of our
popular religion seems to be expressly directed to deaden our sympathies
with our fellow men by encouraging an indolent optimism; our thoughts of
the other world are used in many forms as an opiate to drug our minds
with indifference to the evils of this; and the last word of half of our
preachers is, 'dream rather than work.'"

There is always a great deal of discrepancy between that which is best
for the gods and that which is best for the individual and for society
in general. One cannot serve man perfectly and the traditional gods as
well. It is, therefore, the contention of freethinkers that if man had
given to the service of man all that he had given to the gods in the
past, our present stage of civilization would be much in advance of
where it is today.

If there is anything in the discussion to follow that may seem
irreverent to the reader, the author wishes to call attention that he
has but presented well substantiated facts. It is not only his opinion
that he is voicing, but it is the facts as he has found them recorded in
the researches of numerous sincere men. Finally, it is the conviction of
all freethinkers that, as Professor James H. Leuba has stated, "It is,
furthermore, essential to intellectual and moral advances that the
beliefs that come into existence should have free play. Antagonistic
beliefs must have the chance of proving their worth in open contest. It
is this way scientific theories are tested, and in this way also,
religious and ethical conceptions should be tried. But a fair struggle
cannot take place when people are dissuaded from seeking knowledge, or
when knowledge is hidden."

The cultivation of the intellect is a duty that is imposed on all men.
Even those who still cling to the dying beliefs must admit the force of
what Winwood Reade said, "To cultivate the intellect is therefore a
religious duty; and when this truth is fairly recognized by men, the
religion which teaches that the intellect should be distrusted and that
it should be subservient to faith, will inevitably fall."

When the principles of freethought shall have dispelled the intellectual
cloud of the God-idea and the vanishing dream of a heaven which has too
long drawn men's eyes away from this earth, then, and then only, will
these words of Cicero have widespread meaning:

"Men were born for the sake of men, that each should assist the
others."

THE NECESSITY OF ATHEISM

CHAPTER I

THE EVOLUT