Christian Tyranny

Merriam-Webster's definition of 'Free Will' is, "the power of acting without the constraint of necessity or fate; the ability to act at one's own discretion."

The religious and biblical definition is a bit murky, as it implies: "Free will is a precious gift from God, for it lets us love him with our 'whole heart' because we want to." One bible scripture states, "You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with your whole mind." - Matthew 22:37.

"You must love Jehovah!" There goes free will. So what if we don't want to "love God with our whole heart?" Free will is nullified because this ecclesiastical mandate is predicated on us loving a Creator. No one alive, past or present, regardless of his canonical pontificating, has any ideal whether the apostolic God of the Christian holy book or Allah of the Koran actually exist. The concept of free will from a religious perspective signifies the essence of pious irrationality.

"And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence."

"The fact that an opinion has been widely held is no evidence whatsoever that it is not utterly absurd."

~ Bertrand Russell (1872-1970)

Before the Christian, Islam, or any apologist of pseudo sacred writings attempts to dismiss the two aforementioned quotes, take a look at the late Dr. Russell's credentials: British philosopher, logician, mathematician, historian, writer, social critic, political activist and Nobel laureate. The 1950 Nobel Prize in Literature was awarded to Bertrand Russell, in recognition of his "varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought."

Compare Russell's intellect - common sense, experience, along with the fact that he never asked his audience for money - to Graham, Robertson, Osteen, Jakes, White, Hinn, Creflo and other evangelical shysters who amass tremendous wealth via gullibility and fear, and the meritorious juxtapositions are not even close.

Throughout history, religion has been used to financially manipulate the global population. Dating back to the First Crusade (1095-1099) Christianity and Islam have fought wars to control the region dubbed, "The Holy Land" while molding the minds of billions of converts, initially catechized by force.

From History.com:

"The Crusades were a series of religious wars between Christians and Muslims started primarily to secure control of holy sites considered sacred by both groups. In all, eight major Crusade expeditions occurred between 1096 and 1291. The bloody, violent and often ruthless conflicts propelled the status of European Christians, making them major players in the fight for land in the Middle East."

Millions of African−Americans are Christians today because their ancestors were converted against their will to the religion of the slave-master.

Hundreds of thousands of American−Indians are Christians today because the Christian missionaries converted their ancestors against their will.

Ditto for Europe. When Rome controlled most of the world, the Roman Emperor Constantine in 325 CE, forced Christianity onto his subjects.

"Christianity was a minority religion during much of the Roman Empire, and the early Christians were persecuted during that time. When 'Constantine I' converted to Christianity, it became the dominant religion in the Roman Empire. In the view of many historians, the Constantinian shift turned Christianity from a persecuted religion into one capable of persecution and sometimes eager to persecute. There are a number of examples of forced conversion throughout the history of Christianity: during the Roman Empire, in the Middle Ages, Inquisitions in Spain and Goa, and campaigns by Russian rulers."

Those who identify with Christianity may want to do a little research on 'Constantine the Great', the architect of their macabre belief system. Constantine the Great executed his son Crispus in 326 CE, at the age of twenty-one.  In the same year, because of his guilt in killing his son, 'Saint Constantine' executed his wife, Flavia Maxima Fausta, by "suffocation in an over-heated bath." "The Emperor ordered the damnatio memoriae [condemnation of memory, meaning that a person must not be remembered] of his wife with the result that no contemporary source records details of her fate."

In 392 CE Emperor Theodosius I decreed that Christianity was the only legal religion of the Roman Empire and forbade pagan practices:

"It is Our will that all the peoples who are ruled by the administration of Our Clemency shall practice that religion which the divine Peter the Apostle transmitted to the Romans.... The rest, whom We adjudge demented and insane, shall sustain the infamy of heretical dogmas, their meeting places shall not receive the name of churches, and they shall be smitten first by divine vengeance and secondly by the retribution of Our own initiative." (Codex Theodosianus XVI 1.2.)

Massacre of Verden

October 782 CE: During the Saxon Wars, Charlemagne, King of the Franks, forcibly Roman Catholicized the Saxons from their native Germanic paganism by way of warfare and law upon conquest. The Massacre of Verden saw the mass execution of 4,500 Saxons under order of King Charlemagne.


Christianization of Lithuania

"The Christianization of Lithuania occurred in 1387, initiated by King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania Władysław II Jagiełło and his cousin Vytautas. It signified the official [forced] adoption of Christianity by Lithuanians, the last pagan nation in Europe. This event ended one of the most complicated and lengthiest processes of Christianization in European history."

The people of Lithuania did not become Christians because they read the gospels and decided to accept their teachings. On the contrary, the people of Lithuania were forced into Christianity against their will, as a result of relentless military force.

Eastern Europe

Upon converting to Christianity in the 10th century, Vladimir the Great, the ruler of Kievan Rus', ordered Kiev's citizens to undergo a mass baptism in the Dnieper river.

Ivan the Terrible

In August 1552, forces of Ivan the Terrible, operating from the Russian castle of Sviyazhsk, laid siege to Kazan. The Muslim population faced slaughter, expulsion, forced resettlement, and conversion to Christianity. The forces defeated the Tatar inland troops, burnt Archa and some castles. On October 3, after two months of siege and destruction of the citadel walls, the Russians entered the city. Some defenders managed to escape but most were put to the sword and the population was slaughtered. The Kazan Chronicle reports about 110,000 killed.

An interesting fact about Ivan the Terrible:

"In addition to being a horrible animal-torturing and rival-executing scoundrel, he was also a very devout Christian. He ordered reforms to be made that would further Christianize Russia. He would sometimes go into fits of religious devotion, confessing his sins or banging his head against the floor with the same eagerness that he showed when slicing open live birds."

 Marranos

Jews endured the wrath and forced hand of Christianity as well. Millions of Jews from the fourth century CE until the 20th Century were forced to "kiss the sword" of Christ, or be put to death by that sword. Therefore, many Jews died at the hands of Christians in the name of Jesus. Fortunately, many Jews managed to survive by lying - saying they converted, but secretly remained Jews. The Christian Church finally realized what was happening and in 1492, the Spanish Inquisition tried to purge the country of these "Secret" Jews, called Marranos.

Goa Inquisition - Portuguese Colonial Period

To bring the article writers point home regarding Christian terrorism, listed below are ten of the many atrocities associated with the Goa Inquisition.

1. Indigenous people were forced to adhere to Portuguese religious beliefs, abandoning their faith.
2. Goa Inquisition was almost on par with Inquisition in Spain 1478, in terms of gory treatment and violence in the name of religion.
3. The new Christian Missionaries from Portugal mandated that all Hindu temples be closed by 1541.
4. The beautiful Goa enclave with fine beaches and azure waters, in particular, became a horrible place of horrors of unimaginable proportion just for the simple reason that the natives refused to accept Portuguese religious beliefs and refused to get converted under compulsion or duress to Christianity.
5. It is a paradox that Francis Xavier, the devil in the guise of a priest, who forced the King of Portugal to legally introduce the Inquisition in Goa and ordering the torture of tens of thousands of Hindus and Jews, using various innovative methods, was canonized by Pope Gregory XV in 1622.
6. The preachers used many dreaded methods of torture to force the innocent people to swallow their preaching of Gospel. According to Richard Zimler, who wrote "Guardian of the Dawn," on the Inquisition in Goa mentioned the missionaries used the “machinery of death” for forceful conversion.
7. Using torture, people were required to pass the ‘act of faith’ (auto-da-fe) by being stretched out on the rack; if they failed they would be burnt at the stake.
8. Dismembering children limb by limb in front of their parents whose eyes were taped continued till they agreed to convert was the most cruel method used by the catholic faithful and they found this method very effective.
9. Death awaited those non-Christians or heretics (kept in shackles by priests) who refused to give up their faith or divulge the names of those who are non-Christians. Death was by strangulation or burning alive in public. These atrocities continued until 1812 when the Inquisition was finally abolished.
10. Those who persistently refused to give up their ancient Hindu practices were declared apostates or heretics and condemned to death. In 1736, over 42 Hindu practices were prohibited.

From the article: 35 Brutal facts of Goa Inquisition (Christian Terrorism) - Portuguese Colonial Period

Christianity should not take pride in their large numbers. In fact, the collective feeling of all who subscribe should be one of unmitigated shame. Practically all Christian ancestors of Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Hindus, Persians, Indians, Native and African Americans, had no choice in the matter. Either accept Jesus as your savior or face a brutal death.

In the 21st century, Christianity is aggressively introduced in a non-violent manner, via an army of missionaries beating on your door and brainwashing your children in school classrooms, extracurricular activities and intramural sports.

"I am now convinced that children should not be subjected to the frightfulness of the Christian religion. ... If the concept of a father who plots to have his own son put to death is presented to children as beautiful and as worthy of society's admiration, what types of human behavior can be presented to them as reprehensible?" - Ruth Hurmence Green (1915-1981)

There have been a plethora of forced conversions throughout the history of religion. Christianity and Islam have been at the forefront - primarily Christianity. There are so many more examples as to why Christianity is the "fraud of the age."

Christianity, along with all other theistic belief systems, is the fraud of the age. It serves to detach the human species from the natural world, and likewise each other. It supports blind submission to authority. It reduces human responsibility to the effect that God controls everything, and in turn, awful crimes can be justified in the name of the divine pursuit. Most importantly, it empowers those who know the truth but use the myth to manipulate and control societies. The religious myth is the most powerful device ever created and serves as the psychological soil upon which other myths can flourish. ~ Zeitgeist

Sources

• Christianity and Homosexuality 
• Christianization of Kievan Rus
• Christianization of Lithuania
• Codex Theodosianus 
• Constantinian Shift
• Ivan the Terrible
• Marrano
• Massacre of Verden  
• Personal Tragedies of Constantine the Great
• Pope vs Muslims
• Secret History of Mexican and Black Slaves
• Spanish Inquisition
• The Crusades
• Vladimir the Great

The Holy Land

The ostensible "Holy Land" - considered holy by Jews, Christians, and Muslims - stretches from Egypt to Syria. Before we get started, lets define the word Holy: "exalted or worthy of complete devotion as one perfect in goodness and righteousness." The antithesis of war and bloodshed, wouldn't you say?

The geographical area purported to be consecrated is made up of the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea, including the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River. It is synonymous with both the biblical land of Israel and historical Palestine. This ersatz terra firma also refers to a territory corresponding to the modern State of Israel, the Palestinian territories, western Jordan, parts of southern Lebanon, and southwestern Syria.

Pious adherents believe there to be nowhere on earth more sanctified than this segment of the Middle East. In this pseudo sacred space, monotheistic believers are certain that the supreme ruler of the universe entered into a relationship with the human race (never mind the other sextillions of sentient, thinking beings that occupy the universe).

In this Middle Eastern territory known as the Holy Land, lies the ruins of planet earth's oldest civilizations. Located at the junction of Africa, Asia and Europe, the area also serves as a corridor between East and West - a much-trampled and fought over prize for conquering armies. Billions of innocent people have lost their lives on this "holy ground."

For Christians, the Land of Israel is considered holy because of its association with the birth, ministry, crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, regarded as the Savior or Messiah, and because it is the land of his people, the Jews (according to the Bible).

Jerusalem is where the plagiarized character Jesus lived, proclaimed his Gospel, performed miracles, was crucified and rose from the dead. His story is one in a long line of recycled myths borrowed from pagan folklore, such as the myth of Serapis, Horus, Dionysus, Mithras and a host of other pre-Christian saviors. The followers of Jesus venerated places associated with him [with the Roman story], foremost among them the cave at Bethlehem and the Holy Sepulchre.

In the Quran, the term Arabic: الأرض المقدسة‎‎ (Al-Ard Al-Muqaddasah, English: "Holy Land") is used in a passage about Musa (Moses) proclaiming to the Children of Israel: "O my people! Enter the holy land which Allah hath assigned unto you, and turn not back ignominiously, for then will ye be overthrown, to your own ruin." (Surah 5:21) The Quran also refers to the land as being 'Blessed'.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy_Land

Amazon Review of "The First Crusade" by Thomas Asbridge:

In The First Crusade, Thomas Asbridge offers a gripping account of a titanic three-year adventure filled with miraculous victories, greedy princes, and barbarity on a vast scale. Beginning with the electrifying speech delivered by Pope Urban II on the last Tuesday of November in the year 1095, readers will follow the more than 100,000 men who took up the call from their mobilization in Europe (where great waves of anti-Semitism resulted in the deaths of thousands of Jews), to their arrival in Constanstinople, an exotic, opulent city--ten times the size of any city in Europe--that bedazzled the Europeans. Featured in vivid detail are the siege of Nicaea and the pivotal battle for Antioch, the single most important military engagement of the entire expedition, where the crusaders, in desparate straits, routed a larger and better equipped Muslim army. Through all this, the crusaders were driven on by intense religious devotion, convinced that their struggle would earn them the reward of eternal paradise in Heaven. But when a hardened core finally reached Jerusalem in 1099 they unleahsed an unholy wave of brutality, slaughtering thousands of Muslims--men, women, and children--all in the name of Christianity.

The First Crusade marked a watershed in relations between Islam and the West, a conflict that set these two world religions on a course toward deep-seated animosity and enduring enmity. The chilling reverberations of this earth-shattering clash still echo in the world today.

Please tell me, what's 'holy' about a territory that has been fought over, an area that has seen billions of innocent people slaughtered since the First Crusade in 1095? That's not a rhetorical question, please tell me what's holy about this macabre 'holy land'? The oxymoron of oxymoron's. 

If this territory is holy, then so should the top 10 most dangerous cities in the world be deemed sacrosanct.

1. Caracas, Venezuela
2. Acapulco, Mexico
3. San Pedro Sula, Honduras
4. Distrito Central, Honduras
5. Victoria, Mexico
6. Maturín, Venezuela
7. San Salvador, El Salvador
8. Ciudad Guayana, Venezuela
9. Valencia, Venezuela
10. Natal, Brazil

In the USA, Baltimore, MD and St. Louis, MO are #26 and #14 respectively on the list of most dangerous cities in the world. Today and historically, travel in the holy land is extremely risky due to the ongoing conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians. Historically, there has never been a region of the world that comes close to the barbarity of this area so absurdly dubbed, The Holy Land.

Sources:

• 26 Most Dangerous Cities in the World
• Council of Nicea - The Council that created Jesus Christ
• Dionysus: Greek Mythology
• Serapis vs Jesus
• The Roman Cult of Mithras

Common Sense

It is hard for many people to give up the religion in which they were born; to admit that their fathers were utterly mistaken, and that the sacred records of their country are but collections of myths and fables.

But when we look for a moment at the world, we find that each nation has its "sacred records"—its religion, and its ideas of worship. Certainly all cannot be right; and as it would require a lifetime to investigate the claims of these various systems, it is hardly fair to damn a man forever, simply because he happens to believe the wrong one. All these religions were produced by barbarians.

Civilized nations have contented themselves with changing the religions of their barbaric ancestors, but they have made none. Nearly all these religions are intensely selfish. Each one was made by some contemptible little nation that regarded itself as of almost infinite importance, and looked upon the other nations as beneath the notice of their god. In all these countries it was a crime to deny the sacred records, to laugh at the priests, to speak disrespectfully of the gods, to fail to divide your substance with the lazy hypocrites who managed your affairs in the next world upon condition that you would support them in this.

In the olden time these theological people who quartered themselves upon the honest and industrious, were called soothsayers, seers, charmers, prophets, enchanters, sorcerers, wizards, astrologers, and impostors, but now, they are known as clergymen.

We are no exception to the general rule, and consequently have our sacred books as well as the rest. Of course, it is claimed by many of our people that our books are the only true ones, the only ones that the real God ever wrote, or had anything whatever to do with. They insist that all other sacred books were written by hypocrites and impostors; that the Jews were the only people that God ever had any personal intercourse with, and that all other prophets and seers were inspired only by impudence and mendacity.

It seems somewhat strange that God should have chosen a barbarous and unknown people who had little or nothing to do with the other nations of the earth, as his messengers to the rest of mankind. It is not easy to account for an infinite God making people so low in the scale of intellect as to require a revelation. Neither is it easy to perceive why, if a revelation was necessary for all, it was made only to a few.

Of course, I know that it is extremely wicked to suggest these thoughts, and that ignorance is the only armor that can effectually protect you from the wrath of God. I am aware that investigators with all their genius, never find the road to heaven; that those who look where they are going are sure to miss it, and that only those who voluntarily put out their eyes and implicitly depend upon blindness can surely keep the narrow path.

Whoever reads our sacred book is compelled to believe it or suffer forever the torments of the lost. We are told that we have the privilege of examining it for ourselves; but this privilege is only extended to us on the condition that we believe it whether it appears reasonable or not.

We may disagree with others as much as we please upon the meaning of all passages in the bible, but we must not deny the truth of a single word. We must believe that the book is inspired. If we obey its every precept without believing in its inspiration we will be damned just as certainly as though we disobeyed its every word. We have no right to weigh it in the scales of reason—to test it by the laws of nature, or the facts of observation and experience. To do this, we are told, is to put ourselves above the word of God, and sit in judgment on the works of our creator.

Robert Ingersoll Quotes

To my fellow seekers of truth, if you've not heard of Robert Ingersoll, you're in for a treat and an awakening. To say that his speeches and writings were logical, concise, necessary and appropriate, would be a major understatement, while not affording Ingersoll his overdue diligence.

Known as "The Great Agnostic," Robert G. Ingersoll was born at Dresden, NY (August 11, 1833 – July 21, 1899). His family moved to Illinois in 1845, where he studied law and was admitted to the bar. Ingersoll also entered the political arena as a Democrat. He was nominated for Congress in 1860, but was defeated.  

In 1862 Robert entered the army as Colonel of a regiment of cavalry and was taken prisoner, but was exchanged. Returning to civil life he became a Republican, and in 1868 became Attorney General of Illinois.

At the Republican convention of 1870 his speech, in proposing "Mr. Blaine's name for the Presidency," aroused general attention for its eloquence.  

This marked the beginning of Colonel Ingersoll's brilliant career as a dynamic orator. He frequently appeared upon the lecture platform in advocacy of views opposed to Christianity and the Bible. It is chiefly to this skepticism that he owed his celebrity.

The reason why Col. Robert Ingersoll's name is not historically bandied about like your Thomas Jefferson's, Ben Franklin's, Nikola Tesla's, and the like, is because Ingersoll logically, skillfully and astutely attacked and dissected organized religion at every turn. 

Couple his intellectual brashness with the fact that he was one of the greatest orators the world has ever known, an abolitionist and defender of women's rights (long before the Women's suffrage movement) and you will begin to understand why the majority of 'dependent thinkers', past and present, have attempted to expunge his work from the annals of American history.

This blog will highlight some of Ingersoll's more memorable quotes.

"The idea of hell was born of ignorance, brutality, fear, cowardice, and revenge. This idea testifies that our remote ancestors were the lowest beasts. Only from dens, lairs, and caves, only from mouths filled with cruel fangs, only from hearts of fear and hatred, only from the conscience of hunger and lust, only from the lowest and most debased could come this most cruel, heartless and bestial of all dogmas."

"The Emperor Constantine, who lifted Christianity into power, murdered his wife Fausta*, and his eldest son Crispus, the same year that he convened the Council of Nicea to decide whether Jesus Christ was a man or the Son of God. The council decided that Christ was consubstantial [of the same substance or essence] with the father. This was in the year 325. We are thus indebted to a wife-murderer for settling the vexed question of the divinity of the Savior."

* Fausta was executed by suffocation in an over-heated bath, a mode of assassination not otherwise attested in the Roman world. The Emperor ordered the 'damnatio memoriae' of his wife. Damnatio memoriae is the Latin phrase literally meaning "condemnation of memory", meaning that a person must not be remembered. It was a form of dishonor that could be passed by the Roman Senate on traitors or others who brought discredit to the Roman State. The intent was to erase the malefactor from history, a task somewhat easier in ancient times, when documentation was limited.

"Let us be honest. Did all the priests of Rome increase the mental wealth of man as much as Bruno? Did all the priests of France do as great a work for the civilization of the world as Diderot and Voltaire? Did all the ministers of Scotland add as much to the sum of human knowledge as David Hume? Have all the clergymen, monks, friars, ministers, priests, bishops, cardinals and popes, from the day of Pentecost to the last election, done as much for human liberty as Thomas Paine? — as much for science as Charles Darwin?"

"There is no slavery but ignorance. Liberty is the child of intelligence. The history of man is simply the history of slavery, of injustice and brutality, together with the means by which he has, through the dead and desolate years, slowly and painfully advanced."

"So I say, let us judge each other by our actions, not by theories, not by what we happen to believe -- because that depends very much on where we were born."

"We have now a science called astronomy. That science has done more to enlarge the horizon of human thought than all things else. We now live in an infinite universe. We know that the sun is a million times larger than our earth, and we know that there are other great luminaries millions of times larger than our sun. We know that there are planets so far away that light, traveling at the rate of one hundred and eighty-five thousand miles a second, requires fifteen thousand years to reach this grain of sand, this tear, we call the earth -- and we now know that all the fields of space are sown thick with constellations. If that statute had been enforced, that science would not now be the property of the human mind. That science is contrary to the Bible, and for asserting the truth you become a criminal. For what sum of money, for what amount of wealth, would the world have the science of astronomy expunged from the brain of man? We learned the story of the stars in spite of that statute."

"It may be, however, sufficient to say, that wherever the church has had power it has been a crime for any man to speak his honest thought. No church has ever been willing that any opponent should give a transcript of his mind. Every church in power has appealed to brute force, to the sword, for the purpose of sustaining its creed. Not one has had the courage to occupy the open field. The church has not been satisfied with calling Infidels and unbelievers blasphemers. Each church has accused nearly every other church of being a blasphemer. Every pioneer has been branded as a criminal. The Catholics called Martin Luther a blasphemer, and Martin Luther called Copernicus a blasphemer. Pious ignorance always regards intelligence as a kind of blasphemy. Some of the greatest men of the world, some of the best, have been put to death for the crime of blasphemy, that is to say, for the crime of endeavoring to benefit their fellow-men."

"Blasphemy is what an old mistake says of a newly discovered truth." 

"Blasphemy is what a withered last year's leaf says to this year's bud." 

"Blasphemy is the bulwark of religious prejudice."

"Blasphemy is the breastplate of the heartless."

"And let me say now, that the crime of blasphemy, as set out in this statute, is impossible. No man can blaspheme a book. No man can commit blasphemy by telling his honest thought. No man can blaspheme a God, or a Holy Ghost, or a Son of God. The Infinite cannot be blasphemed."

"What is blasphemy? I will give you a definition; I will give you my thought upon this subject. What is real blasphemy?"

"To live on the unpaid labor of other men — that is blasphemy."

"To enslave your fellow-man, to put chains upon his body — that is blasphemy."

"To enslave the minds of men, to put manacles upon the brain, padlocks upon the lips — that is blasphemy." 

"To strike the weak and unprotected, in order that you may gain the applause of the ignorant and superstitious mob — that is blasphemy." 

"To persecute the intelligent few, at the command of the ignorant many — that is blasphemy."

"To forge chains, to build dungeons, for your honest fellow-men — that is blasphemy."

"To pollute the souls of children with the dogma of eternal pain — that is blasphemy." 

"The jury that gives an unjust verdict, and the judge who pronounces an unjust sentence, are blasphemers." 

"The man who bows to public opinion against his better judgment and against his honest conviction, is a blasphemer."

"Gentlemen, you can never make me believe — no statute can ever convince me, that there is any infinite Being in this universe who hates an honest man. It is impossible to satisfy me that there is any God, or can be any God, who holds in abhorrence a soul that has the courage to express his thought. Neither can the whole world convince me that any man should be punished, either in this world or in the next, for being candid with his fellow-men. If you send men to the penitentiary for speaking their thoughts, for endeavoring to enlighten their fellows, then the penitentiary will become a place of honor, and the victim will step from it — not stained, not disgraced, but clad in robes of glory."

"What is holy, what is sacred? I reply that human happiness is holy, human rights are holy. The body and soul of man — these are sacred. The liberty of man is of far more importance than any book; the rights of man, more sacred than any religion — than any Scriptures, whether inspired or not."

"What we want is the truth, and does any one suppose that all of the truth is confined in one book — that the mysteries of the whole world are explained by one volume?"

"Any church that imprisons a man because he has used an argument against its creed, will simply convince the world that it cannot answer the argument."

"The hands that help are holier than the lips that pray."

"You ask me what I would “substitute for the Bible as a moral guide.” I know that many people regard the Bible as the only moral guide and believe that in that book only can be found the true and perfect standard of morality. There are many good precepts, many wise sayings and many good regulations and laws in the Bible, and these are mingled with bad precepts, with foolish sayings, with absurd rules and cruel laws."

"The story of Job shocks the heart of every good man. In this book there is some poetry, some pathos, and some philosophy, but the story of this drama called Job, is heartless to the last degree. The children of Job are murdered to settle a little wager between God and the Devil. Afterward, Job having remained firm, other children are given in the place of the murdered ones. Nothing, however, is done for the children who were murdered."

"On the whole, the Old Testament cannot be considered a moral guide. Jehovah was not a moral God. He had all the vices, and he lacked all the virtues. He generally carried out his threats, but he never faithfully kept a promise. At the same time, we must remember that the Old Testament is a natural production, that it was written by savages who were slowly crawling toward the light."

"I admit that there are many good things in the New Testament, and if we take from that book the dogmas of eternal pain, of infinite revenge, of the atonement, of human sacrifice, of the necessity of shedding blood; if we throw away the doctrine of non-resistance, of loving enemies, the idea that prosperity is the result of wickedness, that poverty is a preparation for Paradise, if we throw all these away and take the good, sensible passages, applicable to conduct, then we can make a fairly good moral guide, — narrow, but moral."

"Of course, many important things would be left out. You would have nothing about human rights, nothing in favor of the family, nothing for education, nothing for investigation, for thought and reason, but still you would have a fairly good moral guide. On the other hand, if you would take the foolish passages, the extreme ones, you could make a creed that would satisfy an insane asylum. If you take the cruel passages, the verses that inculcate eternal hatred, verses that writhe and hiss like serpents, you can make a creed that would shock the heart of a hyena. It may be that no book contains better passages than the New Testament, but certainly no book contains worse. Below the blossom of love you find the thorn of hatred; on the lips that kiss, you find the poison of the cobra. The Bible is not a moral guide. Any man who follows faithfully all its teachings is an enemy of society and will probably end his days in a prison or an asylum."

"What then is, or can be called, a moral guide? The shortest possible answer is one word: Intelligence. We want the experience of mankind, the true history of the race. We want the history of intellectual development, of the growth of the ethical, of the idea of justice, of conscience, of charity, of self-denial. We want to know the paths and roads that have been traveled by the human mind. These facts in general, these histories in outline, the results reached, the conclusions formed, the principles evolved, taken together, would form the best conceivable moral guide. We cannot depend on what are called “inspired books,” or the religions of the world. These religions are based on the supernatural, and according to them we are under obligation to worship and obey some supernatural being, or beings. All these religions are inconsistent with intellectual liberty. They are the enemies of thought, of investigation, of mental honesty. They destroy the manliness of man. They promise eternal rewards for belief, for credulity, for what they call faith. This is not only absurd, but it is immoral."

"These religions teach the slave virtues. They make inanimate things holy, and falsehoods sacred. They create artificial crimes. To eat meat on Friday, to enjoy yourself on Sunday, to eat on fast-days, to be happy in Lent, to dispute a priest, to ask for evidence, to deny a creed, to express your sincere thought, all these acts are sins, crimes against some god, To give your honest opinion about Jehovah, Mohammed or Christ, is far worse than to maliciously slander your neighbor. To question or doubt miracles. is far worse than to deny known facts. Only the obedient, the credulous, the cringers, the kneelers, the meek, the unquestioning, the true believers, are regarded as moral, as virtuous. It is not enough to be honest, generous and useful; not enough to be governed by evidence, by facts. In addition to this, you must believe. These things are the foes of morality. They subvert all natural conceptions of virtue."

"All “inspired books,” teaching that what the supernatural commands is right, and right because commanded, and that what the supernatural prohibits is wrong, and wrong because prohibited, are absurdly unphilosophic. And all “inspired books,” teaching that only those who obey the commands of the supernatural are, or can be, truly virtuous, and that unquestioning faith will be rewarded with eternal joy, are grossly immoral. Again I say: Intelligence is the only moral guide."