A RELIGION of just being kind would be a pretty good religion—don’t you think so? But a religion of kindness and useful effort is nearly a perfect religion. We used to think it was a man’s belief concerning a dogma that would fix his place in eternity. This was because we believed that God was a grumpy, grouchy old gentleman, stupid, touchy and dictatorial. A really good man would not damn you, even if you didn’t like him; but a bad man would. As our ideas of God changed, we ourselves changed for the better. Or, as we thought better of ourselves we thought better of God. It will be character that locates our place in another world, if there is one, just as it is our character that fixes our place here. We are weaving character every day, and the way to weave the best character is to be kind and to be useful. Think right, act right; it is what we think and do that makes us what we are.
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The thought of the race for the first time in history is monistic—we are all one. We are part and particle of each other. To injure another is to injure yourself, is becoming fixed in the race instinct. This is the dominant idea of our time—reciprocity. In business, the transaction where only one side prospers is immoral. Mutuality is the watchword in all of man’s relations with man. Government exists only for the increased happiness of the governed—he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. These are ideas that have in the past been held by a few, and these precious few have usually been killed for giving expression to their thoughts. Now they are everywhere expressed, and are gradually becoming fixed in the race consciousness. Righteousness will yet become a habit.
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Tolerance is an agreement to tolerate intolerance.
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The only way to abolish a serving-class is for all to join it.
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The old and once popular view of life that regarded man as a sinful, lost, fallen, despised, despicable and damned thing has very naturally tended to kill in him enthusiasm, health -and self-reliance. Probably it has shortened the average length of life more than a score of years.
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When man comes to realize that he is part and particle of the Divine Energy that lives in all he sees and feels and hears, he will, indeed, be in a position to claim and receive his birthright. And this birthright is to be healthy and happy.
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The Religion of Humanity does not seek to placate the wrath of a Non-Resident Deity, nor does it worship an Absentee God.
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It knows nothing of gods, ghosts, goblins, sprites, fairies, devils or witches. I would not know a god if I saw one coming down the street in an automobile.
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If ever a man existed who had but one parent, this fact of his agamogenesis would not be any recommendation to us, nor would it make special claim on our reverence and regard. Rather, it would place him outside of our realm, so that what he might do or say would not be vital to us. He would be a different being from us, therefore his experiences would not be an example for us to follow.
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The Religion of Humanity knows nothing of a vicarious atonement, justification by faith, miraculous conception, transubstantiation, original sin, Hell, Heaven, or the efficacy of baptism as a saving ordinance. It does not know whether man lives again as an individual after he dies or not.
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It is not so much interested in knowing whether a book is “inspired” as whether it is true.
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It does not limit the number of saviors of the race, but believes that any man or woman who makes this world a better place is in degree a “savior” of mankind. It knows that the world is not yet saved from ignorance, superstition and incompetence, nor redeemed from a belief in miracles. And hence it believes that there must be saviors yet to come.
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It believes that the supernatural is the natural not yet understood.