CHAPTER XX
CONTEMPORARY OPINION
The Vanguard
Let us make no mistake great minds are skeptical. . . . The strength and the freedom which arise from exceptional power of thought express themselves in skepticism. . . . A mind which aspires to great things and is determined to achieve them is of necessity skeptical. Nietzsche
MY own view on religion is that of Lucretius. I regard it as a disease born of fear and as a source of untold misery to the human race. I cannot, however, deny that it has made some contributions to civilization. It helped in early days to fix the calendar, and it caused Egyptian priests to chronicle eclipses with such are that in time they became able to predict them. These two services I am prepared to acknowledge, but I do not know of any others.
It is my conviction that the happiest and noblest life attainable by men and women is jeopardized by reliance upon a superhuman, cosmic being for guidance and help. I know, of course, that God has been defined in various terms. I do not choose among them. 309
