“The Age of Reason” Tom Paine’s SMACKDOWN on Organized Religion

[McCamy Taylor]

Right now, two oppressed groups are under attack by organized religion. At first glance, they appear to have little in common. Gays in California recently lost their right to marry the partners they love, thanks to the meddling of a lot of non-gays who objected on religious grounds. Never mind that it was none of the non-gays’ business. They claimed that their “faith” made it their business. And Palestinians living in Gaza have lost their right to live, because Israelis believe that they have a divine mandate to occupy the entire Holy Land —and they can direct you to the appropriate passages of the Torah to prove their point. The worst part about the whole inhumane tragedy is that those people who would normally stand up for the rights of the oppressed if we were talking about Latino immigrants or Tibetan monks are keeping mum---or even censoring the free speech of those who dare to speak out in sympathy ---because they are scared of being labeled “intolerant of religion.”

Hasn’t it occurred to the members of the spineless left why you guys are so scared to say a halfway critical word about Christianity or Judaism or Islam? You are worried that the religious mafia will sic its enforcers on you.

Maybe when organized religion gets some tolerance, the rest of us can be tolerant back.

Quoting William Burroughs “But a wise old Black faggot told me years ago ‘Some people are shits, darling.’”

Two hundred years ago, it was much harder to criticize organized religion than it is now, but Founding Father Thomas Paine dared to do it in The Age of Reason . Back then, progressives had spines.

Every national church or religion has established itself by pretending some special mission from God, communicated to certain individuals. The Jews have their Moses; the Christians their Jesus Christ, their apostles and saints; and the Turks their Mahomet, as if the way to God was not open to every man alike.
Each of those churches show certain books, which they call revelation, or the word of God. The Jews say, that their word of God was given by God to Moses, face to face; the Christians say, that their word of God came by divine inspiration: and the Turks say, that their word of God (the Koran) was brought by an angel from Heaven. Each of those churches accuse the other of unbelief; and for my own part, I disbelieve them all.
Tom Paine The Age of Reason
http://www.ushistory.org/PAINE/reason/reason1.htm

Note that Paine writes about “national religion”. In his earlier writing, he praised the private practice of religion which he believed could assist in moral living. In The Age of Reason he says the ideal spiritual life

consists in imitating the moral goodness and beneficence of God, manifested in the creation toward all his creatures. That seeing, as we daily do, the goodness of God to all men, it is an example calling upon all men to practise the same toward each other; and, consequently, that everything of persecution and revenge between man and man, and everything of cruelty to animals, is a violation of moral duty. Tom Paine

The Bible, on the other hand, Paine believed to be a pack of lies.

There are matters in that book, said to be done by the express command of God, that are as shocking to humanity and to every idea we have of moral justice as anything done by Robespierre, by Carrier, by Joseph le Bon, in France, by the English government in the East Indies, or by any other assassin in modern times. When we read in the books ascribed to Moses, Joshua, etc., that they (the Israelites) came by stealth upon whole nations of people, who, as history itself shows, had given them no offence; that they put all those nations to the sword; that they spared neither age nor infancy; that they utterly destroyed men, women, and children; that they left not a soul to breathe — expressions that are repeated over and over again in those books, and that, too, with exulting ferocity — are we sure these things are facts? are we sure that the Creator of man commissioned these things to be done? and are we sure that the books that tell us so were written by his authority?
Snip
To charge the commission of acts upon the Almighty, which, in their own nature, and by every rule of moral justice, are crimes, as all assassination is, and more especially the assassination of infants, is matter of serious concern. The Bible tells us, that those assassinations were done by the express command of God. To believe, therefore, the Bible to be true, we must unbelieve all our belief in the moral justice of God; for wherein could crying or smiling infants offend? Tom Paine

Paine analyzes the Old Testament and the New in great detail and concludes that both texts are inconsistent. He declares it impossible that the benevolent deity could ever decree or smile upon the acts of violence described within the Old Testament. This, he asserts, means that the laws and other writings contained within the document are false. As for the New Testament and Christianity:

Some Christians pretend that Christianity was not established by the sword; but of what period of time do they speak? It was impossible that twelve men could begin with the sword; they had not the power; but no sooner were the professors of Christianity sufficiently powerful to employ the sword, than they did so, and the stake and fagot, too; and Mahomet could not do it sooner. By the same spirit that Peter cut off the ear of the high priest's servant (if the story be true), he would have cut off his head, and the head of his master, had he been able. Besides this, Christianity grounds itself originally upon the Bible, and the Bible was established altogether by the sword, and that in the worst use of it — not to terrify, but to extirpate. The Jews made no converts; they butchered all. The Bible is the sire of the Testament, and both are called the word of God. The Christians read both books; the ministers preach from both books; and this thing called Christianity is made up of both. It is then false to say that Christianity was not established by the sword.

It is no accident that the dominant religion of a country founded upon the slaughter of an indigenous people is based upon a holy text which glorifies the slaughter of...indigenous peoples and the theft of their property and land. What "God's chosen" did in Canaan, the newly arrived Europeans did in the Americas, to the Cherokees on the Trail of Tears, when they decided to liberate gold from Cherokee land in north Georgia. Later, they aped "God's chosen" during the Massacre at Sand Creek, when Union Forces had a "great victory" against a bunch of women, children and old Cheyenne who had gathered to negotiate a peace treaty.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sand_Creek_Massacre

My, isn't Christianity efficient when it comes to getting rid of heathens! It is no wonder that America is sympathetic to Israel's plight. We know all about how hard it can be to clear the land of pesky indigenous people that stand in the way of progress. That must be why Congress voted to support Israel in its efforts in Gaza.

The imposition of religion onto the workings of government can cause everything from ritual killing (the death penalty) to the outlawing of proven medical remedies like marijuana to social polices that doom our girls to underage pregnancy to wealth disparity. It can be used to justify policies that discriminate on the basis of race, gender, ethnicity, sexuality and (of course) religion.

And religion always claims that it is above all laws, including the laws of common human decency and morality. Because God works in mysterious ways. And people get seized by religious fervor. And no one wants to be accused of being unChristian, even if the Christian thing to do in the circumstances is to slap the guy calling himself a Christian in the face and tell him Hell, no!

Tom Paine was right. You have to watch out for religion. Some of the worst con jobs of all will come disguised as the Will of God---and no one will dare to say a damn thing about it.

Religion has its place, but its place is never at the head of an army or in the legislature or making public policy. Spirituality comes from the hearts and minds of the individual people who make up a society. When an organized group decides to launch a scheme and they claim "We have God's blessing so don't bother your head about the details", that is when you need to do some especially hard thinking.

[anonymous171]

1. Religion attacked with secular weapons.

Fearing that your children will be brainwashed at school is not a religious thing. The anti-prop 8 people should have fought WAY harder and destroyed the lies put out by the Prop H8 supporters.

[RTBerry]

2. Well put.

Saved to my hard drive for future reference. Nicely done, indeed.

[Skidmore]

3. I love that little book and take it out to read every once in a while.

Tom Paine was an enlightened man. We need a new era of enlightenment more than ever now.

[mmonk]

4. Nice piece. Recommended.

[Meshuga]

5. While religion is a factor in the Israel/Palestinian conflict

Especially with the nutty ultra-orthodox Jews having some influence, the conflict as a whole is a political and not a religious conflict.

The claim that Israelis believing they have the divine mandate to occupy the entire holy land is bullshit. And the same cannot be said about the vast majority of Jews.

Among the majority of pro-Israel and zionists are atheist Jews and religious Jews who don't see this divine need but see the right for the state of Israel to exist as a safe haven for the Jewish people.

As far as the latest conflicts, the charge that Israel is acting on a Jewish religious need for "an eye for an eye" is bullshit. Israel, as a state, is reacting to attacks to its own people. Do I think a nation has the right to defend itself? Yes. Do I think it was the right thing for Israel to do? No. Besides the obvious horror of innocent people being killed, this conflict is a political nightmare for Israel and for peace in the region.

In the same way that the US was attacked in US soil and now wants to take out al-qaeda. We go into Afghanistan where the enemy hides among civilians. Thousands of innocent people died and there is the potential for more if this war continues. So if Obama goes after al-qaeda in Afghanistan does that mean he is acting on his Christian need for revenge or can we conclude that he is honestly looking for a way to dismantle a group that wants to attack the our country?

The bottom line, in my opinion, is that to charge this as a religious conflict is not telling most of the story. But that does not mean that I don't see the fact that religion is used as a tool to get in the way of peace.

[COStorm]

6. Why not?

Do I think a nation has the right to defend itself? Yes. Do I think it was the right thing for Israel to do? No.

Isn't this a contradiction? How does Israel defend itself against blind fired rocket attacks if not by force?

innocent people being killed

I find this kind of thinking dangerously naive.

One rocket attack, you can write off as the act of loons. Time after time, year after year, continuously inflicting death, pain and terror becomes an act of war by a nation and a people.

There is no reasoning in that part of the world. No love. No forgiveness.

Israel has very few choices. I believe that Israel has chosen this time to hurt the Palestinians so badly that they will demand the removal of Hamas and demand that no more attacks against Israel be launched from Palestinian lands.

The innocent people are the ones that try to stop Hamas from attacking Israel. I'm not seeing a whole lot of those.

[Meshuga]

8. I think Israel has the right to defend itself, however

in my opinion, as a pro-Israeli Jew, Israel has lost politically with the latest attacks. And a political loss does no good to my own concerns about Israel's security.

I believe that a nation has the obligation to respond to thousands of rockets raining down on its people. I think I was clear in my post however I didn't re-read my post yet. But was this the right response to the attacks? I don't know but I tend to think that it was not. It is a complicated situation. I know it is easy for me to hold such opinion when I am sitting here in the comfort of my home without the endless crashing of incoming Kassams. But I don't think this latest conflict will bring Israel closer the security it is seeking.

Call me naive but this is my opinion.

And sure, Hamas thugs died in this offensive but there are innocent people and children who died in this war as well so there is something really fucked up if you think they deserve it. And even worse to suggest that Israel should punish Palestinians so they will want hamas removed. That is beyond stupid which leads me to believe that you can't be serious.

[truedelphi]

10. Someone brave amidst the terror

http://www.wimp.com/sobrave

Israel has tortured the Palestinian People since it first began its occupation in 1948. The men serving as Israeli army entered the homes of Palestinian villagers and told them to "Get out today, and save your life, or stay and face execution tomorrow."

I grew up in the USA and was under the spell of the book and movie "Exodus" and other propaganda.

But by what right did the refugees who were European Jewsih people cite as allowing them to take over Israel? Most people posting on DU, in fact probably every person posting on DU, is sitting in a dwelling that formerly was on land owned by the Native Peoples. What if those peoples showed up at your door tomorrow and said "Sorry about this, but this Big Black Book here shows you need to leave - this is the land of the Pomo Indians and we have the right to reclaim this land by virtue of this Big Black Book. So tomorrow or the next day we will be taking your house by force. Oh we will let you go and live in some crummy refuge camp, but you cannot live here. Our God decrees this."

the Palestinians have been under siege since 1948. We did not hear of their plight in the 1950's or the 1960's - only because I attended an University where there were many Arabians did I start to hear of the other tales of the struggle. Of the grandmothers whose wedding rings and fingers were ripped from their hands by the new Israelis in the pursuit of their new land. Of the homes that were razed. Of the olive trees that had grown for a century or more, bulldozed to the ground. Of the continual sanctions.

Way back in 1981, Walter Cronkite said to his audience one night, "I am going to show a piece of film that I am betting I will be allowed to show ONLY ONCE!"

Then he played the film clip. It was of some Palestinian people living in a large dwelling, almost cave like. Little light. They were arranging for their children to run to the grocery store. They had to choose a particular body type - the kids usually selected were around nine years old, as they were very fast, but not many kids much older because their body offered too much of a target.

The thing was, when these kids ran to the grocery, they were shot at by snipers from the Israeli Army. What sort of people does this to another group of people?

BTW I made a point of watching to see if Cronkite would be allowed to show that film later at the late night news, but he did not show it a second time.

[struggle4progress]

7. Like the other great works of Paine, this is a splendid piece of American

political rhetoric, and it is well worth reading

Paine's greatness as a rhetorician lies primarily in his ability to craft short and memorable statements, when he writes in Common Sense, England since the conquest hath known some few good monarchs, but groaned beneath a much larger number of bad ones: yet no man in his senses can say that their claim under William the Conqueror is a very honourable one. A French bastard landing with an armed Banditti and establishing himself king of England against the consent of the natives, is in plain terms a very paltry rascally original. It certainly hath no divinity in it, or in The Crisis, THOSE who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it

The Age of Reason similarly contains a number of memorable remarks, though overall it is rather poorly organized and advances what we must today regard as standard Enlightment views, not original to Paine, though he must have contributed significantly to the popularization of these views, considering the repeated re-publication of the work.

Paine is, in some respects, a very conventional eighteenth century man, as when he writes I know I did not make myself, and yet I have existence; and by searching into the nature of other things, I find that no other thing could make itself; and yet millions of other things exist; therefore it is, that I know, by positive conclusion resulting from this search, that there is a power superior to all those things, and that power is God. But the fact, that this statement follows his earlier THE WORD OF GOD IS THE CREATION WE BEHOLD and it is in this word, which no human invention can counterfeit or alter, that God speaketh universally to man or Search not the book called the Scripture, which any human hand might make, but the Scripture called the Creation, is some indication of the disorganization of the text and Paine's failure to systematize his thinking

Paine's writing sometimes suggests he is near intriguing insights, as when he writes, As to the Christian system of faith, it appears to me as a species of Atheism — a sort of religious denial of God. It professes to believe in a man rather than in God. It is a compound made up chiefly of Manism with but little Deism, and is as near to Atheism as twilight is to darkness, but such passages typically are resolved by now-familiar attacks on the conventional pieties of his time; perhaps that was inevitable, given that Paine's interest was to address the political struggles of his era ideologically, using his own delightfully crisp rhetoric. But, with perfect hindsight, one sees that the lack of systematic presentation leads to lost opportunities: the idea of Christianity as atheism, combined with Paine's views of Jesus -- he preached also against the corruptions and avarice of the Jewish priests, and this brought upon him the hatred and vengeance of the whole order of priesthood. The accusation which those priests brought against him was that of sedition and conspiracy against the Roman government, to which the Jews were then subject and tributary; and it is not improbable that the Roman government might have some secret apprehensions of the effects of his doctrine, as well as the Jewish priests; neither is it improbable that Jesus Christ had in contemplation the delivery of the Jewish nation from the bondage of the Romans. Between the two, however, this virtuous reformer and revolutionist lost his life -- might have produced a more interesting interpretation of the Christian texts

[truedelphi]

9. I think that some DU'ers do not express much outrage here in

the Israel massacre of Gaza On account of the mods.

At other blogs, one can speak freer and enter remarks that will not be attacked, so why bother typing out something here that will be removed in an instant by a mod?

or attacked with terms like "Anti-semite" etc.