Superstition In All Ages (1732) | Page 8

are but overgrown children. The more
absurd a religion is, and the fuller of marvels, the more power it exerts;
the devotee thinks himself obliged to place no limits to his credulity;
the more inconceivable things are, the more divine they appear to him;
the more incredible they are, the more merit he gives himself for
believing them.

XIV.--THERE WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN ANY RELIGION IF
THERE HAD NEVER BEEN ANY DARK AND BARBAROUS
AGES.
The origin of religious opinions dates, as a general thing, from the time
when savage nations were yet in a state of infancy. It was to coarse,
ignorant, and stupid men that the founders of religion addressed
themselves in all ages, in order to present them with Gods, ceremonies,
histories of fabulous Divinities, marvelous and terrible fables. These
chimeras, adopted without examination by the fathers, have been
transmitted with more or less changes to their polished children, who
often do not reason more than their fathers.

XV.--ALL RELIGION WAS BORN OF THE DESIRE TO
DOMINATE.

The first legislators of nations had for their object to dominate, The
easiest means of succeeding was to frighten the people and to prevent
them from reasoning; they led them by tortuous paths in order that they
should not perceive the designs of their guides; they compelled them to
look into the air, for fear they should look to their feet; they amused
them upon the road by stories; in a word, they treated them in the way
of nurses, who employ songs and menaces to put the children to sleep,
or to force them to be quiet.

XVI.--THAT WHICH SERVES AS A BASIS FOR ALL RELIGION
IS VERY UNCERTAIN.
The existence of a God is the basis of all religion. Few people seem to
doubt this existence, but this fundamental principle is precisely the one
which prevents every mind from reasoning. The first question of every
catechism was, and will always be, the most difficult one to answer.

XVII.--IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO BE CONVINCED OF THE
EXISTENCE OF GOD.
Can one honestly say that he is convinced of the existence of a being
whose nature is not known, who remains inaccessible to all our senses,
and of whose qualities we are constantly assured that they are
incomprehensible to us? In order to persuade me that a being exists, or
can exist, he must begin by telling me what this being is; in order to
make me believe the existence or the possibility of such a being, he
must tell me things about him which are not contradictory, and which
do not destroy one another; finally, in order to convince me fully of the
existence of this being, he must tell me things about him which I can
comprehend, and prove to me that it is impossible that the being to
whom he attributes these qualities does not exist.

XVIII.--CONTINUATION.

A thing is impossible when it is composed of two ideas so antagonistic,
that we can not think of them at the same time. Evidence can be relied
on only when confirmed by the constant testimony of our senses, which
alone give birth to ideas, and enable us to judge of their conformity or
of their incompatibility. That which exists necessarily, is that of which
the non-existence would imply contradiction. These principles,
universally recognized, are at fault when the question of the existence
of God is considered; what has been said of Him is either unintelligible
or perfectly contradictory; and for this reason must appear impossible
to every man of common sense.

XIX.--THE EXISTENCE OF GOD IS NOT PROVED.
All human intelligences are more or less enlightened and cultivated. By
what fatality is it that the science of God has never been explained? The
most civilized nations and the most profound thinkers are of the same
opinion in regard to the matter as the most barbarous nations and the
most ignorant and rustic people. As we examine the subject more
closely, we will find that the science of divinity by means of reveries
and subtleties has but obscured it more and more. Thus far, all religion
has been founded on what is called in logic, a "begging of the
question;" it supposes freely, and then proves, finally, by the
suppositions it has made.

XX.--TO SAY THAT GOD IS A SPIRIT, IS TO SPEAK WITHOUT
SAYING ANYTHING AT ALL.
By metaphysics, God is made a pure spirit, but has modern theology
advanced one step further than the theology of the barbarians? They
recognized a grand spirit as master of the world. The barbarians, like all
ignorant men, attribute to spirits all the effects of which their
inexperience prevents them from discovering the true causes. Ask a
barbarian what causes your watch to move, he will answer,