annot point to a society that has been
dominated by Freethinking ideals, but we can point to their existence in
all ages, and can show that all progress is due to their presence. We
can show that progressive ideals have originated with the least, and
have been opposed by the most religious sections of society."
(_Cohen._)

The puerile conception of heaven and the savage conception of hell are
still, in modified form, deemed necessary for a religious morality. Why
it should be necessary for a supreme intelligence to make all things
straight in another world, that he could more convincingly rectify in
this one, is a conception which has escaped the reason of a freethinker,
but has been very profitable to those on earth that lead their adherents
to believe that they hold the keys to our future abodes. Winwood Reade
in his "Martyrdom of Man," discussing the moral value of the fears of
hell-fire, states, "a metaphysical theory cannot restrain the fury of
the passions; as well attempt to bind a lion with a cobweb. Prevention
of crime, it is well known, depends not on the severity, but on the
certainty of retribution. The supposition that the terrors of hell-fire
are essential or even conducive to good morals is contradicted by the
facts of history. In the Dark Ages there was not a man or woman from
Scotland to Naples, who doubted that sinners were sent to hell. The
religion which they had was the same as ours, with this exception, that
everyone believed in it. The state of Europe in that pious epoch need
not be described. Society is not maintained by the conjectures of
theology, but by those moral sentiments, those gregarious virtues which
elevated men above the animals, which are now instinctive in our natures
and to which intellectual culture is propitious. For, as we become more
and more clearly enlightened, we perceive more and more clearly that it
was with the whole human population as it was with the primeval clan;
the welfare of every individual is dependent on the welfare of the
community, and the welfare of the community depends on the welfare of
every individual."

The teachings of Christianity towards marriage furnishes a well known
example of a reactionary philosophy of morals. The views of St. Paul on
marriage are set forth in I Corinthians VII 1-9:

1. Now concerning the things whereof ye wrote unto me: It is good for a
man not to touch a woman.

2. Nevertheless, to avoid fornication, let every man have his