. If we are to regard the god-idea as an evolution
which began in misunderstandings of nature that were rooted in the
ignorance of primitive man, it would seem clear that no matter how
refined or developed the idea may become, it can rest on no other or
sounder basis than that which is presented to us in the psychology of
primitive man. Each stage of theistic belief grows out of the preceding
stage, and if it can be shown that the beginning of this evolution arose
in a huge blunder I quite fail to see how any subsequent development can
convert this unmistakable blunder into a demonstrable truth. To take a
case in point. When it was shown that so far as witchcraft rested on
observed facts these could be explained on grounds other than those of
the malevolent activities of certain old women, the belief in witchcraft
was not "purified," neither did it advance to any so-called higher
stage; it was simply abandoned as a useless and mischievous explanation
of facts that could be otherwise accounted for. Are we logically
justified in dealing with the belief in God on any other principle? We
cannot logically discard the world of the savage and still retain his
interpretation of it. If the grounds upon which the savage constructed
his theory of the world, and from which grew all the ghosts and gods
with which he believed himself to be surrounded, if these grounds are
false, how can we still keep in substance to conclusions that are
admittedly based on false premises? We can say with tolerable certainty
that had primitive man known what we know about nature the gods would
never have been born. Civilised man does not discover gods, he discards
them. It was a profound remark of Feurbach's, that religion is
ultimately anthropology, and it is anthropology that gives to all forms
of theism the death blow.

In our own time, at least, it is not difficult to see that the word God
retains its influence with many because of the indefinite manner in
which it is used. It is never easy to say what a person has in his mind
when he uses the word. In most cases one would be safe in saying that
nothing at all is meant. It is just one of those "blessed" words where
the comfort felt in their use is proportionate to the lack of definite
meaning that accompanies them. A frank confession of ignorance is
something that most people heartily dislike, and where problems are
persistent and difficult of solution what most people are in search of
is a narcot