52G CHEISTIANITY EXPOSED. 



it is now assisting our own. I am firmly persuaded that 

 whatever is injurious to the intellect is also injurious 

 to moral life ; and on this conviction I hase my con- 

 duct with respect to Christianity. That religion is 

 pernicious to the intellect; it demands that the reason 

 shall be sacrificed upon the altar ; it orders civilized men 

 to believe in the legends of a savage race. It places 

 a hideous image, covered with dirt and blood, in the Holy 

 of Holies ; it rends the sacred Veil of Truth in twain. It 

 teaches that the Creator of the Universe, that sublime, 

 that inscrutable power, exhibited his back to Moses, 

 and ordered Hosea to commit adultery, and Ezekiel 

 to eat dung. There is no need to say anything more. 

 Such a religion is blasphemous and foul. Let those 

 admire it who are able. I, for my part, feel it my duty 

 to set free from its chains as many as I can. Upon 

 this point my conscience speaks clearly, and it shall be 

 obeyed. With respect to manner and means, I shall 

 use the arguments and the style best suited for my 

 purpose. There has been enough of writing by impli- 

 cation and by inuendo ; I do not believe in its utility, 

 and I do not approve of its disguise. There should 

 be no deceit in matters of religion. In my future assaults 

 on Christianity I shall use the clearest language that I 

 am able to command. Ridicule is a destructive instru- 

 ment, and it is my intention to destroy. If a man is 

 cutting down a tree, it is useless asking him not to strike 

 so hard. But because I make use of ridicule, it does 

 not follow that I am writing merely for amusement ; 

 and because I tear up a belief by the roots, it does not 

 follow that I am indifferent to the pain which I inflict. 

 Great revolutions cannot be accomplished without much 

 anguish and some evil being caused. Did not the 

 Roman women suffer when the Christians came and 



