of the mind, are victims of circumstances and
misfortune, and they meet inevitable death just as every other person.
They commit the same kind of crimes as other mortals, and especially,
because of their "calling," many are notoriously involved in the
embezzlement of church funds. Nor does their calling protect them from
the "passions of the flesh." The scandalous conduct of many "men of the
cloth," in the realm of moral turpitude, often ends in murder. That is
why there are so many "men of God" in our jails, and why so many have
paid the supreme penalty in the death chair.

They are not free from a single rule of life; what others must endure,
they likewise must experience. They cannot protect themselves from the
forces of nature, and the laws of life, any more than you can. What they
can do, you can do, too. Their claims of being "anointed" and "vicars of
God" on earth are false and hypocritical.

If they cannot fulfill their promises while you are alive, how can they
accomplish them when you are dead?

If they are impotent Here, where they could demonstrate their powers,
how ridiculous are their promises to accomplish them in the "Hereafter,"
the mythical abode which exists only in their dishonest or deluded
imagination?

The illusions of life are many and varied.

Things are not always what they seem to be, and it is well known that
"appearances are deceiving."

That is why it is so difficult for some people to understand the nature
of disease, and why it has taken man so long to comprehend the true
conditions of life.

This deception prevails in matters of great importance, as well as in
matters of little consequence.

There is no "voice of nature" to tell man that which is true and that
which is false, nor to warn him of the dangers of life. He must find the
truth for himself, and only after very bitter experiences.

The first piece of deception of man, after his so-called mental
awakening, was his inability to conceive of any scheme of life except
from his own primitive concept of limited intelligence.

He could not conceive the earth and the universe except as being
"created," and from his own feeling of revenge, he could not conceive
of the suffering of life except as a punishment for some "disobedience."
Primitive though he be, he did not inflict pain and punishment upon the
innocent. This diabolical scheme could only come from a "merciful" God.

As an illustration of this concept of primitive ma