se, 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 ampu