tate their genitals, and some their
breasts; some pull out their teeth, and others wither their limbs; some
fast, and others gorge themselves; some cover their heads with sand, and
others with sackcloth and ashes; some talk continuously, and others
remain silent; some are celibates, and others are profligates; some
stand on their heads; some brand themselves, while others pierce their
nose, eyes and ears.

Nuns cut off their hair to make themselves as unsightly as possible--to
make themselves repulsive to the opposite sex; there are monks who have
vowed never to look upon the face of a woman, and Franciscans still wear
ropes around their bodies as a symbol of flagellation.

There is hardly a form of insanity or delusion that has not been induced
by some sort of religious belief.

To laugh on the "Sabbath," at one time, was considered the sin of sins.

How rightfully Robert G. Ingersoll said that, "Christianity has made
more lunatics than it ever provided asylums for."

On the other hand, we do not believe that Man is a depraved human being.
We do not believe that there is a tyrant God, or that there is a hell,
and that man will suffer the pains and penalties of eternal torment. We
do not believe that you should make yourself as miserable as possible
Here in the hope of securing some happiness "Hereafter."

We do not believe that disease is a punishment for sin.

We believe that disease is a natural consequence of the processes of
life, and that the "ills of the flesh" inevitably follow where one form
of life lives upon another, and where "at the banquet of life each in
turn is a guest and a dish."

It is only by understanding the nature of disease that man has been
able, even in a small degree, to protect himself from the ravages of its
destruction.

The use of prayer to cure disease has been responsible for epidemics
that have, on many occasions, almost wiped out the human race. Prayer
has had no more effect upon disease than it has upon health. It merely
permits the disease to continue its course and increase the suffering of
the victim.

If priests--of all clans--were free of disease and immune to death,
then there might be some basis for the claim of the religionists. But
these "men of God" are victims of the natural course of life, "even as
you and I." They enjoy no exemptions. They suffer the same ills; they
feel the same sensations; they are subject to the same passions of the
body, the same frailties