An Athesit Manifesto

Title: An Atheist Manifesto

Author: Joseph Lewis

Release Date: October 1, 2010 [EBook #33825]

Language: English


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AN ATHEIST MANIFESTO

BY

JOSEPH LEWIS

THE FREETHOUGHT PRESS
ASSOCIATION: NEW YORK




COPYRIGHTED, 1954,
AND IN THE 178TH YEAR
OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE
BY JOSEPH LEWIS

_All rights reserved_

Second Edition, 1956
Third Edition, 1958

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA




JOSEPH LEWIS

_Author of_

THE TYRANNY OF GOD
THE BIBLE UNMASKED
VOLTAIRE: THE INCOMPARABLE INFIDEL
SPAIN: A LAND BLIGHTED BY RELIGION
BURBANK THE INFIDEL
ATHEISM
THE BIBLE AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS
FRANKLIN THE FREETHINKER
LINCOLN THE FREETHINKER
MEXICO AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
SOVIET RUSSIA AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
SHALL CHILDREN RECEIVE RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION?
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
THOMAS PAINE: AUTHOR OF
THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
IN THE NAME OF HUMANITY
THE TRAGIC PATRIOT
INSPIRATION AND WISDOM FROM THE WRITINGS OF
THOMAS PAINE
AN ATHEIST MANIFESTO
INGERSOLL THE MAGNIFICENT




AN ATHEIST MANIFESTO


Many ask what difference does it make whether man believes in a God or
not.

It makes a big difference.

It makes all the difference in the world.

It is the difference between being right and being wrong; it is the
difference between truth and surmises--facts or delusion.

It is the difference between the earth being flat, and the earth being
round.

It is the difference between the earth being the center of the
universe, or a tiny speck in this vast and uncharted sea of
multitudinous suns and galaxies.

It is the difference in the proper concept of life, or conclusions based
upon illusion.

It is the difference between verified knowledge and the faith of
religion.

It is a question of Progress or the Dark Ages.

The history of man proves that religion perverts man's concept of life
and the universe, and has made him a cringing coward before the blind
forces of nature.

If you believe that there is a God; that man was "created"; that he was
forbidden to eat of the fruit of the "tree of knowledge"; that he
disobeyed; that he is a "fallen angel"; that he is paying the penalty
for his "sins," then you devote your time praying to appease an angry
and jealous God.

If, on the other hand, you believe that the universe is a great
mystery; that man is the product of evolution; that he is born without
knowledge; that intelligence comes from experience, then you devote your
time and energies to improving his condition with the hope of securing a
little happiness here for yourself and your fellow man.

That is the difference.

If man was "created," then someone made a grievous mistake.

It is inconceivable that any form of intelligence would waste so much
time and effort to make such an inferior piece of life--with all the
"ills that flesh is heir to," and with all the misery and suffering that
is so essential a part of living.

If man is a "fallen angel," by the commission of a "sin," then disease
and sorrow are part of God's inscrutable plan as a penalty imposed upon
him for his "disobedience," and man's entire life is devoted to the
expiation of that sin so as to soften the indictment before the "Throne
of God."

Man's atonement consists in making himself as miserable as possible by
praying, fasting, masochism, flagellations and other forms of torture.

This sadistic delusion causes him to insist that others--under pain of
punishment--be as miserable as himself, for fear that if others fail to
do as he does, it will provoke the wrath of his tyrant God to a more
severe chastisement.

The inevitable result is that Man devotes his life, not to the
essentials of living and the making of a happy home, but to the building
of temples and churches where he can "lift his voice to God" in a frenzy
of fanaticism, and eventually he becomes a victim of hysteria.

His time and energy are wasted to cleanse his "soul," which he does not
possess, and to save himself from a future punishment in hell which
exists only in his imagination.

Religious hallucinations take on many forms.

Some do not wash themselves; some wash only their fingers; some think
that the filthier they are, the "holier" they are; some cut off their
hair, while others let it grow long; some refuse to stand up, while
others refuse to sit down; some amputate their genitals, and some their
breasts; some pull out their teeth, and others wither their limbs; some
fast, and others gorge themselves; some cover their heads with sand, and
others with sackcloth and ashes; some talk continuously, and others
remain silent; some are celibates, and others are profligates; some
stand on their heads; some brand themselves, while others pierce their
nose, eyes and ears.

Nuns cut off their hair to make themselves as unsightly as possible--to
make themselves repulsive to the opposite sex; there are monks who have
vowed never to look upon the face of a woman, and Franciscans still wear
ropes around their bodies as a symbol of flagellation.

There is hardly a form of insanity or delusion that has not been induced
by some sort of religious belief.

To laugh on the "Sabbath," at one time, was considered the sin of sins.

How rightfully Robert G. Ingersoll said that, "Christianity has made
more lunatics than it ever provided asylums for."

On the other hand, we do not believe that Man is a depraved human being.
We do not believe that there is a tyrant God, or that there is a hell,
and that man will suffer the pains and penalties of eternal torment. We
do not believe that you should make yourself as miserable as possible
Here in the hope of securing some happiness "Hereafter."

We do not believe that disease is a punishment for sin.

We believe that disease is a natural consequence of the processes of
life, and that the "ills of the flesh" inevitably follow where one form
of life lives upon another, and where "at the banquet of life each in
turn is a guest and a dish."

It is only by understanding the nature of disease that man has been
able, even in a small degree, to protect himself from the ravages of its
destruction.

The use of prayer to cure disease has been responsible for epidemics
that have, on many occasions, almost wiped out the human race. Prayer
has had no more effect upon disease than it has upon health. It merely
permits the disease to continue its course and increase the suffering of
the victim.

If priests--of all clans--were free of disease and immune to death,
then there might be some basis for the claim of the religionists. But
these "men of God" are victims of the natural course of life, "even as
you and I." They enjoy no exemptions. They suffer the same ills; they
feel the same sensations; they are subject to the same passions of the
body, the same frailties of the mind, are victims of circumstances and
misfortune, and they meet inevitable death just as every other person.
They commit the same kind of crimes as other mortals, and especially,
because of their "calling," many are notoriously involved in the
embezzlement of church funds. Nor does their calling protect them from
the "passions of the flesh." The scandalous conduct of many "men of the
cloth," in the realm of moral turpitude, often ends in murder. That is
why there are so many "men of God" in our jails, and why so many have
paid the supreme penalty in the death chair.

They are not free from a single rule of life; what others must endure,
they likewise must experience. They cannot protect themselves from the
forces of nature, and the laws of life, any more than you can. What they
can do, you can do, too. Their claims of being "anointed" and "vicars of
God" on earth are false and hypocritical.

If they cannot fulfill their promises while you are alive, how can they
accomplish them when you are dead?

If they are impotent Here, where they could demonstrate their powers,
how ridiculous are their promises to accomplish them in the "Hereafter,"
the mythical abode which exists only in their dishonest or deluded
imagination?

The illusions of life are many and varied.

Things are not always what they seem to be, and it is well known that
"appearances are deceiving."

That is why it is so difficult for some people to understand the nature
of disease, and why it has taken man so long to comprehend the true
conditions of life.

This deception prevails in matters of great importance, as well as in
matters of little consequence.

There is no "voice of nature" to tell man that which is true and that
which is false, nor to warn him of the dangers of life. He must find the
truth for himself, and only after very bitter experiences.

The first piece of deception of man, after his so-called mental
awakening, was his inability to conceive of any scheme of life except
from his own primitive concept of limited intelligence.

He could not conceive the earth and the universe except as being
"created," and from his own feeling of revenge, he could not conceive
of the suffering of life except as a punishment for some "disobedience."
Primitive though he be, he did not inflict pain and punishment upon the
innocent. This diabolical scheme could only come from a "merciful" God.

As an illustration of this concept of primitive man in this respect is
the delusion he experiences when he believes that the sun "rises and
sets," when as a matter of fact, it is the sun which is "stationary" as
far as the earth is concerned, and it is the earth that "moves," as
Galileo so courageously maintained--at the cost of his liberty.

There is a delusion that the sun shines and the water falls from the
clouds to make the flowers bloom.

To the religionist this is an indication of the "beauty" in nature.

It is nothing of the kind.

Poisonous plants and obnoxious weeds are equally nourished by the
warmth of the sun and the moisture of the water.

Is this, then, an indication of the "ugliness" of nature?

Certainly not.

Both are inevitable consequences of the environment in which they live.
It could not be otherwise.

Is the hippopotamus one of nature's masterpieces?

Is its face and form the perfection of beauty and grace?

Would you consider this animal a work of living art if you were
responsible for it?

And yet, if this beast could talk, it would probably say that its
environment was made for its benefit and that its marvelous features,
particularly its mouth, was especially "designed" for its enjoyment, and
that its whole body was made in the "image and likeness of God."

The fact that the hippopotamus has survived these millions of years of
the evolutionary process and still thrives today is proof that it is
equally as favored by Nature as is man.

To nature the blossoms of the flowers and the obnoxious weeds are
identical, and the fragrance of the one and the stench of the other are
equally alike; both, if they could talk, would boast of Nature's
preference for them.

While, as a matter of fact, both would be wrong.

The sun does not shine to bring us its necessary light and warmth
without also bringing to light some new burden for our overtroubled
hearts to bear; and everything in the universe shares the same and
inevitable consequences.

While it is true that it is "an ill wind that blows no good," it is also
true that what is "one man's meat is another man's poison."

To Nature matters of "great importance" and matters