ne to follow
peacefully the worship and the opinions which suit him. But such a
conduct can not please the ministers of religion, who wish to have the
right to tyrannize over even the thoughts of men. Blind and bigoted
princes, you hate, you persecute, you devote heretics to torture,
because you are persuaded that these unfortunate ones displease God. But
do you not claim that your God is full of kindness? How can you hope to
please Him by such barbarous actions which He can not help disapproving
of? Besides, who told you that their opinions displease your God? Your
priests told you! But who guarantees that your priests are not deceived
themselves or that they do not wish to deceive you? It is these same
priests! Princes! it is upon the perilous word of your priests that you
commit the most atrocious and the most unheard-of crimes, with the idea
of pleasing the Deity!

CLVIII.--RELIGION GIVES LICENSE TO THE FEROCITY OF THE PEOPLE BY

LEGITIMIZING IT, AND AUTHORIZES CRIME BY TEACHING THAT IT CAN BE USEFUL
TO THE DESIGNS OF GOD.

"Never," says Pascal, "do we do evil so thoroughly and so willingly as
when we do it through a false principle of conscience." Nothing is more
dangerous than a religion which licenses the ferocity of the people, and
justifies in their eyes the blackest crimes; it puts no limits to their
wickedness as soon as they believe it authorized by their God, whose
interests, as they are told, can justify all their actions. If there is
a question of religion, immediately the most civilized nations become
true savages, and believe everything is permitted to them. The more
cruel they are, the more agreeable they suppose themselves to be to
their God, whose cause they imagine can not be sustained by too much
zeal. All religions of the world have authorized countless crimes. The
Jews, excited by the promises of their God, arrogated to themselves the
right of exterminating whole nations; the Romans, whose faith was
founded upon the oracles of their Gods, became real brigands, and
conquered and ravaged the world; the Arabians, encouraged by their
Divine preceptor, carried the sword and the flame among Christians and
idolaters. The Christians, under pretext of spreading their holy
religion, covered the two hemispheres a hundred times with blood. In all
events favorable to their own interests, which they always call the
cause of God, the priests show us the finger of God. According to these
principles,