The unselfish endeavors of man have made it possible to take the dumb matter of earth and mold it so the voices of the present can be heard by the ears of the future; so that several generations may hear and know, with a touch of human affection, the traits, features and characteristics of their ancestors. Language gives us their thoughts, the camera gives us their natural, life-like features and the phonograph their actual, living voices!
Nature never did so much. As far as Nature is concerned, b.a.s.t.a.r.dy may rule the world!
One of the comforts of life is that we live again in actions and scenes, which, although they are apart from our own lives, really belong to the past or future races. But Nature sees to it that the births and deaths, the knowledge and acquaintance of each and every generation, are so closely allied that none of us is allowed to escape the suffering of the world and the agony of life and death. No person can avoid the pain and the terrible fear that all must endure.
No one person can live, move about and possess the varied improvements of the earth"s materials all by himself. He is indebted to others for their accomplishments, and they in turn are indebted to him for the improvements he renders. In short, we are all so closely allied with the actions and lives of one another that there should be a mutual appreciation and a common understanding among all.
The farmer may know nothing about manufacturing; the manufacturer may know nothing about farming; the artist, the explorer, the thinker, the inventor and the scientist may know nothing about any field of endeavor other than his own, yet all are inter-dependent.
With such a condition existing, and with the uncertainty of life forever staring us in the face, and _no one exempt_ from its terrible enactment, it is a _marvelous_ wonder to me why there exist so tenaciously in the human heart all the petty and aggravating tempers, prejudices and jealousies.
What man has done with the forces of Nature are inspiring deeds. What progress has been made in opposing the forces of Nature is marvelous.
What man will accomplish in the future with the arrogant forces of Nature stimulates our hearts with the sweet satisfaction of a victory of the first magnitude.
But in the final a.n.a.lysis, what does it avail us?
Geologists tell us that the greater portion of the materials that we have taken from the field of Nature consists of the buried bones and bodies of our ancient ancestors, who pa.s.sed through greater periods of agony, torment, disease and death than we are finally and eventually to meet!
What sort of crust in the earth"s formation are we to make? What will be the product of the future living forces that will utilize the materials that our bodies will make? What will be the future living forces?
It is fearfully sad to contemplate that life must continue and be subject to the miserable laws that now govern it.
Insect man, with his almost tireless industry, makes clothes to cover his ugly and awkward body; builds houses to shelter him from the winds and the torrents of Nature; fashions glittering palaces of amus.e.m.e.nt to cheer his troubled heart; compounds anaesthetics to ease his pain; carves wood to replace his broken limbs; molds metal to take the place of those things that Nature has made inadequate for his use. In short, man has improved upon Nature to uphold his frail body, to strengthen his weak bones, and to soothe his tender heart.
That man, fighting the forces of Nature, has been able to accomplish so much is simply glorious, and this progress is an achievement of such wonderful magnitude that we are thrilled at the thought, and bow in grateful recognition for the benefits derived and the relief enjoyed.
But why did not G.o.d inst.i.tute all the benefits for the immediate use of man, so they could be enjoyed upon the first manifestation of his understanding?
Why was it necessary to go through the fearful period of past history and gain, only after a most gigantic struggle, the few things that we now use for our comfort?
That these things could have been done is proved by the fact that man has done them. Fundamentally they always existed. Man has only discovered and applied them. And these things that we have gained to-day, from the struggles of the past, would have been equally enjoyed by those who lived before us, with the same degree of benefit, just as the future will find, use and enjoy those things that we do not possess, and without which we shall be pinched, and pained, through the helter-skelter of this troublesome life.
I brand as brutal tyranny this scheme of life, that forces us to be a link in a long series of lives to produce something for the benefit of the far-distant future, that we, ourselves, imperatively need but shall not possess.
I cry and denounce and plead, in behalf of future humanity, to circ.u.mvent and to defeat this "sorry scheme of life," that uses us as an instrument to produce something that we cannot use, do not know about and have not the understanding to comprehend.
XVI
"In G.o.d We Trust," on coins that represent our labor and our endeavor, is an insult to the intelligence, courage and independence of the people, and a stinging rebuke to those responsible for our progress.
A motto that more truthfully represents our material progress and intellectual development would be: "In Science We Trust;" or, "Humanity and Justice Our Aim."
The more we eliminate G.o.d from us, the more we are _one without him_, the better for us all, the better for humanity, the better for all the world. The less we "know" of G.o.d, the less G.o.d that is "in us," the more _human_ we become.
The greatest, most frightful and destructive wars of all time have been those which were started in "defense" of G.o.d, as if "he" cared what man says or does.
The most frightful and torturous instruments ever conceived by man are those that were made to force people to "believe in" G.o.d.
The history of religious persecution and torture is the horror of the world.
May I ask, where was G.o.d, and what did he do, to stop this frightful nightmare of torture committed in "his" name?
And may I answer for you, that he was where Moses was when the light went out?
Remember this: There will never be a solution to any of our fundamental problems, and mankind will never, in the full sense of the word, be free, as long as there exists in the human mind the insanity of religious belief. As long as G.o.d occupies a portion of our thoughts, mankind must be content to suffer the hatred and antagonism of man.
Let us make up our minds now, let us resolve now, to stop fighting one another, and fight G.o.d by helping one another.
Let us stop fighting our fellow prisoners and fellow sufferers, and fight G.o.d.
Let us help our fellow prisoners and fellow sufferers.
Let us cleanse our minds of this superst.i.tious poison of an "after life," and work and labor for the good and welfare of Here and Now.
We possess the knowledge and the means and, within the span of only one day, could bring about the much-longed-for "Brotherhood of Man."
We could eliminate hatred from our hearts, and instill Justice as our guide. We could eradicate poverty from our midst and bring happiness to sorrowing mankind. We could blot out tyranny among men and exchange it for the priceless legacy of freedom and make the relation between man and man bear some semblance of humanity.
But--and I say this with redoubled conviction, and with all the power, force, energy and vehemence that I possess--if we are Nature"s best endeavor, if man is Nature"s best product, if the Natural world is incapable of any improvement, and life will forever be made to submit to the tyrannical conditions of Nature, then it were better ten thousand times over, that life were never called into existence, and that the universe were null and void!
THE END
EDISON LETTER TO JOSEPH LEWIS
_From the Laboratory of Thomas A. Edison, Orange, N.J._
August 18, 1921.
Mr. Joseph Lewis, c/o The Truth Publishing Co., 1400 Broadway, New York City.
Dear Sir:--
I received your book--"The Tyranny of G.o.d"--and have read it through. I think as you do that death ends all, yet I do not feel certain, because there are many facts that seem to show that the real units of life are not the animal mechanism itself, but groups of millions of small ent.i.ties living in the visible cells. The animal being their mechanism for navigating the environment, and when the mechanism fails to function, i.e. die, the groups go out into s.p.a.ce to go thru another cycle. The ent.i.ties are each highly organized and perform their allotted task. If there is anything like this we still have a fighting chance. You have doubtless read interviews I have given lately on this subject. They appeared in the Scientific Monthly for October 30, 1920 and the Cosmopolitan for May, 1920.
Yours very truly,
Thos A Edison
Famous Inventor Gives Views of Death and Immortality in Correspondence with Author of "The Tyranny of G.o.d."