Star.
London, England, 1830-12-16 00:00:00

MR. OWEN'S MEETING.

At an adjourned meeting, to take into consideration the advantages
and disadvantages of Religion, as it has been hitherto taught in form-
ing the character of man, and in governing the world, Mr. OwErr
spoke thus :—At the former meeting I explained the outlines of the
advantages, and disadvantages, of Religion, as it has been hitherto
taught. in forming the character of man. I have now to develope the
advantages and disadvantages of Religion, as it has been hitherto
taught in governing the world : it will be recollected that I then endea-
voured to show, in what manner the religions of the world have in.
fluenced the four general classes of original minds, in fanning their
matured character; and that I explained, at some Length, the varied
injuries experienced by each class. I then also stated, that all the re-
ligions of the world were founded on the self-same fundamental suppo-
sitions, taught to the multitude, as divine truths ; but which supponi-
tions, real knowledge has now demonstrated to be gross errors, produc-
tive of the most mischievous results to the whole of the human race.
These suppositions ate Int. That there is un absolute necessity for all
to believe what the priests say, true believers ought to believe. 2dly.
That there is the deepest of all demerits, or the blackest of all crimes, in
not believing their dogmas, which, however opposed, the dogmas
taught in one country, may be to those taught in another, the priests,
all over the world, agree to call divine truths. 3rdly. That there is
the same necessity fur loving what the priests say ought to be loved,
and for hating what they say ought to be hated ; and the ssnte
demerit in not thus loving and hating. 4thly. That for believing or
disbelieving, for loving or hating. contrary to the opinions of the priests,
all men shall be eternally rewarded or punished. I further stated, that,
whatever Jews, Hindoos, Blahomrnedans, or Christians, may say to the
contrary, this is the real religion of all the sects in the world, when
stripped of its mystery ; and that this is the only religion which has
ever yet been taught to mankind. It is the sole religion, this day, of ,
the people of England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of all the nations
upon earth.

You thus perceive, my friends, that when religion is stripped of the
mysteries with which the priests of all times and countries have in-
vested it, and when such is explained in terms sufficiently simple that
the common mind can fully comprehend it, without fear or alarm from
a misguided imagination, all ha divinity vanishes ; its errors become
palpable ; audit stands before the astonished world in all its naked de-
formity of vice, hypocrisy, and imbecility. If, indeed, religion, as it
has been hitherto taught, has emanated from a divinity, it must have
been from one possessing the most dire hatred to mankind ; one, who
well knew how the most effectually to destroy, in the bud, the finest
qualities of human nature, and the highest enjoyments of every indi.
viduaL

For aU these fundamental suppositions on which the religion of the
world alone rests, are destructive of the well-being and happiness of the
human race, each of them being in direct opposition to every fact of
which man has hitherto acquired any accurate knowledge.

in consequence of this discovery, all testimony handed down to us
from our remote and ignorant ancestors by tradition, writing, or print-
ing, when opposed to facts, or the unchanging laws of Nature, will not
hereafter be received into any superior or intelligent mind. Such will
be aware, that, of necessity, the universe must be one great truth, coin-
posed of all the facts which it contains, and that, from the same neces.
sity, each fact must be in perfect harmony with every other fact, through.
out the whole of this aggregate of facts; and that, any tradition or tes-
timony attempting to contravene these eternal truths, must be errors of
the imagination, or wilful falsehoods.

The past religions of the:world being thus opposed to the eternal
laws of Nature, will, heneaforth, cease to disorganise the rational facul-
ties of the human race; and to torment man from his birth to his
grave. Even the governments of the world will now soon be made, by
the progress of truth. to discover that religion will henceforth not serve
their purpose, to keep the people in ignorance, or much longer to give
a divine sanction to imbecility and hypocriey. No: the period for thus
deoeiving the human faculties is rapidly passing away ; and the reli.
glen which has hitherto made the earth a. yandemoutum, will now die
a natural death.

Religion having until now controlled, to a very'great extent, all the
governments of the earth, the rulers of:nations are, at this day, more or
less compelled to form their laws and Institutions under its direct or in-
direct influence. Rapid and extensive as the advance of science bas
latterly been, an advance, which makes the opposition to this religion of
Nature the more glaring, the individuals composing the most en-
lightened of modem governments, have not yet deemed it safe
to attempt to unshackle themselves from the restraints which an
artificial religion has hitherto put upon all their proceedings.
Even the Imperial Parliament of Great Britain carries on all its de-
liberations under the perpetual fear of this overwhelming influence.
I shall now ende.avourto explain the advantages and disadvantages
which all governments experience by submitting longer to be forced to
govern under this influence.
In order to govern through the influence of the religion which has
bees described,becomes absolutely neces•ary, first to make the
people mental laves, and to devise institutions, by which their ra-
tional faculties shall be perverted or destroyed from infancy.—
This effect could only be produced by the influence of
measures, acting perpetually upon their senses, which shall
counteract the continual efforts of the mind to perceive facts ;
to compare them with each other ; and to deduce from them na-
tural and just conclusions. The measures so employed, have been
church services, conducted under an expensive and complicated church
govenunent. Nothing short of some such enormous power, applied
without ceasing to the subversion of the reasoning faculties of the hu-
man race, could so long have kept mankind in the state of ignorance,
poverty, imbecility, crime, and misery, in which they are at this day.
To support this enormous stultifying power, it has been necessary
fur the governments of all countries to render each of their institutions
subservient to that power ; and, In consequence, the great departments
of the secular administration of all nations, have been established upon
principles, in conformity to the religion which has thus been employed
eir lave the minds of the people. _

It is, therefore, the church that governs in all countries In which a
national church exists; or in which the minds of the population have
been previously enslaved by the dogmas of some national chinch, or of
some met, or sects, emanating from it.
Now, no church having such control over the people, through their
ignorant religious prejudices, will suffer the national government to
adopt any legislative measures, calculated to give real knowledge to the
people, or to instruct them in those principles on which their permanent
prosperity and happiness depend. No l their codes of laws, their no.
done of morality and immorality, and the education of the rising gene-
ration, must be, and are, all devised to promote belief is their mys-
terious and atupifying creeds; and to destroy, in the bud, the rational
fanatic-, of the human ram

In consequence, nun km been wretdmdly W.goterttad throughout
all prat ages. fie has ban forced into the most unnamed and artificial
state that human ingenuity, under the direction of this false and arti.
geld religion, could devise t his viruses have been perverted Into vice. ;
his superior reasoning faculties have been debated to ti. pursuit of
every species of folly and absurdity ; while all his powers of high
enjoyintat have been converted into the means of his most exquisite
torments.

To cultivate the best (scuttle', in man, physical, intellectual sad
moral, to the greatest degree that his nature Iv capable of attaining.
requires only as honest, straight-forward conduct, on the part of those
who govern society. It is simply this t—to teach man truth from
hie infancy; to enable him to acqaire an acconste knowltdge
of fasts; to permit him to draw the necessary deductions from them
facts; and to sarrouad him from birth to death with eirmonstanore
which me is strict aemodseee with his orgeoisstion s at the woo time.
allowing him to set mak* in rooferoder Sri his some.
This minima mode of proceeding is all that is requisite, to enure
superior state of human existence.
But religion, a, it ham been erroneously aught to mesa, sompeb bho
receive lies from his birth; is shut his gyes to facto ur to refits. all ac-
curate reasesing respreting them ; and dots, to ruiresit is the lowest