THINKERS ON RELIGION
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THOMAS PAINE ON THE CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE OF LOVE

 Thomas Paine (1737—1809) was born in England, the son of a Quaker, but came to the United States in 1784.  He immediately estab­lished himself as a leading propagandist for the American Revolution with the publication of Common Sense (1776).  Later; on a trip to Europe, he wrote two works that embroiled him in controversy: The Rights of Man (1791—92), in which he urged Englishmen to over­throw the monarchy, and The Age of Reason (1794—96), which was taken to be the work of an atheist in its scorn of religious revelation and dogma (in fact, Paine is probably to be classified as a deist).  These works caused him to be socially ostracized upon his return to the United States, and he was denied burial in consecrated ground upon his death.  In this extract from The Age of Reason,[1] Paine criticizes religion on two fronts: many evils have been committed in religion’s name, and religious morality itself is flawed and at times incoherent

[1]   From Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason (1794—96), in The Writings of Thomas Paine, ed. Moncure Daniel Conway, vol. 4 (New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1894-96), pp. 183—88.

 
Edited from "The Age of Reason" and printed in "Atheism, a Reader", S.T. Johi, editor, Prometheus Books, Amherst, New York, 2000, p. 240-244.  
 

M. C. Escher, food for their babies
e-dung-beatles.jpg
Dung beetles rolling their food into balls

REVELATION , , , , SO FAR AS THE term has relation between God and man, can only be applied to something which God reveals of his will to man; but though the power of the Almighty to make such a communication is necessarily admitted, because to that power all things are possible, yet, the thing so revealed (if any thing ever was revealed, and which, by the bye, it is impossible to prove) is revelation to the person only to whom it is made. His account of it to another is not revelation; and whoever puts faith in that account, puts it in the man from whom the account comes; and that man may have been deceived, or may have dreamed it; or he may be an impostor and may lie.  There is no possible criterion whereby to judge of the truth of what he tells; for even the morality of it would be no proof of revelation.  In all such cases, the proper answer should be, “When it is revealed to me, I will believe it to be revelation; but it is not and cannot be incumbent upon me to believe it to be revelation before; neither is it proper that I should take the word of man as the word of God, and put man in the place of God.”  This is the manner in which I have spoken of revelation in the former part of The Age of Reason; and which, whilst it reverentially admits revelation as a possible thing, because, as before said, to the Almighty all things are possible, it prevents the imposition of one man upon another, and precludes the wicked use of pretended revelation.

 

But though, speaking for myself, I thus admit the possibility of rev­elation, I totally disbelieve that the Almighty ever did communicate any thing to man, by any mode of speech, in any language, or by any kind of vision, or appearance, or by any means which our senses are capable of receiving, otherwise than by the universal display of himself in the works of the creation, and by that repugnance we feel in ourselves to bad actions, and disposition to good ones.[1]

 

The most detestable wickedness, the most horrid cruelties, and the greatest miseries, that have afflicted the human race, have had their origin in this thing called revelation, or revealed religion.  It has been the most dishonourable belief against the character of the divinity, the most destructive to morality, and the peace and happiness of man, that ever was propagated since man began to exist.  It is better, far better, that we admitted, if it were possible, a thousand devils to roam at large, and to preach publicly the doctrine of devils, if there were any such, than that we permitted one such impostor and monster as Moses, Joshua, Samuel, and the Bible prophets, to come with the pretended word of God in his mouth, and have credit among us.

 

Whence arose all the horrid assassinations of whole nations of men, women, and infants, with which the Bible is filled; and the bloody persecutions, and tortures unto death and religious wars, that since that time have laid Europe in blood and ashes; whence arose they, but from this impious thing called revealed religion, and this mon­strous belief that God has spoken to man?  The lies of the Bible have been the cause of the one, and the lies of the Testament [of] the other.

 

    Some Christians pretend that Christianity was not established by the sword; but of what period of time do they speak?  It was impossible that twelve men could begin with the sword: they had not the power; but no sooner were the professors of Christianity sufficiently powerful to employ the sword than they did so, and the stake and faggot too; and Mahomet could not do it sooner.  By the same spirit that Peter cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant (if the story be true) he would cut off his head, and the head of his master, had he been able.  Besides this, Christianity grounds itself originally upon the  [Hebrew] Bible, and the Bible was established altogether by the sword, and that in the worst use of it—not to terrify, but to extirpate.  The Jews made no converts: they butchered all.  The Bible is the sire of the [New] Testament, and both are called the word of God.  The Christians read both books; the ministers preach from both books; and this thing called Christianity is made up of both.  It is then false to say that Christianity was not established by the sword.

 

    The only sect that has not persecuted are the Quakers; and the only reason that can be given for it is, that they are rather Deists than Chris­tians.  They do not believe much about Jesus Christ, and they call the scriptures a dead letter.  Had they called them by a worse name, they had been nearer the truth.[2]

 

    It is incumbent on every man who reverences the character of the Creator, and who wishes to lessen the catalogue of artificial miseries, and remove the cause that has sown persecutions thick among mankind, to expel all ideas of a revealed religion as a dangerous heresy, and an impious fraud.  What is it that we have learned from this pretended thing called revealed religion?  Nothing that is useful to man, and every thing that is dishonourable to his Maker.  What is it the Bible teaches us?  — rapine, cruelty, and murder.  What is it the Testament teaches us?  —to believe that the Almighty committed debauchery with a woman engaged to be married; and the belief of this debauchery is called faith.

 

    As to the fragments of morality that are irregularly found thinly scat­tered in those books, they make no part of this pretended thing, revealed religion.  They are the natural dictates of conscience, and the bonds by which society is held together, and without which it cannot exist; and are nearly the same in all religions, and in all societies.  The Testament teaches nothing new upon this subject, and where it attempts to exceed, it becomes mean and ridiculous.  The doctrine of not retaliating injuries is much better expressed in Proverbs, which is a collection as well from the Gentiles[3] as the Jews, than it is in the [New] Testa­ment.  It is there said, (xxv. 21) “If thine enemy be hungry give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty give him water to drink:” but when it is said, as in the Testament, If a man smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him the other also,” it is assassinating the dignity of forbearance, and sinking man into a spaniel.

 

Loving of enemies[4] is another dogma of feigned morality, and has besides no meaning.  It is incumbent on man, as a moralist, that he does not revenge an injury; and it is equally as good in a political sense, for there is no end to retaliation; each retaliates on the other, and calls it jus­tice: but to love in proportion to the injury, if it could be done, would be to offer a premium for a crime.  Besides, the word enemies is too vague and general to be used in a moral maxim, which ought always to be clear and defined, like a proverb.  If a man be the enemy of another from mis­take and prejudice, as in the case of religious opinions, and sometimes in politics, that man is different to an enemy at heart with a criminal intention; and it is incumbent upon us, and it contributes also to our own tranquillity, that we put the best construction upon a thing that it will bear.  But even this erroneous motive in him makes no motive for love on the other part; and to say that we can love voluntarily, and without a motive, is morally and physically impossible.

 

Morality is injured by prescribing to it duties that, in the first place, are impossible to be performed, and if they could be would be produc­tive of evil; or, as before said, be premiums for crime.  The maxim of doing as we would be done unto does not include this strange doctrine of loving enemies; for no man expects to be loved himself for his crime or for his enmity.

 

Those who preach this doctrine of loving their enemies, are in gen­eral the greatest persecutors, and they act consistently by so doing; for the doctrine is hypocritical, and it is natural, that hypocrisy should act the reverse of what it preaches.  For my own part, I disown the doctrine, and consider it as a feigned or fabulous morality; yet the man does not exist that can say I have persecuted him, or any man, or any set of men, either in the American Revolution, or in the French Revolution; or that I have, in any case, returned evil for evil.  But it is not incumbent on man to reward a bad action with a good one, or to return good for evil; and wherever it is done, it is a voluntary act, and not a duty.  It is also absurd to suppose that such doctrine can make any part of a revealed religion.  We imitate the moral character of the Creator by forbearing with each other, for he forbears with all; but this doctrine would imply that he loved man, not in proportion as he was good, but as he was bad.

 

If we consider the nature of our condition here, we must see there is no occasion for such a thing as revealed religion.  What is it we want to know?  Does not the creation, the universe we behold, preach to us the existence of an Almighty power that governs and regulates the whole?  And is not the evidence that this creation holds out to our senses infi­nitely stronger than any thing we can read in a book, that any impostor might make and call the word of God?  As for morality, the knowledge of it exists in every man’s conscience.

[1]    Here Paine is presenting the teleological argument for the existence of God and a subspecies of that argument, that among the things so arranged is the moral sense in humans. 

[2]    It is held by them that it is contrary to the revealed will of God for a person to do an act of violence.  The majority of them refuse military service, and some during times of war even refuse to pay taxes, for some of the paid will be used to pay for acts of violence. 

[3]  “The best way of avenging thyself is not to become like the wrongdoer.”  —Marcus Aurelius, vi, 6.  A popular maxim, stated by Horace and others:  “Above all cause no harm.”  “There is this fine circumstance connected with the character of a Cynic that he must be beaten like an ass, and yet, when beaten, must love those who beat him, as the father, as the brother of all.”  —Epictetus, Discourses, ii, 12. 

[4]   It is a common error of translation for to assume that the term enemy extends among the gentile.  For the Hebrews meant brethren.  This doctrine brought when practiced brought peace within a community, and thus made them better in battle.  For obviously with all the warfare, the term enemy did not extend to the gentile whom they were according to their war god, Yahweh, were to slay.  The same is of the term mistranslated as neighbor, it should read brethren.  For brethren makes the teachings consistent.

 

 

Revealed Religion & Morality

by Thomas Paine

from Age of Reason Part II

 

pasted from positiveatheism.org

The most detestable wickedness, the most horrid cruelties, and the greatest miseries, that have afflicted the human race have had their origin in this thing called revelation, or revealed religion. ... Whence arose all the horrid assassinations of whole nations of men, women, and infants, with which the Bible is filled; and the bloody persecutions, and tortures unto death and religious wars, that since that time have laid Europe in blood and ashes; whence arose they, but from this impious thing called revealed religion, and this monstrous belief that God has spoken to man?...

Some Christians pretend that Christianity was not established by the sword; but of what period of time do they speak? It was impossible that twelve men could begin with the sword: they had not the power; but no sooner were the professors of Christianity sufficiently powerful to employ the sword than they did so, and the stake and faggot too; and Mahomet could not do it sooner.... Besides this, Christianity grounds itself originally upon the [Hebrew] Bible, and the Bible was established altogether by the sword, and that in the worst use of it -- not to terrify, but to extirpate. The Jews made no converts: they butchered all. The Bible is the sire of the [New] Testament, and both are called the word of God. The Christians read both books; the ministers preach from both books; and this thing called Christianity is made up of both. It is then false to say that Christianity was not established by the sword.

The only sect that has not persecuted are the Quakers; and the only reason that can be given for it is, that they are rather Deists than Christians. They do not believe much about Jesus Christ, and they call the scriptures a dead letter. Had they called them by a worse name, they had been nearer the truth.

It is incumbent on every man who reverences the character of the Creator, and who wishes to lessen the catalogue of artificial miseries, and remove the cause that has sown persecutions thick among mankind, to expel all ideas of a revealed religion as a dangerous heresy, and an impious fraud. What is it that we have learned from this pretended thing called revealed religion? Nothing that is useful to man, and every thing that is dishonourable to his Maker....

As to the fragments of morality that are irregularly and thinly scattered in those books, they make no part of this pretended thing, revealed religion. They are the natural dictates of conscience, and the bonds by which society is held together, and without which it cannot exist; and are nearly the same in all religions, and in all societies. The [New] Testament teaches nothing new upon this subject, and where it attempts to exceed, it becomes mean and ridiculous....

Loving of enemies is another dogma of feigned morality, and has besides no meaning. It is incumbent on man, as a moralist, that he does not revenge an injury; and it is equally as good in a political sense, for there is no end to retaliation;... but to love in proportion to the injury, if it could be done, would be to offer a premium for a crime. Besides, the word enemies is too vague and general to be used in a moral maxim, which ought always to be clear and defined, like a proverb. If a man be the enemy of another from mistake and prejudice, as in the case of religious opinions, and sometimes in politics, that man is different to an enemy at heart with a criminal intention; and it is incumbent upon us, and it contributes also to our own tranquillity, that we put the best construction upon a thing that it will bear. But even this erroneous motive in him makes no motive for love on the other part; and to say that we can love voluntarily, and without a motive, is morally and physically impossible.

Morality is injured by prescribing to it duties that, in the first place, are impossible to be performed, and if they could be would be productive of evil; or, as before said, be premiums for crime. The maxim of doing as we would be done unto does not include this strange doctrine of loving enemies; for no man expects to be loved himself for his crime or for his enmity.

Those who preach this doctrine of loving their enemies, are in general the greatest persecutors, and they act consistently by so doing; for the doctrine is hypocritical, and it is natural that hypocrisy should act the reverse of what it preaches. For my own part, I disown the doctrine, and consider it as a feigned or fabulous morality; yet the man does not exist that can say I have persecuted him, or any man, or any set of men, either in the American Revolution, or in the French Revolution; or that I have, in any case, returned evil for evil. But it is not incumbent on man to reward a bad action with a good one, or to return good for evil; and wherever it is done, it is a voluntary act, and not a duty.

 

Paine and his limits of reason--jk

 

Thomas Paine was not an atheist, but rather a Deist, one who used reason to guide his evaluation of religious question.  And in this work of reason he argues that the Bible is a work of man full of fictions, including a picture of god as being both cruel and immoral.  In the bible he finds parallels with pagan gods not only in their mating with a woman (the Mary story), but also in number and office—for the Christians had saints with special functions and heroes such as Moses and Mary.  The authority for elevation to sainthood is from the biblical tales of god taking his favorites up to heaven.  Having eliminated the scriptures as a source of guidance, Paine relies upon nature. 

This is like William Paley’s (1743-1805) position, what has come to be known as natural theology (the title of one of his books).  But what can one deduce from a Creator of the universe?  Darwin commented that the cruelty of nature is strong evidence against both a divine creator (assuming that beneficence is a property of god) and J.B.S. Haldane (1892-1964) when asked by a visiting group of priest of god’s purpose as evidence from nature, he replied:  “God is inordinately fond of beetles and stars.”  Paine failed in this area to give reason free reign. 

Paine could have used personal reasons for his belief in an ethereal realm:  experience, the nature of consciousness, and pleasantness of belief.  Perhaps he chose not to open those cans of worms.  First, if one argues from experience, then all religions and personal beliefs are on an equal footing.   Second, consciousness appears to have a seat, the soul, just like the universe a cause, god.  But neither proposition can provide a next clause.   Three, the fact that some people of faith seem happier for having the comfort of faith, while this accounts for the popularity of belief, it does not provide a compelling argument for the existence of god let alone his purposes. 

Of course those of faith need not use sound argument for among their purposes are popularity within their group, conversion of others, and self delusion.  Thus all these arguments are widely popular within religious circles.  If one throws enough shit at a wall, it will be covered with brown.  If one throws enough bad arguments at the skeptics they will appear foolish; well, at least to those who are within the religious circles.    Moreover, have enough foolishness bound, and the argument from authority applies.  Authority and the lazy soul are sufficient to quiet the questioning soul.  What else other than authority could cause the veneration of the Pope and other ministers?  Logical analysis certain cannot be the engine that drives man to form religious groups.     

Peer conditioning is sufficient to explain the popularity of religions, and their verbal behavior.  Bad arguments for a cause are enjoyable; they must be, for they are the norm.  Paine’s arguments fall within the sphere of Deism, and thus group dynamic account for both his sound biblical criticisms and his shoddy natural theology.