t a fellow member approached him with the remark,
"Good God, Bradlaugh, what does it matter whether there is a God or
not?" Bradlaugh's answer is not recorded, but one is impelled to open
the present examination of the belief in God, by putting the same
question in another form. Is the belief in God, as we are so often
assured, one of the most important questions that can engage the
attention of man? Under certain conditions one can conceive a rational
answer in the affirmative. Where the mental and social conditions are
such that men seriously believe the incidence of natural forces on
mankind to be determined by the direct action of "God," one can
appreciate right belief concerning him being treated as of first rate
importance. In such circumstances wrong ideas are the equivalent of
disaster. But we are not in that condition to-day. It is, indeed, common
ground with all educated men and women that natural happenings are
independent of divine control to at least the extent that natural forces
affect all alike, and without the least reference to religious beliefs.
Fire burns and water drowns, foods sustain and poisons kill, no matter
what our opinions on theology may be. In an earthquake or a war there is
no observable relation between casualties and religious opinions. We
are, in fact, told by theologians that it is folly to expect that there
should be. A particular providence is no longer in fashion; God, we are
told, works only through general laws, and that is only another way of
saying that our opinions about God have no direct or observable
influence on our well-being. It is a tacit admission that human welfare
depends upon our knowledge and manipulation of the forces by which we
are surrounded. There _may_ be a God behind these forces, but that
neither determines the extent of our knowledge of them or our power to
manipulate them. The belief in God becomes a matter of, at best,
secondary importance, and quite probably of no importance whatever.

But if that be so why bother about the belief? Is that not a reason for
leaving it alone and turning our attention to other matters? The answer
to that is that the belief in God is not of so detached a character as
this advice assumes. In the course of ages the belief in God has
acquired associations that give it the character of a highly obstructive
force. It has become so entangled with inculcated notions of right and
wrong that it is everywhere used as a buttress for in