He said, I will show you my religion or faith by my works. There is no such identity as goodness by itself. Goodness was considered by the priests as a sort of subjection to the rulers. Religion is what it was before Christ and I think I know what that was. The religion that Christ opposed consisted in forms and ceremonies.
Religion makes no compromise, it is rule or ruin.
It sometimes takes to itself the name of reform, giving every man the liberty of speech, and then it subjects every one to its laws. You will see religion in its purest state under the most despotic form of government. The fact is that religious beliefs are founded in decep- tion and the leaders deceive the people into them. No, that is what he fears. The priests want them to have religion, that is, to believe in the creeds which cramp the intellect and bind burdens upon them so that they can lead them.