except through his son4 ,the ,mohammedan god has no son4 ,how can they be the same being8 ,the god of the ,christian believes in the atoning blood of ,christ4 ,the ,mohammedan god repudiates such an idea4 ,how can they be the same being8 ,what are we going to do1--if we associate morality with a being whose character is in dispute8 ,are they the friends of the moral life1 who perplex our conscience with conundrums8 ,even when we have decided that the ,mohammedan god is no god at all1 and agreed upon our own deity1 are we sure that his character as represented to us is calculated to encourage the moral life8 ,that is an important point4 ,what do we know about the character of ,god except what the priests tell us1 and what we read in their books about him4 ,now1 ,i wish to make an explanation4 ,it is not the first time ,i have been compelled to make it either4 ,it is very unpleasant to say unpopular things4 ,to stand up here and say the things which make me appear sacrilegious and blasphemous in the eyes of the respectable majority is not1 ,i assure you1 a pleasure2 it is a sacrifice4 ,but ,i have undertaken the work and ,i must do it4 ,the character of ,god as painted for us in the ,bible is not calculated1 in my humble opinion1 to encourage the moral life4 ,the god of the ,jewish and ,christian scriptures is not a moral being4 ,he does not live up to his profession4 ,he violates his own commandments4 ,i do not say this hastily or carelessly1--,i have studied the question4 ,take the commandment1 ,thou shalt not kill4 ,jehovah breaks that commandment a hundred times1 if the ,bible is reliable4 ,no sooner had ,moses descended from ,mt4 ,sinai1 with the ,ten ,commandments1 than ,god urged him to get the ,jews to kill one another1 and fifty thousand were slain in one passion4 ,the repeated commandment of ,god to the ,jews to exterminate their neighbors1--to put men1 women and children to the edge of the sword1 would indicate that he did not mean to live up to his profession4 ,in the same way he commands ,thou shalt not steal1 and then tells his people how they may spoil their neighbors1 destroy their altars and temples and seize their lands4 ,he says ,thou shalt not commit adultery1 and then commands his soldiers to capture the daughters of the ,gentiles and keep them forcibly4 ,he says ,thou shalt not bear false witness1 and on every page in the ,old ,testament1 everything base is said of the ,egyptians1 the ,babylonians1 the ,assyrians1 whose character modern research has vindicated1 and it has been proved that their civilization was far in advance of that of their accusers4 ,he says ,thou shalt not covet--and then shows them the pleasant lands and homes of other peoples1 to arouse their covetousness1 to satisfy which they wade through a sea of blood from ,egypt to the land of ,canaan4 ,how can a being1 who does not live up to his profession1--who breaks his own commandments1 be our moral ideal or model8 ,in our attempt to reconcile ,god's conduct with morality1 we resort to sophistry4 ,we say ,god is not bound by the same moral law that we are3 ,he can take away life1 land1 or property from one man and give it to another4 ,he is above all law4 ,he is good even when he does that which if we did it would make us criminals1 and so on4 ,thus1 sophistry becomes a profession4 ,we develop ,jesuitical powers2 we become intellectual gymnasts1 dancing on ropes and splitting hairs to prove that ,god can break all the moral commandments and still be our model and pattern for morality4 ,it is a fact1 moreover1 that close indentification with such a being has contributed to corrupt both the church and the state4 ,tyrants have claimed the right to violate the moral law when ever it interfered with their personal pleasures4 ,as the anointed of ,god1 kings have tried to answer all protests against their misdeeds by quoting the example of ,god4 ,priests have persecuted and exterminated whole races1 and have given the example of ,god who destroys the heretics as their justification4 ,the atmosphere created about us by the consciousness that our moral teacher has himself done the very things he has forbidden is an evil one4 ,but it may be answered that the ,old ,testament is no longer the authority it once was1 and that the ,new ,testament1 or rather1 the character of ,god as revealed in ,christ1 is our ideal4 ,i have the highest reverence for the beautiful things ,jesus is reported to have said4 ,i rejoice that some of his words have made twenty centuries of the world's life fragrant ,i would sooner die this instant than feel that ,i am guilty of misrepresenting the facts1 of taking a fact and twisting it into an argument for my party4 ,if ,i have any happiness in life1 if ,i have any self-respect1 it is from this source1--that ,i am honest with the facts4 ,yet the teachings of ,jesus condensed in his direct command not to resist evil is the very negation of morality4 ,we had recently the yellow fever in ,new ,orleans4 ,what did we do8 ,we organized against it1 threw ourselves against it1 resisted it4 ,it is the only way physical evil can be destroyed4 ,there was a time when if the cholera came to a city it was said that ,god had sent it1 and it was useless to fight it4 ,today we don't care who sent it1 we don't want it1 and shall not have it4 ,we shall resist it4 ,consider the disclosures of dishonest banking houses and insurance companies4 ,what do we do8 ,we drag the guilty into the light2 we examine1 we investigate1 we expose1 we punish1 we do not say to these people1 you have taken so much of our money1 take also what is left4 ,we resist evil4 ,in politics1 in commerce1 in every department of life we find that in resistance alone is our salvation1 and yet ,jesus1 the ,oriental monk1 believing the end of the world to be close at hand1 would tie our hands1 paralyze our will and give evil1 physical or moral1 a free field4 ,if we do not resist evil we will soon be so incapacitated for effort1 so emptied of energy and ambition that we will become the victim not only of every physical pest but also of every moral iniquity4 ,resist not is just what a priest would say to his people1 and a king to his subjects4 ,but resist is what the liberator would say to his fellowmen4 ,but are there not examples of the highest morality in the ,christian world8 ,yes1 surely1 and ,i am glad to admit it1 but it is in spite of the ,christian creed4 ,it shows that1--listen to this1--theology is listened to only one day in the week1 the other six days we listen to common sense4 ,we are better than our beliefs1 better than our creeds4 ,the ,asiatic theology which we call inspired has not succeeded in perverting ,anglo-,saxon human nature4 ,that is what it proves4 ,what importance did ,jesus attach to the moral life8 ,let us see4 ,you know that when he was on the cross there were two thieves crucified with him4 ,one of them reviled him1 the other said to him ,lord1 when thou comest into thy kingdom remember me1 and ,jesus said1 ,this day shall thou be with me in ,paradise4 ,ah1 indeed6 ,what had this man done to deserve such sudden glorification8 ,it gives me pain to say1 but say ,i must1 that a greater slight upon morality could not have been placed4 ,think of saying to a malefactor whom the laws of society were justly punishing1--that his life of guilt and crime1 that the thefts and perhaps murders which he had committed1--were all forgiven him4 ,is the moral life as easy as that8 ,is it possible that by simply calling ,jesus ,lord1 and by accepting him as the ,son of ,god1 a malefactor can enter heaven1 while the man whose whole life has been above reproach must go to perdition if he has not the faith of the malefactor8 ,why then be moral at all8 ,what is required of men is that they use deferential language to ,jesus1 call him ,lord--believe in him1 and all their wickedness shall not prevent them from glory4 ,if in one moment1 and by a mere profession1 a thief and a murderer can step ahead of the righteous and the honest1 then the ,christian religion is right1 righteousness is but filthy rags4 ,no deeper accusation could be brought against ,christianity than that it calls righteousness filthy rags4 ,but is such a religion--is the example of the malefactor taken to heaven1 and his victims permitted to go to everlasting destruction--calculated to command the respect of noble minds8 ,charles ,spurgeon must have had the example of ,jesus in mind when he said to his hearers1 in the ,london ,tabernacle1 that thirty years of sin will take less than thirty minutes to wipe out in4 ,to him repentance at the last moment was better than a whole life of godless morality4 ,but let us get a little closer to our subject3 ,when the preachers state that morality is impossible without ,god1 they really mean--without the ,christian religion4 ,as we intimated above1 the ,mohammedan ,god and the ,christian ,god1 not being the same1 can not both be true4 ,and it is not enough to believe in the ,christian ,god1 one must also believe in ,christ1 the ,holy ,ghost1 the atonement1 and so on4 ,hence1 the ,christian religion is the only power that can save the world1 according to the preachers4 ,let us follow this thought and see where it will lead us to4 ,if you have imagination try to bring the whole world before your mind's eye4 ,think of the millions upon millions of human beings dwelling upon its surface--of the five hundred millions of ,buddhists1 the two hundred millions of ,moslems1 the one hundred and fifty millions of ,brahmans1 and to these add the millions who follow ,confucius1 who profess ,shintoism1 ,judaism1 ,jainism1 and the millions who once followed ,zoroaster1 ,zeus1 ,apollo1 ,mithra and ,isis4 ,compare with this tremendous host the number of people who during the last two thousand years have called themselves ,christians1 and tell me if it would be inspiring to think that the ,christians who are but a handful compared with this innumerable majority are the only people who can be moral8 ,if the heathen1 so called by ,christians1 can be as moral as ourselves1 then ,christianity can not claim to be the only divine faith1 but if it is1 as the preachers claim1 the only power that can save1 then think of the gloom and the despair which must be the portion of every sensitive soul who realizes the hopelessness of the situation6 ,for thousands of years our humanity was denied the ,christian religion1 and even now1 twenty centuries after the birth of ,jesus1 only a handful1 compared with the earth's population1 have accepted the only true religion4 ,is this inspiring8 ,if we were to paint the globe in two colors--black and white--allowing the black to represent the heathen1 and the white the ,christian1 we would see spread before our eyes a limitless sea of inky blackness1 with a few white dots floating in it4 ,oh1 how long will it take before this black earth of ours shall change its color8 ,if we feel uncomfortable when we see an animal maltreated1 how can we have the heart to subscribe to a doctrine that denies to the great majority of our human fellows1 not only future bliss1 but even the right to be moral8 ,if instead of being a religion of love1 ,christianity were a religion of hate1 could it be less generous8 ,if instead of being the religion of the meek and lowly it were the religion of the proud and the haughty1 could it have been more conceited8 ,that people can enjoy a religion which blackens the face of all mankind outside its pale is a pitiful commentary on human nature4 ,but let us follow the lead of the preacher a little further4 ,he says there can be no morality without ,god1 which means1 no morality without the ,christian religion4 ,but which ,christian religion does he mean8 ,the ,catholics denounce protestantism as a perversion2 the ,protestants call ,catholicism an imposture4 ,which1 then1 is the ,christian religion without which there can be no morality8 ,if the one is as ,christian as the other1 why then do they try to convert each other--why do the ,catholics send missionaries to the ,protestants8 ,evidently1 it must be the protestant religion which is alone ,christian1 at least we in this country seem to think so4 ,if true1 then there is no morality possible without the protestant faith4 ,now see to what a small faith and to what a pale and sickly hope the preacher has brought us4 ,ah6 he has led us into an alley--moldy1 stuffy1 and choking4 ,the world is no longer in sight1 the sun and stars have disappeared1 the winds that sweep the face of the earth and the sky are heard no more4 ,yes1 we are in an alley6 ,now this protestant religion which is alone the hope of the world1 what is it8 ,a moment ago we asked1 which is the ,christian religion8 ,we now ask1 which is the protestant religion8 ,is it the church of ,england8 ,is it ,lutheranism8 ,is it ,methodism8 ,is it ,presbyterianism8 ,is it ,unitarianism8 ,is it the ,baptist ,church8 ,is it ,christian ,science8 ,we believe we have mentioned enough to select from4 ,it will not do to say that all these sects are equally ,christian4 ,why1 then1 are they separated8 ,why do not the ,baptists commune at the ,lord's table with the ,presbyterians1 and why do the ,episcopalians claim that they alone have the apostolic ordination8 ,a ,methodist preacher is not allowed to speak from an ,episcopal altar--his ordination is not considered valid1 and his church is only a sect in1 the eyes of the church of ,england4 ,which of these1 then1 is the true protectant religion without which no morality is possible in this world or salvation in the next8 ,the proposition that there can be no morality without ,god when analyzed1 comes to this3 ,there can be no morality without the protestant religion1 and it is as yet uncertain which is the ,protestant religion4 ,how educated people can find cheer and comfort in an alley and mistake its darkness for a horizon--how they can be happy in the belief that no one can be good or brave without believing as they do1--is beyond my comprehension4 ,and when we remember that this ,protestant religion did not exist before the sixteenth century--that it is only about three hundred years old1 and that1 if it is the only true religion1 it waited a long time--until mankind had reached middle life--until the world had begun to turn gray--before it commenced to minister to its needs--we begin to realize that there is no thoroughfare to the alley to which the preacher has conducted us--for it is a blind alley1 and we feel creeping upon us the chill of death and despair6 ,oh1 let us turn back6 ,let us hasten out of this darkness6 ,let us return to the kisses of the sun and the wind1 to the air and the light6 ,to think that the whole world1 past and present1 has been1 is1 and will be irrevocably lost1 unless it accepts our three hundred years old and much-divided religion6 ,what gentle and refined mind can stand the strain8 ,who can walk straight under the weight of such crushing pessimism8 ,is it not fortunate that only one day in seven is devoted to church-going8 ,when ,i was a ,presbyterian minister1 one of the hymns we used to sing in church began with the words ,from ,greenland's ,icy ,mountains1 and went on to speak of ,india's ,coral ,strands and ,africa's ,sunny ,fountains1 ending with this sentiment4 ,where every prospect pleases ,and man alone is vile4 ,think of the essentially unmoral mind of the man who could write such a hymn1 and of the callousness of the people who can sing it6 ,think of putting so false1 so uncharitable1 so conceited1 so mean and small a thought into music1 and singing it6 ,if they wept over it1 if they mourned over it1 it would be less incongruous1 but to sit in their pews and with the help of organ and piano to sing about the vileness of the earth's greater population seems to me in my haste1 to lend considerable support to the doctrine of total depravity4 ,the ,christian will trade with the heathen1 he will travel into their country1 he will trust them in business1 but1 on ,sunday1 when he is in church1 when he is kneeling at the altar1 in the house of his ,god1 he calls them vile4 ,if the only way we can appreciate our own morality is by defaming the majority of humanity1 how contemptible must our morality he8 ,when we sing that all the ,hindoos1 the ,chinese1 the ,japanese and the rest of the non-,christian world are vile1--that there is no love1 no devotion1 no patriotism1 no honesty1 no friendship1 no temperance1 no philanthropy1 no chastity1 no truthfulness1 no mercy and no honor1 in these heathen lands--when we deny that in these parts of the world any virtue can exist1 are we not bearing false witness against our neighbors8 ,to preach the brotherhood of man in one breath1 and in the next1 to call your brothers who do not believe in your creed vile1 has about it the unmistakable air of cant and hypocrisy4 ,is it any wonder that the heathen distrust the ,christian nations of ,europe and ,america8 ,a clergyman of ,chicago1 one of our leading1 popular1 successful1 talented1 and respected preachers--one who has had phenomenal success as a minister of the ,gospel1 and who addresses the largest ,christian audiences in the country1 speaking to the ,young ,men's ,christian ,association1 declared that this earth would have been a hell if ,christ had not died on ,golgotha4 ,there must be something of the nature of a blight in a creed that can force from the lips of an educated and benevolent man such unlovely words4 ,and there is4 ,it is so self-centered1 so intolerant1 so exclusive1 that in its eyes the whole world1 except its own little corner1 is nothing but a hell4 ,to intimate that the world which gave us our republic1 the world which gave us our constitution--our jurisprudence1 our law courts--the world which has crowded our galleries with works of imperishable beauty1 and our libraries with immortal poetry1 literature and philosophy--which has given to our universities their classical curriculum--which created ,socrates1 ,plato1 ,aristotle1 ,pericles1 ,seneca1 ,cicero and the ,antonines--a world whose ruins are more wonderful than anything we possess1 whose dead are more immortal than our living--to suggest that this pre-,christian world as well as the non-,christian countries to-day1 was a hell1 takes my breath away4 ,i never imagined that this fearful ,asiatic creed could smite or sting an otherwise wholesome soul into such a contortion4 ,what is there in this ,palestinian ,jew whom our famous preacher worships as his god that can tempt a man to bear even false witness for his sake8 ,heavens6 ,how can a man with the example of heroic ,japan fresh and fragrant before him1 think of this earth as a hell without his shibboleth8 ,victor ,hugo says ,it is a terrible thing to have been a priest once2 it is not less terrible to be an orthodox protestant preacher to-day4 ,and why8 ,because for the preacher there is something higher than the truth--his creed4 ,but the proposition that there can be no morality without ,god--that the earth would be a hell without ,christ1 in its final analysis means this3 ,people will not be moral without the belief in a future life4 ,it is the hope of future rewards which gives to the ,god idea its value4 ,st4 ,paul himself admitted that if the ,christians believed in ,christ for this life only they were of all men the most miserable4 ,were the clergy to tell their flocks this morning that although they felt sure of the existence of ,god1 they had their doubts about another life1 how many of them would return to worship on the following ,sunday8 ,yes1 it is the mingled hope and fear of the future which gives the belief in a ,god its importance4 ,if there were no death--if men could live here forever1 they would not much concern themselves about spirits and invisible beings4 ,it is the idea that when we die we fall into the hands of ,god1 the idea that it is a terrible thing1 as the ,bible says1 to fall into the hands of the living ,god--it is this idea which lights the altars1 bends the knee1 and builds churches4 ,to placate the deity that he may reward us in the future is1 frankly1 the object of all religious ceremonies4 ,if this be true1 then the proposition that without ,god there can be no morality amounts to this3 ,without future rewards and punishments no man will live a moral life4 ,this doctrine leads to the following conclusions3 ,first1 man is naturally immoral1 and the only way he can be arrested in his career of vice and crime is to promise him future rewards if he will behave himself1 and to menace him with hell fire if he will not4 ,secondly1 the proposition implies that morality per se is not desirable1 that no one could be virtuous enough to desire virtue for its own sake1 and that without great and eternal rewards morality would go a-begging4 ,and this is religion6 ,what then is atheism8 ,why do people desire health8 ,certainly not for any postmortem rewards4 ,the health of the body is cultivated for its own beautiful sake4 ,health is joy1 it is power1 it is beauty1 it is strength4 ,are not these enough to make it sacred to all men8 ,but if the health of the body does not need the prop of future rewards to commend itself to us1 what good reason have we to think that morality1 which is the health of the mind1 is a wretched investment if there be no other life8 ,morality is temperance4 ,how can our ideas about the unseen world change the nature of temperance so that instead of being a virtue it would become a stupid and irksome restraint8 ,if it is good to be temperate in the pursuit of pleasure or wealth1 or in the gratification of desire1 why should our speculations about the hereafter alter our attitude toward the value of temperance and self-control in everything8 ,god or no ,god1 a future life or no future life1 is not temperance better than intemperance8 ,to ask why a man should practice temperance even if it be granted that it is better than intemperance is to go back to the terrible charge that man is by nature a monster1 and that he will not behave well unless he is promised enormous returns in the shape of eternal rewards--palaces1 mansions1 crowns1 thrones1 in the next world4 ,well1 if the preachers are right it is a serious question whether so depraved a creature as man deserves to be saved at all4 ,to have created so contemptible a creature was a great enough blunder1 but think of perpetuating his race forever and ever6 ,let us see how much truth there is in the preacher's estimate of human nature4 ,take the example of a father who is devoted to his little motherless girl4 ,he lives for her1 cares for her1 protects her1 and provides for her future that she may feel his blessing long after he has passed away4 ,will this father be less a father without the belief in future rewards8 ,but to love and care for one's child is only natural morality1 replies the clergyman4 ,of course it is4 ,and that is why it is genuine1 sweet1 spontaneous1 and untainted with expectations of a reward4 ,it never enters his mind that he is going to be paid big wages for being good to his motherless child4 ,he loved her1 and that was heaven enough for him4 ,it is artificial morality that pines for rewards and sickens and dies when the expected reward is questioned4 ,if there is no future glory1 who will abstain from meat on ,friday1 or sprinkle his children1 or read the ,bible or listen to sermons8 ,but the natural virtues will spring up like flowers in the human soil4 ,men and women will love1 will sacrifice1 will perform heroic deeds of devotion1 whatever may be their theories concerning the hereafter4 ,let us take another case4 ,why is an employer of labor good to his men8 ,is it because he expects to be rewarded for it in the next life8 ,analyze his motives and you will find that if he treats his hands well it is because he believes it to be the best way to get along with them1 to earn their good will1 to keep his own self-respect1 and to merit the approval of the community in which he lives4 ,he is not going to change his conduct toward his employees1 nor will the motives which now influence his conduct lose their force immediately after he finds out that there is nothing coming to him in the next world for being good and just to his workmen4 ,the theologians appear to labor under the impression that morality being irksome and undesirable1 it would be an injustice not to reward the people who put up with it with a paradise of some kind4 ,they think that the man who did not rob his neighbor1 beat his wife and children1 or get drunk1 ought to be rewarded4 ,certainly he ought--if it is for a future reward that he does not do these things4 ,if we have an influence at all we shall see that these people who have denied themselves the pleasure of cutting their neighbors' throats1 or of leading an intemperate1 dishonest and brutal life1 shall receive their reward4 ,there is no doubt that some people are kept from doing wrong by the fear of a distant hell1 and others are provoked to good works by the hope of a heavenly crown4 ,but the mistake of the theologian consists in thinking that anybody actuated by such motives can be moral4 ,a vicious dog is not made gentle by chaining him--he is only prevented from doing harm4 ,it is true that to prevent a savage beast from hurting people is a service to humanity4 ,it is also true that if by preaching the fear of hell the churches succeed in preventing vicious men from doing harm1 they are benefactors4 ,fear1 while not the highest motive1 is nevertheless quite effective with some people4 ,of course1 as far as my own preference goes1 ,i would not preach the doctrine of everlasting hell even if ,i could be assured it was the only thing that could save mankind4 ,i would not care to save mankind under those conditions4 ,there is nothing more immoral than the idea of unending torture4 ,the worst criminals are not half so immoral as the creators and perpetrators of the unquestionable hell of ,christian theology4 ,i can not think of a greater insult to the human conscience than to say that this fearful establishment with its everlasting stench in our nostrils is the parent of all virtue1 and that if its fires were to be extinguished there would be an end to human morality4 ,it is quite easy1 ,i imagine the preacher saying1 to talk in this strain now1 but wait until you are on your death-bed4 ,but the frightful death-bed scenes we read of in religious literature are generally fictitious4 ,when they are not impostures1 a careful investigation will show that they are the effect of pulpit sensationalism4 ,the dying thoughts of a sane and brave man or woman are as free from torture as the sleep which closes the tired eye-lids4 ,what does a mother think of in her last moments8 ,she thinks of her dear ones--her chil dren6 whom she has to leave motherless in the world4 ,how noble is human nature6 ,and it is this nobility which makes theology jealous4 ,the dying mother should be thinking of her ,god1--her soul1 her creed--she should be trembling with fear1 and be filled with consternation1 instead of thinking lovingly and tearfully of her little ones6 ,and when theology can not get horrible death bed scenes1 she invents them4 ,in ,theron ,ware1 the deacons of the ,methodist church say to their minister1 ,give us more of the death-bed scenes of ,voltaire and ,thomas ,paine4 ,for a long time it was a part of the vocation of the theologians to postpone the attack upon an intellectual giant until he was dead or dying4 ,it is not true that when people come to die they confess that the preacher's hell and his heaven are real after all4 ,the other day a negro shot his wife and babe fatally and ran away4 ,when the neighbors arrived upon the scene of the tragedy1 they found the dying mother with her arms around her infant trying to soothe its pains4 ,she had torn a fragment of her bodice to stop with it the bleeding wound in the child's arm4 ,motherhood6 ,was she worrying about her own soul1 about eternity1 about ,god1 about the devil1 about heaven1 about hell6 ,oh1 no6 ,she had one thought which puts all preaching to shame--to ease the pain of her dying child4 ,she forgot she was dying herself4 ,she forgot all about her future reward--but she did not forget her child4 ,that is the way mothers die4 ,no ,christian can die a better death4 ,when preachers can speak to us of a ,god who can love like this negro mother1--or who in the words of the ,english poet1 ,wordsworth1 will ,never blend his pleasure or his pride ,with sorrow of the meanest thing that feels1 then1 we shall worship him1--not for his heaven1 nor from fear of his hell1 but for his own blessed self4 ,others may be able to tell whether or not there is another life4 ,i can not4 ,but whether or not there is a life beyond the grave1 ,i know that spring will come every year1 that the gentle rains will fall1 the sunlight will woo and kiss all it meets1 the harvests will wave1 and the world will sleep and wake each day4 ,in the same way ,i know that whatever the preachers may say about a godless morality1 the charities1 the devotions1 the humanities1 the friendships1 and the loves1 will spring up eternal in our daily lives1 and beauty and glory shall never perish from human nature4 ,conscience is born of love1 wrote ,shakespeare4 ,in the alembic of this glorious truth all the terrors of the ,jewish-,christian religion dissolve into nothingness4 ,a word from ,shakespeare1 and the nightmares of the past are no more4 ,love6--attachment1 devotion1 friendship1 behold the cradle in which conscience was born6 ,fear is a tomb--it lives upon hell4 ,love is a cradle1 nursing into being and maturity all that is good1 all that is true1 all that is beautiful4 ,says ,tennyson3 ,perplext in faith1 but pure in deeds ,at last he beat his music out4 ,there lives more faith in honest doubt1 ,believe me1 than in half the creeds4 ,this is music1 and it descends over the babel of wrangling creeds1 as the sunlight1 after a long storm1 over the spent and weary waves4 ,,the ,,independent ,,religious ,,society ,believes ,that the greatest good in life is ,truth4 ,without ,truth--love1 hope1 charity and all other human virtues dark en4 ,truth is to life what the sun is to the world4 ,we believe that the only ,truth which can be trusted is that which can be tested4