much more than fear-
We want to stand upon our own feet and look fair and square at the world its
good facts, its bad facts, its beauties, and its ugliness.
See the world as it is, and not be afraid of it. Conquer the world by
intellignece, and not merely by being slavishly subdued by the terror that
comes from it. The whole conception of God is a conception derived from the
ancient Oriental despotisms. It is a conception quite unworthy of free men.
When you hear people in Church debasing themselves and saying that they are
miserable sinners, and all the rest of it, it seems contemptible, and not
worthy of self-rescpecting human beings. We ought to stand up and look the
world frankly in the face. We ought to make the best we can of the world,
and if it is not so good as we wish, after all, it will still be better than
what these others have made of it in all these ages. A good world needs
knowledge, kindness, and courage; it does not need a regretful hankering
after the past, or a fettering of the free intelligence by the words uttered
long ago by ignorant men. It needs a fearless outlook and a free
intelligence. It needs hope for the future, not looking back all the time
towards a past that is dead, which we trust will be far surpassed by the
future that our intelligence can create.
(excerpt from 'why i am not a christian') |
