ng to Christian policies, a man who refuses to believe what the priests, preacher, or rabbi tells him, is more apt to burn in hell for eternity than if he tricks his neighbors, and it has been common practice for the church to excuse criminals, if they confess their wrongdoing, do some petty penance, and make a contribution to the church. The churches are full of rascals and hypocrites and this is generally known. The worst politicians and grafters usually have a church affiliation. If the churches lived up to the highest moral and ethical principles, they would refuse to permit such persons to fill their pews.
In the Freethinkers Bulletin, Volume 7, No. 6-7, Joseph Lewis, one of the foremost Freethought leaders in the world and a stalwart defender of atheism and the separation of church and state, among other criticisms of other religions, says, "I am not fighting to perpetuate Judaism -- I think it has brought a form of insanity to mankind."
A form of insanity, indeed -- this, and all religions, many or all of which have steeped the world in blood.
Religion is Aided and
Subsidized by Selfish
One of the biggest rackets on earth is the Christmas racket, exceeded only by the religious racket itself. At Christmas time people go wild buying and sending presents and cards to their friends. They pay exorbitant prices, spend needlessly, and give useless, impractical gifts.
But this is the harvest, and the Jews, who have rejected Christ, profit amazingly by selling Christmas goods to the Gentiles during the season.
Every merchant and manufacturer spends huge sums on advertising Christmas gifts and boosting Christmas, generally because it means profits in his pocket. It is a harvest time.
At Easter, the people are led to the purchase of new clothes and presents.
The result of the celebration of these religious festivals is a substantial income to the commercial interests which profit from them, so Christianity gets a promotion and an advertisement because it benefits the merchant class in addition to the priest class, who also reap a harvest at Christmas and Easter.
If gifts were given to show the generosity of the giver and for the benefit of all, little objection could be made, but the procedure is one of selfish promotion, with much show and sham.
Other commercial interests use religion as an aid to their advertising, and still others subsidize the churches so they can keep the people in ignorance and subjection.
Willard Price, an expert on the Japanese, tells how they controlled the formerly conquered Chinese with the physical drug of opium and the mental drug of Buddhism.
Down through the centuries, many selfish interests have organized to promote religion and to suppress opposition to it.
But all of these people are blind to the benefits of progress. Even those priests and preachers who fear to lose their lucrative positions and hence militantly fight for the propagation of their doctrines, would profit by the prosperity and the increase in intelligence which would prevail if religion were exposed and eliminated. The commercial interests which promote religion incidentally to selling their goods would likewise be more prosperous and safer if reason ruled the nations instead of religion.
God and the Atheists
God, according to the Christians, has created men who are atheists, who do not believe what the priests and preachers tell them; he has created sinners who do not know or do not understand his many conflicting commands.
Then God condemns all these persons to eternal hell fire, torture, and suffering. He is not satisfied with killing them, but wants to see them suffer for eternity. What an example of cruelty and hatred for a people to have set before them! What a fine way to encourage tolerance and a better world!
The Evidence for the Existence
of God is Worse Than Flimsy
Any so-called evidence of God is only hearsay. We must believe someone else's statement that there is a God. He cannot be seen nor heard. We have stories in the Bible saying some of the old prophets saw him. But the same Bible says, "No man hath seen Go