By Mark Anger
Mr. O’Brien’s piece has been practically inspirational to me; I wonder if others in the TPS were equally “taken” with it?
Seeing as how The Age of Reason is only the world’s greatest “authority” on the publication known as the “Holy Bible”, and whereas, also, it is the most important publication on that subject ever produced by the mind of man; and, seeing as how, there has never been any of the human specie able ever to refute it, therefore, let it be said by myself, at least, that Mr. O’Brien’s disdain for that work, though most understandable as he is a devout Christian, is not terribly substantial.
Mr. O’Brien says: “It is not so much that he adopted a deist philosophy, it is the extraordinary, ill informed and hateful way in which he attacked Christianity and Judaism before it”. Now that is ridiculous! There is not a line in The Age of Reason that is other than considerate, diplomatic, understanding and brutally honest! But who has time to enumerate it, as it should be enumerated? There are only twenty-four hours in a day. Thomas Paine was never “hateful”, and the charge that he was “ill informed” is silly on its face! He knew from memory in his prison cell , more than most Christians have ever known of their own Bible in a lifetime. Most Christian accept Christianity “on faith” and have never taken even a moment to question or to challenge it! But most of Paine’s treatise relates to science and believability; these two qualities are “not allowed” in Christian education or in Christian schools, even today! “I do not mean by this declaration to condemn those who believe otherwise, they have the same right to their beliefs as I have to mine” (Thomas Paine, The Age of Reason).
Mr. O’Brien says that Mr.Paine was arrogant in his remarks: “I scarcely ever quote, the reason is I always think!” Is that arrogance? And who was there in his day and age worth quoting anyway? He was an original thinker, and for that all of mankind should be deeply grateful; of course they are not! He should be quoted constantly. I always quote him. He did quote Alexander Pope once, as I recall, to wit: “He can’t be wrong, who’s life is in the right”.
Mr. O’Brien inveighs that old, worn epithet that Paine relied on alcohol, a most ungentlemanly lie perpetrated by his detractors since day one! And what did it matter if, indeed, he did imbibe? His works are so amazing that mankind are damned lucky he was able to “get them forward” however they happened to come into being! As to Quakers denying him access to their burial grounds, that will forever reverberate to their eternal SHAME! They, too, know not how magnificent he was.
I must take issue with Mr. O’Brien when he says: “When it comes to The Age of Reason, however, this is a man floundering and lashing about in a sphere where he is entitled, like all of us, to have his own views, but hardly to foist them upon a public at large…” Tch! Tch! Really! This is typical Christianity; “Don’t confuse me with facts, I’ve made up my mind!” Well, of course the Christians didn’t and still do not want or allow any criticism of their absurd nonsensical faith, of course. And as to “foistering” it upon “a public at large”, well, it is Christianity who have been the champion “foister” of the world! You’ll find their “foisting” in almost every hotel room and motel in the world; you’ll find their “foisting” in the “far reaches” of the planet where the people are “imposed upon” whether they wish to be or not (the opening scenes of the film “The African Queen” give a fairly accurate idea of Christian “foisting”), and, of course, every Christian child has Christianity “foisted” into his mind long before he/she can even read; they have no “choice” throughout their entire life as to whether they “believe” or do not believe. The alternative, according to Christianity, is to exclude them from “the pastures of heaven”, a rather stiff sentence.
Thomas Paine, on the other hand, was actually “facing death” when he realized that he must write his Age. As every member of the TPS probably knows, he expected it to be his very last offering to mankind.
Here is his preamble to The Age of Reason:
“To my fellow citizens of the United States of America. I put the following work under your protection. It contains my opinion upon Religion. You will do me the justice to remember that I have always strenuously supported the Right of every Man to his own opinion upon Religion, however different that opinion might be to mine. He who denies to another this right, makes a slave of himself to his present opinion, because he precludes himself the right of changing it. The most formidable weapon against errors of every kind is Reason. I have never used any other, and I trust I never shall”. Now does that sound like “foisting” to you? Of course not! It sounds to me like a considerate, respectful, open-minded and wise gentleman who is offering you his opinion, but considerately explaining that the reader has the same right to his own opinion, “however different it might be to his”. Now, wouldn’t it be a wonder if the Bible offered the same “preamble”? Unfortunately it does not!
Unfortunately, the “public at large” have been kept in the dark about The Age of Reason all these centuries by the Christians. But who else, of the human race, would ever again, have the courage, the guts, the extraordinary wisdom and the gift of language, i.e. the talent, if you will, to challenge the powerful Christian establishment and its incredible absurdities of Christian “faith”? Christianity, long before Thomas Paine came on the scene, and still today, has been “pushing mankind around” and there has never been any government or any other power to challenge it until the American Revolution which changed the course of human history!
When you consider that every child of Christian parents is “forced” into an “indoctrination” into Christianity and all its absurdities, before he/she can read or write, how, then, can anyone attribute “foistering” on Mr. Thomas Paine? It is the Christians who have been doing the “foistering” for 2001 years; please let’s get real!
Mr. O’Brien is critical of Paine’s “knowledge” of the Bible, he says “he is not well informed on the oral tradition of earlier times” which he says were “faithfully handed down from generation to generation”! This is precisely one of Paine’s most insightful revelations and the “POINT” of it is that it, the Bible, is not reliable or trustworthy EVIDENCE of anything; almost any court of law in the world would have to “throw out” the case for Christian “faith” in a minute for “lack of evidence”!
Here is Thomas Paine: “Revelation, when applied to religion, means something communicated immediately from God to man. No one will deny or dispute the power of the Almighty to make such a communication, if He pleases. But admitting for the sake of a case, that something has been revealed to a certain person, and not revealed to any other person, a second to a third, a third to a fourth, and so on, it ceases to be a revelation to all those persons. It is revelation to the first person only and “hearsay” to every other person and consequently. they are not obliged to believe it”.
So that when you suggest that the “oral tradition” of “earlier times” were “faithfully handed down from generation to generation”, you are showing clearly and obviously, just how “unreliable” such (so-called) revelations must be! Hell, you can’t be sure that the man two seats over from you has accurately revealed what was revealed to him by the man one seat over from him five seconds ago, now can you? So why trust what people “handed down” generations” ago? In short, Paine defines the word “revelation” so expertly and definitively that he is beyond criticism; is there a better definition?
The Christians” have faith” that a man rose from his grave, they “have faith” that a man was born without sexual intercourse to a virgin woman; the Christians “have faith” that a man was a “holy ghost”, they have “faith” that a printed book is the “word of God”, etc., etc., but where, for heavens sake, is their EVIDENCE and where is their proof? Of course, there is none because these things simply are not true! They don’t make any sense! They are not believable! But we are supposed to “have faith” that everything in the Christian story is true, but why should we?
Paine also takes the trouble to let us know, as no Christian clergy ever have or ever will, the actual origins of the Bible itself, ie., from the councils of Nice and Laodicia 350 years after a person called Jesus Christ is said to have lived. Have you ever heard that revelation in any sermons you’ve ever heard? Of course not! But, how else, pray tell, are mankind to know about that desperately vital fact, pray tell! But of course the Christian clergy would much prefer that mankind know nothing whatsoever, at all, about that. Why? Because it immediately “gives the lie” to the huge lie they call “the word of God”! No! It was not God who wrote “the word of God”, but a “council” of “clergymen” similar, I might add to the present day “councils of the Vatican in Rome, and consequently, the “title” of that publi- cation should be clarified so that the newly arrived children of the world do not get “the mistaken notion”; the “wrong impression” that a mere book was “written by God”! Don’t you agree that the title is just a bit misleading? Yes! But it has worked to Christendom’s great advantage throughout the ages in deluding and in defrauding as much of mankind as was possible.
Am I being harsh? Well I certainly hope that I’m not being the only one finding errors in Mr. O’Brien’s little piece. If so I’m sure to be tarred and feathered very soon; the Christians are so very “open minded” about every man having the right to his own opinion, you know! There was a time, not all that long ago, when such sentiments would have earned the “sentimenter” a hanging or at least a burning at the stake; ah, yes, the “good old days”! The world has considerably more “freedom” now than it has ever had before and for that it owes “no thanks”, whatever, to Christianity but a great deal of thanks to Thomas Paine! Thanks Thomas!