And then my heart was filled with gratitude, with thankfulness, and went out in love to all the heroes, the thinkers who gave their lives for the liberty of hand and brain; for the freedom of labour and thought; to those who proudly mounted scaffold's stairs; to those whose flesh was scarred and torn; to those by fire consumed; to all the wise, the good, the brave of every land, whose thoughts and deeds have given freedom to the sons of men. And then I vowed to grasp the torch that they had held, and hold it high, that light might conquer darkness still.” (Robert. G. Ingersoll, "Why I Am Agnostic", 1896)
Friday, August 24, 2012
Why I'm Agnostic
“When I became convinced that the universe is
natural; that all the ghosts and gods are myths, there entered into my
brain, into my soul, into every drop of my blood, the sense, the
feeling, the joy of freedom. The walls of my prison crumbled and fell,
the dungeon was flooded with light, and all the bolts, and bars, and
manacles became dust. I was no longer a servant,
a serf, or a slave. There was for me no master in all the wide world;
not even in infinite space. I was free; free to think, to express my
thoughts; free to live to my own ideal; free to use all my faculties,
all my senses; free to spread imagination's wings; free to investigate,
to guess and dream and hope; free to judge and determine for myself;
free to reject all ignorant and cruel creeds, all the..."inspired" books
that savages have produced, and all the barbarous legends of the past;
free from popes and priests; free from all the "called" and "set apart";
free from sanctified mistakes and holy lies; free from the fear of
eternal pain; free from the winged monsters of the night; free from
devils, ghosts, and gods. For the first time I was free. There were no
prohibited places in all the realms of thought; no air, no space, where
fancy could not spread her painted wings; no chains for my limbs; no
lashes for my back; no fires for my flesh; no master's frown or threat;
no following another's steps; no need to bow, or cringe, or crawl, or
utter lying words. I was free. I stood erect and fearlessly, joyously,
faced all worlds.
And then my heart was filled with gratitude, with thankfulness, and went out in love to all the heroes, the thinkers who gave their lives for the liberty of hand and brain; for the freedom of labour and thought; to those who proudly mounted scaffold's stairs; to those whose flesh was scarred and torn; to those by fire consumed; to all the wise, the good, the brave of every land, whose thoughts and deeds have given freedom to the sons of men. And then I vowed to grasp the torch that they had held, and hold it high, that light might conquer darkness still.” (Robert. G. Ingersoll, "Why I Am Agnostic", 1896)
And then my heart was filled with gratitude, with thankfulness, and went out in love to all the heroes, the thinkers who gave their lives for the liberty of hand and brain; for the freedom of labour and thought; to those who proudly mounted scaffold's stairs; to those whose flesh was scarred and torn; to those by fire consumed; to all the wise, the good, the brave of every land, whose thoughts and deeds have given freedom to the sons of men. And then I vowed to grasp the torch that they had held, and hold it high, that light might conquer darkness still.” (Robert. G. Ingersoll, "Why I Am Agnostic", 1896)
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