{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_33825/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_33825","id":"gutenberg_33825","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/33825","summary":null,"tags":["Atheism","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"Produced by Betty Haertling, Marilynda Fraser-Cunliffe,\nMartin Pettit and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team\nat http://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAN ATHEIST MANIFESTO\n\nBY\n\nJOSEPH LEWIS\n\nTHE FREETHOUGHT PRESS\nASSOCIATION: NEW YORK\n\n\n\n\nCOPYRIGHTED, 1954,\nAND IN THE 178TH YEAR\nOF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE\nBY JOSEPH LEWIS\n\n_All rights reserved_\n\nSecond Edition, 1956\nThird Edition, 1958\n\nPRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA\n\n\n\n\nJOSEPH LEWIS\n\n_Author of_\n\nTHE TYRANNY OF GOD\nTHE BIBLE UNMASKED\nVOLTAIRE: THE INCOMPARABLE INFIDEL\nSPAIN: A LAND BLIGHTED BY RELIGION\nBURBANK THE INFIDEL\nATHEISM\nTHE BIBLE AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS\nFRANKLIN THE FREETHINKER\nLINCOLN THE FREETHINKER\nMEXICO AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH\nSOVIET RUSSIA AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH\nSHALL CHILDREN RECEIVE RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION?\nTHE TEN COMMANDMENTS\nTHOMAS PAINE: AUTHOR OF\nTHE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE\nIN THE NAME OF HUMANITY\nTHE TRAGIC PATRIOT\nINSPIRATION AND WISDOM FROM THE WRITINGS OF\nTHOMAS PAINE\nAN ATHEIST MANIFESTO\nINGERSOLL THE MAGNIFICENT\n\n\n\n\nAN ATHEIST MANIFESTO\n\n\nMany ask what difference does it make whether man believes in a God or\nnot.\n\nIt makes a big difference.\n\nIt makes all the difference in the world.\n\nIt is the difference between being right and being wrong; it is the\ndifference between truth and surmises--facts or delusion.\n\nIt is the difference between the earth being flat, and the earth being\nround.\n\nIt is the difference between the earth being the center of the\nuniverse, or a tiny speck in this vast and uncharted sea of\nmultitudinous suns and galaxies.\n\nIt is the difference in the proper concept of life, or conclusions based\nupon illusion.\n\nIt is the difference between verified knowledge and the faith of\nreligion.\n\nIt is a question of Progress or the Dark Ages.\n\nThe history of man proves that religion perverts man's concept of life\nand the universe, and has made him a cringing coward before the blind\nforces of nature.\n\nIf you believe that there is a God; that man was \"created\"; that he was\nforbidden to eat of the fruit of the \"tree of knowledge\"; that he\ndisobeyed; that he is a \"fallen angel\"; that he is paying the penalty\nfor his \"sins,\" then you devote your time praying to appease an angry\nand jealous God.\n\nIf, on the other hand, you believe that the universe is a great\nmystery; that man is the product of evolution; that he is born without\nknowledge; that intelligence comes from experience, then you devote your\ntime and energies to improving his condition with the hope of securing a\nlittle happiness here for yourself and your fellow man.\n\nThat is the difference.\n\nIf man was \"created,\" then someone made a grievous mistake.\n\nIt is inconceivable that any form of intelligence would waste so much\ntime and effort to make such an inferior piece of life--with all the\n\"ills that flesh is heir to,\" and with all the misery and suffering that\nis so essential a part of living.\n\nIf man is a \"fallen angel,\" by the commission of a \"sin,\" then disease\nand sorrow are part of God's inscrutable plan as a penalty imposed upon\nhim for his \"disobedience,\" and man's entire life is devoted to the\nexpiation of that sin so as to soften the indictment before the \"Throne\nof God.\"\n\nMan's atonement consists in making himself as miserable as possible by\npraying, fasting, masochism, flagellations and other forms of torture.\n\nThis sadistic delusion causes him to insist that others--under pain of\npunishment--be as miserable as himself, for fear that if others fail to\ndo as he does, it will provoke the wrath of his tyrant God to a more\nsevere chastisement.\n\nThe inevitable result is that Man devotes his life, not to the\nessentials of living and the making of a happy home, but to the building\nof temples and churches where he can \"lift his voice to God\" in a frenzy\nof fanaticism, and eventually he becomes a victim of hysteria.\n\nHis time and energy are wasted to cleanse his \"soul,\" which he does not\npossess, and to save himself from a future punishment in hell which\nexists only in his imagination.\n\nReligious hallucinations take on many forms.\n\nSome do not wash themselves; some wash only their fingers; some think\nthat the filthier they are, the \"holier\" they are; some cut off their\nhair, while others let it grow long; some refuse to stand up, while\nothers refuse to sit down; some amputate their genitals, and some their\nbreasts; some pull out their teeth, and others wither their limbs; some\nfast, and others gorge themselves; some cover their heads with sand, and\nothers with sackcloth and ashes; some talk continuously, and others\nremain silent; some are celibates, and others are profligates; some\nstand on their heads; some brand themselves, while others pierce their\nnose, eyes and ears.\n\nNuns cut off their hair to make themselves as unsightly as possible--to\nmake themselves repulsive to the opposite sex; there are monks who have\nvowed never to look upon the face of a woman, and Franciscans still wear\nropes around their bodies as a symbol of flagellation.\n\nThere is hardly a form of insanity or delusion that has not been induced\nby some sort of religious belief.\n\nTo laugh on the \"Sabbath,\" at one time, was considered the sin of sins.\n\nHow rightfully Robert G. Ingersoll said that, \"Christianity has made\nmore lunatics than it ever provided asylums for.\"\n\nOn the other hand, we do not believe that Man is a depraved human being.\nWe do not believe that there is a tyrant God, or that there is a hell,\nand that man will suffer the pains and penalties of eternal torment. We\ndo not believe that you should make yourself as miserable as possible\nHere in the hope of securing some happiness \"Hereafter.\"\n\nWe do not believe that disease is a punishment for sin.\n\nWe believe that disease is a natural consequence of the processes of\nlife, and that the \"ills of the flesh\" inevitably follow where one form\nof life lives upon another, and where \"at the banquet of life each in\nturn is a guest and a dish.\"\n\nIt is only by understanding the nature of disease that man has been\nable, even in a small degree, to protect himself from the ravages of its\ndestruction.\n\nThe use of prayer to cure disease has been responsible for epidemics\nthat have, on many occasions, almost wiped out the human race. Prayer\nhas had no more effect upon disease than it has upon health. It merely\npermits the disease to continue its course and increase the suffering of\nthe victim.\n\nIf priests--of all clans--were free of disease and immune to death,\nthen there might be some basis for the claim of the religionists. But\nthese \"men of God\" are victims of the natural course of life, \"even as\nyou and I.\" They enjoy no exemptions. They suffer the same ills; they\nfeel the same sensations; they are subject to the same passions of the\nbody, the same frailties of the mind, are victims of circumstances and\nmisfortune, and they meet inevitable death just as every other person.\nThey commit the same kind of crimes as other mortals, and especially,\nbecause of their \"calling,\" many are notoriously involved in the\nembezzlement of church funds. Nor does their calling protect them from\nthe \"passions of the flesh.\" The scandalous conduct of many \"men of the\ncloth,\" in the realm of moral turpitude, often ends in murder. That is\nwhy there are so many \"men of God\" in our jails, and why so many have\npaid the supreme penalty in the death chair.\n\nThey are not free from a single rule of life; what others must endure,\nthey likewise must experience. They cannot protect themselves from the\nforces of nature, and the laws of life, any more than you can. What they\ncan do, you can do, too. Their claims of being \"anointed\" and \"vicars of\nGod\" on earth are false and hypocritical.\n\nIf they cannot fulfill their promises while you are alive, how can they\naccomplish them when you are dead?\n\nIf they are impotent Here, where they could demonstrate their powers,\nhow ridiculous are their promises to accomplish them in the \"Hereafter,\"\nthe mythical abode which exists only in their dishonest or deluded\nimagination?\n\nThe illusions of life are many and varied.\n\nThings are not always what they seem to be, and it is well known that\n\"appearances are deceiving.\"\n\nThat is why it is so difficult for some people to understand the nature\nof disease, and why it has taken man so long to comprehend the true\nconditions of life.\n\nThis deception prevails in matters of great importance, as well as in\nmatters of little consequence.\n\nThere is no \"voice of nature\" to tell man that which is true and that\nwhich is false, nor to warn him of the dangers of life. He must find the\ntruth for himself, and only after very bitter experiences.\n\nThe first piece of deception of man, after his so-called mental\nawakening, was his inability to conceive of any scheme of life except\nfrom his own primitive concept of limited intelligence.\n\nHe could not conceive the earth and the universe except as being\n\"created,\" and from his own feeling of revenge, he could not conceive\nof the suffering of life except as a punishment for some \"disobedience.\"\nPrimitive though he be, he did not inflict pain and punishment upon the\ninnocent. This diabolical scheme could only come from a \"merciful\" God.\n\nAs an illustration of this concept of primitive man in this respect is\nthe delusion he experiences when he believes that the sun \"rises and\nsets,\" when as a matter of fact, it is the sun which is \"stationary\" as\nfar as the earth is concerned, and it is the earth that \"moves,\" as\nGalileo so courageously maintained--at the cost of his liberty.\n\nThere is a delusion that the sun shines and the water falls from the\nclouds to make the flowers bloom.\n\nTo the religionist this is an indication of the \"beauty\" in nature.\n\nIt is nothing of the kind.\n\nPoisonous plants and obnoxious weeds are equally nourished by the\nwarmth of the sun and the moisture of the water.\n\nIs this, then, an indication of the \"ugliness\" of nature?\n\nCertainly not.\n\nBoth are inevitable consequences of the environment in which they live.\nIt could not be otherwise.\n\nIs the hippopotamus one of nature's masterpieces?\n\nIs its face and form the perfection of beauty and grace?\n\nWould you consider this animal a work of living art if you were\nresponsible for it?\n\nAnd yet, if this beast could talk, it would probably say that its\nenvironment was made for its benefit and that its marvelous features,\nparticularly its mouth, was especially \"designed\" for its enjoyment, and\nthat its whole body was made in the \"image and likeness of God.\"\n\nThe fact that the hippopotamus has survived these millions of years of\nthe evolutionary process and still thrives today is proof that it is\nequally as favored by Nature as is man.\n\nTo nature the blossoms of the flowers and the obnoxious weeds are\nidentical, and the fragrance of the one and the stench of the other are\nequally alike; both, if they could talk, would boast of Nature's\npreference for them.\n\nWhile, as a matter of fact, both would be wrong.\n\nThe sun does not shine to bring us its necessary light and warmth\nwithout also bringing to light some new burden for our overtroubled\nhearts to bear; and everything in the universe shares the same and\ninevitable consequences.\n\nWhile it is true that it is \"an ill wind that blows no good,\" it is also\ntrue that what is \"one man's meat is another man's poison.\"\n\nTo Nature matters of \"great importance\" and matters of \"little\nconsequence\" are on an equal basis. The one is not \"favored\" above the\nother. It is the survival of the fittest, and not the most desirable\nthat survives.\n\nWhen conditions are favorable to the \"wild\" animals, they thrive by\nkilling the other forms of life upon which they live, and when\nconditions are favorable to man, he kills and lives upon the forms of\nlife which he considers exist solely for his pleasure and benefit.\n\nTo nature the germs of disease, as a form of life, are equally as\nimportant as the other forms of life that \"breathe and have their\nbeing.\"\n\nWhen conditions are favorable to the virus of influenza and pneumonia,\nwe have what is known as an epidemic, and when conditions are favorable\nto the growth of cancer, it has what we might term a \"Roman Holiday\" by\ndestroying a third of our population.\n\nGerms of disease are merely invisible wild animals.\n\nThey are forms of life that thrive upon the soil of the human body.\n\nPrayer has about as much effect upon them as it would have upon the\nhungry tiger ready to devour you.\n\nA bullet from a gun would be far more effective against the tiger, and\nknowledge of the nature of the germs of disease, and the discovery of\nthe methods of destroying them, are comparable to the invention of the\ngun and its use against the ferocious animal.\n\nThe knowledge of the one protects you against the invisible enemies of\ndestruction, while the invention of the gun protects you against being\ndestroyed by the wild beasts.\n\nThe germs of disease and the hungry tiger are both determined upon the\nsame objective--your destruction--one by eating you in \"chunks\" and the\nother by minutely gnawing you away \"piecemeal.\"\n\nThe results are identical.\n\nIt is not necessary to moralize upon the difference.\n\nBut this we know, that in our present scheme of life, as Ingersoll so\neloquently states, \"The hands that help are better far than lips that\npray.\"\n\nOur bodies are as much \"meat\" for the disease germs that eat us as the\nanimal that furnishes the meat for our appetites.\n\nOr as Shakespeare puts it:\n\n\n    \"... in the sweetest bud\n    The eating canker dwells.\"\n\n\nIn a broader and more comprehensive concept of disease, Shakespeare\nsays, it is, as if a\n\n\n    \"God omnipotent\n    Is mustering in his clouds...\n    Armies of pestilence; and they shall strike\n    Your children yet unborn and unbegot....\"\n\n\nWho are you to say which one is the more favored in this scheme of\nlife--the germs of disease or man--which one is preferred by nature;\nwhich one is more important than the other, since the ends accomplished\nare the same?\n\nThe life of the disease germ came into existence by the same process as\ndid the life of man.\n\nIt is just as much a part of nature as is the dimpled babe.\n\nIf we cannot live without sunshine and water, neither can the germs of\ndisease.\n\nIt might well be that we are nothing more than \"disease germs\" in the\nenvironment in which we live. The same basic construction by which they\nlive forms the same pattern upon which our life is built.\n\nTo nature the night is just as important as the day, and the life of the\ngerm we call disease is as important as the life of the body upon which\nit feeds.\n\nIt follows the same law of life; it is born, reproduces and dies.\n\nThere are forms of life that live by night that are equally as favored\nby nature as those which live by day.\n\nFreaks of all kinds exist in nature--from the utterly ridiculous to the\nterrifying monstrosities. This is proof of the lack of design in Nature\nas far as man is concerned.\n\nWhen man comes to the realization that he is not the \"favorite\" of God;\nthat he was not specially created, that the universe was not made for\nhis benefit, and that he is subject to the same laws of nature as all\nother forms of life, then, and not until then, will he understand that\nhe must rely upon himself, and himself alone, for whatever benefits he\nis to enjoy; and devote his time and energies to helping himself and his\nfellow men to meet the exigencies of life and to set about to solve the\ndifficult and intricate problems of living.\n\nThe recognition of a problem is the first step to its solution--\n\nWe are not \"fallen\" angels, nor were we \"created\" perfect.\n\nOn the contrary, we are the product of millions of years of an\nunpurposed evolution.\n\nWe are the descendants and inheritors of all the defects of our\nprimitive ancestry--the evolution of the myriad forms of life from the\ninfinitesimal to the mammoth--from the worm to the dinosaur.\n\nThe most important step in the development of man is the recognition of\nthe fact that we are born without knowledge, and that the acquisition of\nknowledge is a slow and painful process.\n\nIf all man needed upon earth was a \"knowledge of God,\" then why the\nnecessity of establishing educational institutions?\n\nUnless a child is taught to talk, it will never be able to speak the\nlanguage of our tongue. Without teaching the child the rudiments of\nspeech, he would be unable to communicate his thoughts to others.\nWithout proper training his \"grunts\" of expression would be meaningless,\nand the only way he could express himself would be by the primitive\ninstinct of making signs and by pointing.\n\nThe brain needs the same kind of training as any other part of the body\nthat requires exercise for development. Nourishment for the mind is\njust as necessary as nourishment for the body.\n\nJust as there are some foods which have been so adulterated and refined\nthat when eaten they add no nourishment to the body, so there are truths\nwhich have been adulterated by religion and superstition so as to be\nutterly valueless in nourishing the mind with intelligence.\n\nEducation becomes the primary object of civilization.\n\nAs Thomas Paine says: \"Wisdom is not the purchase of a day.\"\n\nThe church knows that an educated man is an unbeliever.\n\nThat is why there is a continual struggle on the part of the clergy to\nadulterate education with superstition. To maintain their untenable\nposition they must keep the people shackled to a form of mental slavery.\n\nBoth fear and superstition are forms of a contagious disease.\n\nThe ignorance of man produced natural fears of the elements of nature.\nWhat he could not understand he attributed to malevolent spirits whose\nprimary purpose was to punish and harm him. Under this spell it seems\nalmost incredible that he ever advanced from his state of primitive\nignorance.\n\nHis fears produced such fantastic monsters of the air that it was first\nnecessary to relieve his tormented mind of these terrifying myths of\nghosts and gods before he was able to acquire even the simplest\nrudiments of knowledge.\n\nMan's ignorance and fears made him an easy prey of priests.\n\nHis gullibility was such that he believed everything he was told.\n\nHe soon became a slave to these liars and hypocrites.\n\nAnd what did the priests tell him?\n\nThey told him that God had made a special revelation in a book called\nthe Bible, and that it was necessary to believe every word in that book\nin order that he might save his soul. They told him that if he disobeyed\ntheir commands, he would suffer eternal damnation in a hell where \"the\nfire never ceases, and where the worm never dies.\"\n\nThey also told him that it was a sin for him to read that book, and that\nthe priest was especially ordained by God to interpret the meaning of\neach and every word.\n\nAnd what was the priest's interpretation of the text of that book?\n\nIt was that man was a corrupt and sinful being, and that in order to be\nsaved from punishment after death, he had to give a substantial part of\nthe fruits of his labor to the priest to pray for him, and intercede\nwith God on his behalf, so as to mitigate the punishment to which he had\nalready been doomed.\n\nWhat a diabolical scheme of fraud by which to live upon the sweat and\nlabor of others.\n\nIt was such a profitable scheme that the priests began to maintain their\npower by the force of arms.\n\nAs a result there came into existence the twin tyrannies of church and\nstate.\n\nIt seems incredible that such nonsense was ever imposed upon suffering\nhumanity, and nonsense it would be were it not so tragic.\n\nSo fearful did he become that he thought that he could not live without\nthe \"protection\" of the priests, and as Ingersoll said, \"as long as\npeople wanted Popes, plenty of hypocrites will be found to take their\nplace....\"\n\nIngersoll further declared: \"The priests pretended to stand between the\nwrath of the gods and the helplessness of man. He was man's attorney at\nthe court of heaven. He carried to the invisible world a flag of truce,\na protest and a request. He came back with a command, with authority and\npower. Man fell upon his knees before his own servant, and the priest,\ntaking advantage of the awe inspired by his supposed influence with the\ngods, made of his fellow-man a cringing hypocrite and slave.\"\n\nAs long as there is one person suffering an injustice; as long as one\nperson is forced to bear an unnecessary sorrow; as long as one person is\nsubject to an undeserved pain, the worship of a God is a demoralizing\nhumiliation.\n\nAs long as there is one mistake in the universe; as long as one wrong is\npermitted to exist; as long as there is hatred and antagonism among\nmankind, the existence of a God is a moral impossibility.\n\nIngersoll said: \"Injustice upon earth renders the justice of heaven\nimpossible.\"\n\nMan's inhumanity to man will continue as long as man loves God more than\nhe loves his fellow man.\n\nThe love of God means wasted love.\n\n\"For God and Country\" means a divided allegiance--a 50 per cent patriot.\n\nThe most abused word in the language of man is the word \"God.\"\n\nThe reason for this is that it is subject to so much abuse.\n\nThere is no other word in the human language that is as meaningless and\nincapable of explanation as is the word \"God.\"\n\nIt is the beginning and end of nothing.\n\nIt is the Alpha and Omega of Ignorance.\n\nIt has as many meanings as there are minds. And as each person has an\nopinion of what the word God ought to mean, it is a word without\npremise, without foundation, and without substance.\n\nIt is without validity.\n\nIt is all things to all people, and is as meaningless as it is\nindefinable.\n\nIt is the most dangerous in the hands of the unscrupulous, and is the\njoker that trumps the ace.\n\nIt is the poisoned word that has paralyzed the brain of man.\n\n\"The fear of the Lord\" is not the beginning of wisdom; on the contrary,\nit has made man a groveling slave; it has made raving lunatics of those\nwho have attempted to interpret what God \"is\" and what is supposed to be\nour \"duty\" to God.\n\nIt has made man prostitute the most precious things of life--it has made\nhim sacrifice wife, and child, and home.\n\n\"In the name of God\" means in the name of nothing--it has caused man to\nbe a wastrel with the precious elixir of life, because there is no God.\n\nIngersoll could not understand the mind of those who, once having been\ntold the truth, preferred to remain under the spell of superstition and\nin ignorance. He could not understand why people would not accept \"new\ntruths with gladness.\"\n\nHe also knew, however, that once a person's mind had been poisoned with\nreligious superstition, it was almost impossible to free it from the\nparalyzing fear which destroyed its ability to think.\n\nIt is now established by verifiable evidence that religion stultifies\nthe brain and is the great obstacle in the path of intellectual\nprogress.\n\nThe more religious a person is, the more he is steeped in ignorance and\nsuperstition, the less is his sense of moral responsibility. The more\nintelligent a person, the less religious he is. There is an old saying\nthat \"where there are three scientists, there are two atheists.\"\n\nThe countries whose governments are dominated by religion and religious\ninstitutions are the most backward. By the same token, the countries\nwhose people are the most enlightened, and whose governments are based\nupon the principle of secularism--the separation of church and\nstate--are the most progressive.\n\nAnd let me tell you: When man is intellectually free, the progress he\nwill make is beyond calculation.\n\nWhat better illustration than this: More progress has been made since\nthe Declaration of Independence and the American Revolution than was\nmade in the previous five thousand years!\n\nYes, more intellectual and material progress has been made by man since\nthe establishment of the American Republic than during all the\nintervening years from the Pharaohs of Egypt up to and including the\ntime of \"the grandeur that was Greece, and the glory that was Rome.\"\n\nAnd there is a good and valid reason for this.\n\nIt was because \"in 1776 our fathers retired the gods from politics.\" The\nbasic principle of the American Republic is the freedom of man in\nsociety.\n\nThe Declaration of Independence was the product of Intellectual\nEmancipation, and that is why, from thenceforth, our date of existence\nshould be recorded, not from the mythical birth of Jesus Christ, but\nfrom the day of our Independence!\n\nThis should be the year one hundred and seventy-eight in our calendar!\n\nDespite discouraging signs here and there, the seeds of freedom planted\nby the American Revolution will take root, and throughout the world, if\nman will learn to zealously guard his freedom, Peace and Progress will\ncome to all the world.\n\nCould there be a more significant illustration than this:\n\nPractically in our own lifetime, and certainly since the Declaration of\nIndependence, man has wrought the most amazing achievements in the field\nof science and progress ever recorded in human history.\n\nNot in their order, nor according to their significance, do I record the\nfollowing:\n\nAnesthesia was discovered.\n\nDo you know what it means to relieve man of his pain and suffering?\nAnesthesia is the most humane of all of man's accomplishments, and what\na merciful accomplishment it was.\n\nFor this great discovery we are indebted to Dr. W. T. G. Morton.\n\nDo you know that the religionists opposed the use of anesthesia on the\nground that God sent pain as a punishment for sin, and it was considered\nthe greatest of sacrileges to use it--just think of it, a sin to relieve\nman of his misery! What a monstrous perversion! This one instance alone\nshould convince you of the difference in believing in God or not.\n\nNo believer in God would have spent his energies to discover anesthesia.\nHe would have been in mortal fear of the wrath of his God for\ninterfering with his \"divine plan,\" of making man suffer for having\neaten of the fruit of the \"Tree of Knowledge.\"\n\nThe very crux of the matter is in this one instance.\n\nMan seeks to relieve his fellow man from the suffering of disease and\nthe pangs of mental agony. The believers in God are content that man's\nsuffering is ordained, and therefore he accepts life and its trials and\ntribulations as a penance for living.\n\nThe fear of the wrath of God has been a stumbling block to progress.\n\nWhen Dr. James Young Simpson sought to apply anesthesia to a woman in\nchildbirth, the clergymen of his day foamed at the mouth and spat upon\nhim with vituperation and abuse, for attempting to violate God's direct\ncommand that \"in pain thou shalt bring forth children,\" as based upon\nthe idiotic text of the Bible. But Dr. Simpson persisted despite the\nravings of the religious lunatics of his day.\n\nThe importance of Dr. Simpson's application of anesthesia to the relief\nof pain in childbirth, and his open defiance of the religionists, are\nbeyond the measure of words to evaluate.\n\nThe X-ray was discovered in our time.\n\nProfessor Wilhelm Roentgen deserves our everlasting debt of gratitude\nfor this contribution. Its application alone in the field of medicine\nmakes it one of the greatest contributions to the service of man.\n\nDr. Karl Lansteiner's discovery of the composition of the blood--made in\nour time--has been responsible for the saving of countless thousands of\nlives.\n\nBlood was also feared by the religionists, and a taboo was placed upon\nall those who touched it, as being contaminated.\n\nEven the dissection of the human body was prohibited by religion.\n\nThe study of human anatomy is within our own time, and the fruitful\nresults of this scientific exploring of man's physical structure are\nincalculable.\n\nIt is needless, I think, to tell you why the study of human body is so\nrecent. Until the emancipation of the mind of man from the thraldom and\nshackles of religion, it was taught and believed as a \"religious\ntruth,\" and maintained under penalty of eternal damnation, that if the\nhuman body was dissected, God would not be able to recognize you on the\nday of resurrection!\n\nSuch has been the paralyzing menace of religion that has prevailed over\nthe mind of man.\n\nThe discovery of the chemistry of food and its application to nutrition\nhas contributed more to the health of the human race than all the Gods,\nclergymen and priests since the dawn of existence.\n\nPreventive medicine has accomplished amazing results in bringing health\nto, and prolonging, the life of the people.\n\nHygiene and its application have saved millions upon millions from\ndisease and premature death. It has stayed the \"hand of God\" in his\nmadness in spreading deaths from epidemics of disease.\n\nCharles Darwin published his \"Origin of Species\" and the great\nprinciple of evolution was promulgated.\n\nModern emancipated medicine has reduced the infant death rate by more\nthan 50 per cent, and has been responsible for more than doubling the\nlife span of man within the past century.\n\nJust think of it! All of this within our own lifetime!\n\nAll of this and more since the day of American independence!\n\nAnd listen to these words of Dr. Paul D. White, founder of the American\nHeart Association. He said:\n\n\"Those of us doctors who graduated from medical school thirty to forty\nyears ago, look back now at the almost unbelievable ignorance about\nheart disease that then existed. _More knowledge has come since then\nthan had been acquired in all the centuries before._\" (Italics mine).\n\nMan was taught in the past that the heart, like the voice, was the\n\"gift of God,\" and it was too sacred for man to probe into its workings.\nWhat were the results? Millions died who could have been saved; millions\nlived as horrible cripples who could have lived a normal life if man in\nthe past, had had the courage, that he has today, to seek relief from\nthe terrors of disease.\n\nSuch is the amazing progress that has been made when man relies upon his\nown efforts to solve his problems, whether they concern his health, or\nhis social or political affairs.\n\nIt was only within the past forty years that Dr. James B. Herrick\nproperly diagnosed the cause of coronary thrombosis from which followed\nthe amazing progress that has since been attained in combating this\ngreatest of killers.\n\nI, for one, wish to place upon the brow of Dr. Herrick my laurel leaf\nof thanks for his great accomplishment in medicine.\n\nWhat wonders have been accomplished since the invention of the steam\nengine, the automobile, radio, television, electronic devises, and the\nthousand and one other discoveries and inventions too numerous to\nmention.\n\nThe educational benefit of the motion picture will far outstrip its\nentertainment value, and its use in nearly every department of learning\nmakes it one of man's most valuable inventions.\n\nThink of Benjamin Franklin's discovery of the relationship of\nelectricity and lightning and the condemnation heaped upon him for his\ndefiance of \"The Prince of the Power of the Air.\"\n\nAnd of the Wright brothers, and the dire penalty they were to suffer for\n\"flying into the face of God.\"\n\nLightning, once feared as the wrathful manifestation of an angry God,\nwas reproduced in the laboratory by that electrical wizard and atheist,\nCharles P. Steinmetz.\n\nThe telephone, wireless telegraphy, the steam engine, refrigeration, the\nwashing and sewing machines, the mechanical weaving of cloth, and the\nmyriad uses of electric and atomic power will make man the master of his\ndestiny once he frees himself from the myth of a tyrant God.\n\nIngersoll best expressed man's inventions and their uses when he said\nthat, \"Science took the thunderbolt from the gods, and in the electric\nspark, freedom, with thought, with intelligence and with love, sweeps\nunder all the waves of the sea; science, free thought, took a tear from\nthe cheek of unpaid labor, converted it into steam, and created the\ngiant that turns, with tireless arms, the countless wheels of toil.\"\n\nDeprive man of the use of his discoveries and inventions of the past\ncentury and he will think he has been returned to barbarism.\n\nLook what Thomas A. Edison's invention of the electric light did for\nman--it lengthened his life, it gave more hours to the day, and\nincreased his comforts beyond anything previously known or imagined, and\nadded immeasurably to his joy of living.\n\nEven Joshua's fictitious performance of stopping the sun and the moon\nfades into nothingness when compared with this sublime achievement.\n\nNor must we forget Edison's invention for reproducing the human\nvoice--and please grant me a moment's indulgence to say that I had the\ngreat honor to know Thomas A. Edison, and Edison honored me by calling\nme his friend.\n\nIf printing has been hailed as one of the world's great inventions,\nwhat must we say of the phonograph? While printing preserves man's\nthoughts on paper, the phonograph preserves not only his thoughts but\nalso his voice!\n\nThe song of the skylark is no longer \"wasted upon the desert air.\"\n\nThomas A. Edison--the greatest of human benefactors--wrested from nature\nher most guarded secret--the mystery of the human voice.\n\nHe disproved, as it was once believed, that the human voice, like the\nheart, was the \"gift of God.\" He demonstrated that the human voice was\nmerely the natural mechanism of sound produced by air of the lungs\npassing over the \"cords\" of the throat and larynx in the same manner as\nare sounds produced by the strings of a musical instrument.\n\nAs a result of Edison's invention, man himself has already produced\nartificially every manifestation of the human voice!\n\nIf the voice was part of \"God's plan,\" how do we account for its absence\nin the giraffe? This animal has no larynx and therefore no vocal cords,\nand as a consequence it cannot talk or make sounds with its throat!\n\nThe giraffe is proof of the lack of design in nature and the blindness\nof the forces of evolutionary life.\n\nTo list all the great discoveries in the field of science and medicine\nduring the past century, such as aspirin, insulin, penicillin, and the\nstreptomycin drugs would require the undivided attention of a medical\nhistorian and a veritable encyclopedia to record them.\n\nAnd yet, there are still many diseases that plague man of which he has\nno knowledge. They eat and ravage his mind and body with excruciating\npain and torture, and he is utterly helpless against them. He not only\ndoes not know their origin, but has not the slightest inkling of their\nnature or how to fortify himself against their attacks. He must sit,\nlike a condemned criminal, in agonizing torture, waiting for blessed\ndeath.\n\nIf man, and the other forms of life upon this earth, are a mere\nby-product of an \"over-all plan\" of a \"supreme intelligence,\" then I\ndenounce such a scheme as tyrannical and barbaric.\n\nWhy should we be made to suffer such excruciating pains and penalties of\nlife to satisfy that from which we derive no benefit, and where death\nnegates all of our efforts; and which makes the purpose of life, our\nhopes and desires, our ambitions and aspirations, a cruel mockery?\n\nO prayer, thy name is failure!\n\nO God, thou art a cruel myth!\n\nYou will not find a single mention of these great humanitarian\nachievements in the so-called \"Book of Books\"; not a single reference\nabout the nature and cure of disease; not a word regarding those\ninventions that have so mercifully lifted the burden of toil from the\nbacks of labor.\n\nAnd there is good reason for it.\n\nThe Biblical writers not only had no knowledge of these things, but they\nhad a perverted concept of life and the universe. Their concept was that\nman was a victim of blood pollution and his only salvation was by a\nblood atonement.\n\nI remember once seeing a small pamphlet entitled, \"What the Bible\nTeaches about Morality.\" On opening the little booklet, it was\ndiscovered to be nothing but blank pages! Another such pamphlet might\nvery appropriately be published entitled, \"What the Bible Reveals about\nDisease, Medicine and Health,\" and blank pages should be used for all\nthe Bible contains about these vital subjects.\n\nOn the contrary, these benefits have been denounced by the believers in\nthe Bible, and by the representatives of the Bible's deity as being\ncontrary to \"God's Plan.\"\n\nDoes not the Bible plainly state that only by the sweat of his brow is\nman to labor for the bread he eats?\n\nHere is the exact Biblical quotation: \"In the sweat of thy face thou\nshalt eat bread...\" and why? Only because he sought knowledge.\n\nAnd does not the Bible God place a curse upon man for the knowledge that\nhas been such a solace and benefit to him?\n\nHere is another exact Biblical quotation: \"... cursed be the ground for\nthy sake; in pain thou shalt eat of it all the days of thy life.\"\n\nThe Bible is a lie. It is a fake and a fraud.\n\nI denounce this book and its God.\n\nI hold it in utter detestation.\n\nEvery man and woman who has contributed to the relief of the pain and\nsuffering of humanity has been an infidel to the Bible God!\n\nEvery new invention, every new discovery for the benefit of man violates\nthese Biblical edicts!\n\nI say, seek knowledge--defy this tyrant God--it is your only salvation.\n\nIt is because of the Biblical curse on man's search for knowledge, which\nhas so paralyzed his mind during the past ages, and its detrimental\neffect upon progress, that makes the Bible the most wicked, the most\ndetestable, the most pernicious, and the most obnoxious book ever\npublished.\n\nIt has been a curse to the human race.\n\nIt is the duty of every brave and honest man and woman to do everything\nin his and her power to destroy the influence of this utterly stupid and\nvicious book, with its infantile concept of life and its nonsense\nconcerning the universe.\n\nIt is their duty to do everything within their power to stop its\ndemoralizing and paralyzing influence upon the life of man.\n\nWe will never achieve intellectual liberty until the wickedness of this\nbook has been discarded with the belief in the flatness of the earth.\n\nIf you do not want to stop the wheels of progress; if you do not want to\ngo back to the Dark Ages; if you do not want to live again under\ntyranny, then you must guard your liberty, and you must not let the\nchurch get control of your government.\n\nIf you do, you will lose the greatest legacy ever bequeathed to the\nhuman race--intellectual freedom.\n\nNow let me tell you another thing.\n\nIf all the energy and wealth wasted upon religion--in all of its varied\nforms--had been spent to understand life and its problems, we would\ntoday be living under conditions that would seem almost like Utopia.\n\nMost of our social and domestic problems would have been solved, and\nequally as important, our understanding and relations with the other\npeoples of the world would have, by now, brought about universal peace.\n\nMan would have a better understanding of his motives and actions, and\nwould have learned to curb his primitive instincts for revenge and\nretaliation. He would, by now, know that wars of hate, aggression, and\naggrandizement are only productive of more hate and more human\nsuffering.\n\nThe enlightened and completely emancipated man from the fears of a God\nand the dogma of hate and revenge would make him a brother to his fellow\nman.\n\nHe would devote his energies to discoveries and inventions, which\ntheology previously condemned as a defiance of God, but which have\nproved so beneficial to him.\n\nHe would no longer be a slave to a God and live in cringing fear!\n\nTo build a church when a school house is needed is to perpetrate a theft\nupon education.\n\nTo build a church when a hospital is needed is to take from the parched\nlips of the sick the cup of relief and from the suffering the merciful\nhand of help.\n\nWhen the object of man's conduct will be to improve the conditions of\nhis fellow man and not the appeasement of a mythical God, he will become\nmore understanding and more indulgent of the frailties, mistakes, and\naction of others, and by the same token he will become more appreciative\nof their efforts.\n\nHe will develop a greater consciousness to avoid mistakes and to\nprevent injury. Life and its living will take on a greater significance,\nand our efforts and energies will be devoted to creating as much joy and\nhappiness as possible for all living creatures.\n\nUnless death is made a lesson for the living, the life lived is wasted.\n\nWhy should life come into existence only to be destroyed? One dies and\nanother is born--for what? A few miserable hours of life--then oblivion!\n\nWith this recognition of the finality of death, no one should willingly\nwithhold acts that would bring benefits, joy or happiness to others. In\ndeath, the hesitant act can no longer be performed--the word of praise\nis as impossible as yesterday's return.\n\nWhat perversity justified inflicting pain, suffering and death upon\nothers who have done no wrong?\n\nIf death ends all, why fight while we are living? Why shorten life with\nunnecessary pain and suffering?\n\nHow futile are the petty problems of individuals, with their hates and\njealousies, when all vanish with death?\n\nAll the prayers in the world cannot wipe out one injustice.\n\nEvery wrong is irreparable.\n\nThe dead cannot forgive.\n\nAll the tears and sighs are of no avail.\n\nForgiveness cannot be granted when lips cannot move. Praise cannot be\nheard when ears cannot hear; joy cannot be experienced when the heart no\nlonger beats; and the happiness of an affectionate embrace can no longer\nbe felt when arms are limp and the eyes are forever closed.\n\nYou are to make up your mind whether it is to be God or man.\n\nWhether you are to be free or a slave.\n\nWhether it is to be progress or stagnation.\n\nAs long as man loves a phantom in the sky more than he loves his fellow\nman, there will never be peace upon this earth; so long as man worships\na Tyrant as the \"Fatherhood of God,\" there will never be a \"Brotherhood\nof Man.\"\n\nYou must make the choice, you must come to the decision.\n\nIs it to be God or Man? Churches or Homes--preparation for death or\nhappiness for the living?\n\nIf ever man needed an example of the benefit of the one against the\nother, he need but read the pages of history for proof of how religion\nretarded progress and provoked hatred among the children of men.\n\nWhen theology ruled the world, man was a slave.\n\nThe people lived in huts and hovels.\n\nThey were clad in rags and skins; they devoured crusts and gnawed bones;\nthe priests wore garments of silk and satin; carried mitres of gold and\nprecious stones, robbed the poor and lived upon the fat of the land!\n\nHere and there a brave man appeared to question their authority.\n\nThese martyrs to intellectual emancipation slowly and painfully broke\nthe spell of superstition and ushered in the Age of Reason and the Dawn\nof Science.\n\nMan became the only god that man can know.\n\nHe no longer fell upon his knees in fear.\n\nHe began to enjoy the fruits of his own labor.\n\nHe discovered a way to relieve himself from the drudgery of continuous\ntoil; he began to enjoy a few comforts of life--and for the first time\nupon this earth he found a few moments for happiness.\n\nIt is far more important to learn how to live than to learn how to pray.\n\nA new day and a new era dawned for him.\n\nHis labors produced enormous dividends.\n\nHe looked at the sky for the first time and saw that it was blue! He\nsearched the heavens and found no God. He no longer feared the\nmanifestations of nature.\n\nThe stars, however, are not the alphabet upon which to read the destiny\nof man.\n\nWe not only do not believe that man is punished for his \"sins,\" but\nemphatically state that there is no such thing as sin.\n\nThere are wrongs and injustices, but no sin.\n\nSin, like purgatory and hell, was invented by priests, first to\nfrighten, and then to rob the living.\n\nWe do not fear these myths and curses, and that is why we devote our\ntime and energies to help our fellow man.\n\nThat is why we build educational institutions and seek, by a slow and\npainful process, to teach man the true nature of the universe and a\nproper understanding of his place as a member in society. At the same\ntime we try to fortify his mind with courage to withstand the rebuffs,\nthe trials and tribulations of life. That it is a difficult and arduous\ntask no one can deny because we cannot correct all of \"God's mistakes\"\nin one life time.\n\nAs Ingersoll so succinctly states: \"Nature cannot pardon.\"\n\nRemember this: You are not a depraved human being.\n\nYou have no sins to atone for.\n\nThere is no need for fear.\n\nThere are no ghosts--holy or otherwise.\n\nStop making yourself miserable for \"the love of God.\"\n\nDrive this monster of tyrannic fear from your mind, and enjoy the\ninestimable freedom of an emancipated human being.\n\nThe only duty you owe is to yourself and to your family.\n\nThe duty you owe to yourself is to do the best you can, and the duty you\nowe to your family is to endeavor to make them happy.\n\nEmancipate yourself from these stultifying creeds, and protect your\nchildren from the contamination of religion.\n\nGet off your knees, stand erect, and look the whole world in the face.\n\nGet all the joy and happiness you can out of life.\n\nEnjoy the fruits of your labor and waste it not upon the myth of heaven;\nsupport not the parasites of God.\n\nDo not knowingly harm another human being; do not knowingly injure your\nfellow man.\n\nAll forms of life have feeling, do not make them suffer.\n\nAs Shakespeare says:\n\n\n    \"The poor beetle, that we tread upon,\n    In corporal sufferance finds a pang as great\n    As when a giant dies.\"\n\n\nKindness is a magic solvent.\n\nWhile we know that sometimes \"ingratitude is more strong than traitor's\narms,\" we also know that \"mercy is twice blest; it blesses him that\ngives and him that takes,\" and, it should be remembered that while\nLoyalty is the most important of the virtues, Patience is the most\nvaluable.\n\nBecome a courageous human being and do the best you can under any and\nall circumstances in this imperfect and troublesome world.\n\nBe brave enough to live and be brave enough to die, knowing that when\nthe Grim Reaper comes, you did the best you could and that the world is\nbetter for your having lived.\n\nA God could do no more.\n\nI will stand between you and the hosts of heaven.\n\nI am not afraid.\n\nI will act as your attorney before the Bar of Judgment.\n\nI will assume all responsibility.\n\nMy services are free.\n\nPut the blame on me.\n\nBreak the chains of mental slavery to religious superstition.\n\nArise and become a free and independent human being.\n\nDignify yourself as a Man, and justify your living by being a Brother to\nAll Mankind and a Citizen of the Universe.","title":"An Atheist Manifesto","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":8125}