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O Jt Jt jH AN AGNOSTIC CHRISTIAN sociALisrs CONFESSION OF FAITM IN a* a* 39 PROPOSITIONS, NORMAN MURRAY, 21 Beaver Hall Hill, \^]oo \<] l»* DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY Jesus, Socrates, Plato, Buddha, Confuscius, Tacitus, Tolstoi, Paine, Talleyrand, Volney, Renan, Gregg, Darwin, Huxley, Goldwin Smith, Herbert Spencer And other great Teachers to whom 1 am indebted for the following ideas. !»' i'; , \ PROPOSITIONS ato, aine, Reiian, x!ey, aclicis to (1 for the Proposition i. — That all philosophical investij^ations into cause and effect stop at a first infinite, inscrutable "First Cause " behind the phenomenon. For want of a better term, let us call this " First Cause " God. Proposition 2. --That the only reliable, demonstrable re- velation ever given to man is derived i'roni reason, observation and experience. Proposition t,. — That the world in which we live is gov- erned by eternal, unchangeable physical laws ; therefore, it is foolish and useless to pray to or worship the First Cause with a view of changing or modifying the laws that govern the Universe — man inc i uded. Proposition 4 — That the Laws of Moses which Jews and Christians claim to be an inspired production, is not only a purely human invention, but a very low grade of humanity at that. Proposition 5. — Whereas monogamy is the only lawful system of marriage recognized by all so-called Christian coun- tries, and whereas the pagan empires of Greece and Rome arrived at this system while the nation which was supposed to get a special inspired law from God sanctioned poh-gamy ; therefore, heathen nations without a divine revelation arrived at a better system of social laws than the nation which was supposed to have received a special divine revelation from God. Proposition 6.— That the " Ten Commandments " which the churches claim to be the highest code of morals ever given to man, is not only not of a very high order, but of a very low gaul.' ; because the first four conuuandments with capital punishment attached to them refer to matters pertaining to religion, while the commandment forbidding murder is the sixth in tlie DecaloKuo ; while all civili/.t-d countries, ignoring this supposed divine law, make it the first in order ol importance in all their statutes. Proposition j.-That Christianity, if we are to understand by that term the teachings of Christ instead of the teachings of priestcraft, is not a magical, mysterious system of atone- ment by which bad men and women may be saved from the putushment they deserve for their sins, but a system of ethice based on the principles of the - Golden Rule," illustrationsof which doctrine may be found in the parables of the ''Good Samaritan " and the " Last Judgment." Proposition 8.-That the doctrine of the immortality of the soul and eternal rewards and punishments did not originate with the Jews at all, but was borrowed by some of their sects such as the Essenes, Christians, Pharisees, etc.. from the Greeks and Parsees ; therefore, whoever wishes to .speculate in the.se Ideas need not be the least troubled in their minds about the throwing away of the "Old Testament." Proposition q.-That the ordinary run of clergymen are the most selfish, spiteful and indiflFerent to human welfare of all classes of the community ; therefore, they are not a help to the people to lead better lives, but a stumbling block Proposition lo.-That it will have a more beneficial effect on the people to show them the loving, self denying life of Christ as a man, for an example, than to promise them an atonement for bad conduct through the merits of the blood of a crucified god. Proposition ii.-That the Hebrews, as a people, were not supeiior in morals or intelligence to the nations by which they were surrounded, therefore inculcating the idea that they were a .specially cho.sen people, is prejudicial to the Jews of the present day and degrading to other nations. Proposition i2.-That the morals of the ancient Germans (our ancestors), as described by Tacitus, were as high (if not higher) before they ever heard of Christianity than they have ever been since ; therefore, the boast that we have been rai.sed from barbarism by the Bible is pure presumption Proposition , 3.--That the best way of teaching the people . ignorinjj^ nportaiice tiderstand teachings of atone- from the of ethicg trationsof e "Good ty of the nate with ;cts such i Greeks in these bout the 'meti are are of all help to ial effect f life of them an Dlood of le, were y which lat they 's of the rennans (if not ey ha\-e 11 raised - people morals ,sto ^ive them the best thoughts and example of the c^; TZ l/f' '"'^"^^"^^ J^^"^' ^^°"^^^«' Pl'-^^^' Confus- cms, Buddha, Tolstoy, Darwin. Huxley, Paine, Renan, Volney and our own grand old man, Herbert Spencer Proposition i4.~That the safest way to prepare for eter- nity, whatever it may have in store for us, is to live good honest, charitable, industrious, virtuous lives, and to give up depending on prayers, singing hym„s, and reading the scan dalous records of bad old Hebrews who lived nearly 3000 years ago, and who would have treated us as they treated others I^l^t n'f '^ ""t''""' '^ ^' '^''' neighbours and who ne- glected to take sufficient precautions against such cruel, selfish neighbours. Proposition is—That none of our laws and customs are based on the Bible, but were handed down to us from our own ancestors together with the Roman civil law Proposition r6.-That desperate efforts have been made by kings and pnests to force Semitic and Roman superstition on our forefathers, but they had to give it up Proposition i7.-That nature demands a certain amount of humaii labour, especially in northern countries, to provide food and clothing for the race ; therefore these drones and parasites, who produce nothing but consume much, make the task of the toiler much heavier than is either necessary or good for the toilers. ^ Proposition i8.-That Protestant and Catholic laymen are on much more friendly relation than Protestant and Catholic clergymen, therefore these clergymen are not good examples to their respective flocks. ^ Proposition ig.-That Moses massacred the dissenters 7Z'Xf:'''''' "' '" ""■ '""^' """ ^° ""-''^ ''^ vvi.h^rr'"™f M^"^"" '"' ■""'' ='ft"™«l''. i" accordance .,! I °*'' '-'°»'"»«■ ™-'"' ProjiHsitioii 2).— Tliif ,•„„.., 1 .; liberty l,y „,™„s ; f ,1,, ,•;:'■:■''' "'""-"'"Scivil a,„l religious '■••"'• .^11 >l,c. IK.rsc.c,Uio„s'd ■:„:'"':■ 'T';;'^- f'""-'"y ...ai,,. ^,000 yeans, "wc l.asul „„Z «n,lr "'' "•'""'* '^ '"••"'.v Proposition 24 —Ti.if ,..1. 'estimonios a„<, aec„„„es ;;;';',,,■";' '''"'"'^ "' ™""ictins possible for all of them i„ 1„ , ' """"= *"'JJ"-1. it is all of the,,, to be r'shl ""■'"«• '"'^ " '» ""Possible for Proposition 2^ T]uu on the Bible will ail ag^e th";^',,;'",'" f^^"" *^'-^ '•-«' b.v applying this process .„ them '"■,""""'«"" ■» w,o„g. a„d be a vote of g, ,„ , t„„j .^ ."'/', ■•''■''■■'™'>-'l^-. "■-■■ resi.lt will Propositio,, 2f,._Tha the h '«• by the blood of Jesus i, a„ e'!!„ /'"'■^ °' "'= ato„e„,e„t the gods delighted in saSfices " °' "'= "^-barons idea that Proposition 27 Tint small part of the operat ™, "T T ''" ''""' "'"y ^ -"v that govern the world trefl^^h'"?. "" P''^'*"' '""» ■nvestigating the unkuowable t U wl fid "°' ™-'"^ '■™<^ ■» know,, about the knowabie ""' "" """ « to be Proposition 2S -Ti have always been MiperW .r'"''?' '"'' ''^^''^ ^"^-^^ peoples Europe and America to .llow Vl ''^'"''^^ '^^"P'^^ of Semitic superstitions. themselves to b. ensIa^-ecl by Proposition 20 Ti.nf • ^ ■. (>od-s image, nun hasa unysb^f '^ ""^ '"'"^ --^-^ - ' iniagination. ^'^ ^''^^^ ^--^'^'^^o .r^ods n.Fter his own Proposition ^o.— Tint tii . .r • • M* 'i"^. iiiclud- • of being cioiis int'ii fe in any •I>in«r self ■ry careful religions ily nmin- >i" nearly iifiicting •■•tH, it is 'il)le for •^ based iiK- and ult will 'lenient ea that I \'ery 1 laws ime in to be -oples :»ples, es of d by ^d in own iays y to »» prove which was first, the hen or the e^R •' or try to square the circle, as to try to find out which was the first day or where and when the physicfd dixisions of time conniienced. Proposition ,^!. — That we are notljoniul by any laws niade by our ancestors, unless these laws conunend iheniselves to our judgment as good and useful for our own generation. Proposition 32.— That the churches have for ages been making fools and hy])ocrites of the people, in forcing them to subscribe to dogmas that no one understands and very few believe in. Proposition 33. — That the different denominations would .set up a terrible howl if they found any one of a rival .sect living such scandalous lives as Jacob, Lot, David and others. Proposition 34. — That the people of the United .States are acting very inconsistently in making laws against the Mormons and then circidating the Bible which justifies Mormdiiism. Proposition 35. — That cither the Hible shcndd be abolished or laws against Monntms and other polygamists and bigamists should be repealed. Propo.sition 36. — That the church j)eople are the real atheists and blasphemers, as they have reduced (iod (in their minds) to the lexel of a man that can be pleased and flattered with music, ritual and other tomfooleries. Propo.sition 37.— That all State ohurches and chaplains should be abolished everywhere without exception, in jails and army and navy, and everywhere ; that all marriages should be performed by civil magistrates, and thnl .11 cemeteries should be public property. Proposition 3S. — That all Bibles and religious catechisms .should be aboli.shed, so as to give the .scholars more time to study Euclid's Propositions, science, history, languages, etc. Proposition 39.— And, finally, that all churches be turned to lecture halls, scientific institutions, gymnasiums, theatres concert halls, etc., etc. 1 r c-?r;>,: 1