of the martyrs is
concerned, the speaker said that thousands upon thousands of men had
died as cheerfully in defense of the koran as Christians had died in
defense of the bible. Their heroic suffering simply proved that they
were sinners in their beliefs, not that those beliefs were true. This
argument, as advanced by Mr. Talmage, proves too much. Every religion
on the face of the globe has had its martyrs, but all religions cannot
be true. Men do die cheerfully for falsehoods when they believe them
to be true.

[The question of miracles was discussed at some length, and Col.
Ingersoll declared it was impossible to establish by any human evidence
that a miracle had ever been performed.]

Pharaoh was not convinced by the alleged miracle performed by Aaron, of
turning a stick into a serpent. Why? Because he was there, and no
such miracle was ever done. No twenty people were convinced by the
reported miracles of Christ, and yet people of the nineteenth century
were coolly asked to be convinced on hearsay by miracles which those
who are supposed to have seen them refuse to credit. It won't do. The
laws of nature never have been interrupted, and they never will be.
All the books in the universe will never convince a thinking man that
miracles have been performed.

[The lecture was sprinkled throughout with the satirical wit for which
Col. Ingersoll is famous, and concluded by the enumeration of a long
list of "unscientific" facts and events recorded in the bible.]

Ingersoll's Lecture on Religious Intolerance

"How anybody ever came to the conclusion that there was any God who
demanded that you should feel sorrowful and miserable and bleak
one-seventh of the time is beyond my comprehension. Neither can I
conceive how they can say that one-seventh of time is holy. That day
is the most sacred day on which the most good has been done for
mankind. Now, there was a time among the Jews, when, if a man violated
the Sabbath, they would kill him. They said God told them to do it. I
think they were mistaken. If not, if any God did tell them to kill
him, then I think he was mistaken. I hope the time will come when
every man can spend the Sabbath just as he pleases, provided he does
not interfere with the happiness of others. I would fight just as
earnestly that the Christian may go to church as that the infidel may
have the right to spend the Sabbath as he wishes. Are the people who
go to church the o