as most of the people believe that because they are poor in this
world they will be rich in the world to come.

The apostle Paul says that political rulers are ordained by God and
must be obeyed, from the King to the constable, from the President
to the policeman. He says that if you are refractory, "the
minister of God" will use his sword, and will not use it "in vain."
He says that the sword-bearer is God's minister.

Christ himself recites a parable about a rich man who went to hell
because he was rich and a poor man who went to heaven because he
was poor. Rich Christians are told by the clergy that the surest
way for them to get to heaven is by being rich; but they use this
parable to console the poor with the idea that the surest way for
them to get to heaven is by being poor. And this idea is confirmed
by the saying of Christ: 'Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the
kingdom of heaven.'

I claim that it is impossible to prove that any being exists who
can do, or ever does, anything outside of the regular processes of
Nature, and therefore that the word "God," which has always meant
such a being, should be dropped. I would have no objection to the
current use of the word "God" if that use were harmless, but it is
very far from that. It is a word that every despot conjures with to
keep the people in ignorance and subjection. It is a word that
crafty politicians use in carrying out their schemes of bribery and
plunder.

The same thing applies to the word "heaven." It is impossible to
show that there is any such place, and the word is used as a bribe
to the poor to keep them quiet under injustice. I do not see how
there can be a life after death, but if there is it will not be any
better because we are poor and undeveloped in this world, and
therefore immortality should be a reason rather for discontentment
among the poor than for submission to injustice.

As an atheist, I object to a God who is for every tyrannical ruler
and against the rebels that he imprisons, tortures and slays; who
is for the idle landlord and usurer and against the workers; who is
for the purse-proud prelate and against the people; who is for the
boodle politician and against the happiness of the many; who is
for the white exploiter and against the simple colored