The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1882-09-17
ANEW RELIGION.


lipion. It has pot, however. me'
with the success which its inventor
hoped for. There was no gses, diih-
Guilty in inducing various 2en 70 be
ligye that there is no God and that
there is no future life. This part OF
the Positiyist creed was SO simple |
that a Watkins Glen Free Think
err" could understand and accept il
without difficulty. When, boSever, !
the convert TO The Religion o! hu'
mainly was told that 10 addition 70 bis |
disbeliefs he mus. solsmnly worship |
Humanity, IN accordance with a
ritual Hlmos; as elaborate ss tha. CT
the church of Rome, be Usually de-
clined to do anything OF the kind. |
The Humsnity wOrshiped by the |
Pesitivists seemed 30 the unpreju-
diced mind slmost IS incomprehensi- |
BILE as the God OF the Christians. By |
Humanity" the Positiyists did net
mean the human race. They had
no desire to Worseip Lord Bescons-
field or tteE Archbishop of Canterbury,
as they would have been compelled
to do had they made the entire
human race, OF which Beaconsheld
and the aroh ishop were component
parts, the object of their worship.
The Humanity" worshiped 10y the
Positivists was the "bumanness" OF
man-those characteristics and quail
iIies which constituts mans man
ness" Obviously this "Humsnity"
was something that man could see or
hear. Ii was 8 pure abstraction,
and q consistent atheist who refused
TO believe 10 an invisible God could
hardly be expected to believe in
80 vague and impAlpAble Human
ity."
Moreover, it was felt By thought
ful reiecters of the supernatural that
the Religion OF Humanity still! re-
tanned little OF the leaven OF super
natCralisn4. Ii is easy 10 perceive
that man, if be has no soul, differs
from the bruIes only in degree.
Nevertheless, the "HumRnity"
worshiped by the Positivists was con-
ceived to be something not possessed
by the brutes. In that case did it
not bear a dangerous resemblance to
what the Christians in their ignorant
way were accustomed to call the i'm
mortal, or :the deviDe part of Man?
The feeling that the Religion OF Hu-
manly contained an element too
closely resembling the spiritual, if
not the supernatural, has had e
powerful influence in hirdering the
growth of III. Comte's otherwise able
religion. Thus it has come to pass
that the Religion of Humanity, In.
stead Of superseding Christia nity, has
in some places failed to grow anu In
others has lost what few converts it
originally made.
Fortunately for mankind, clever
Englishman, recognizing the. failure
of the Religion OF Humanity" has
invented a new and in every respect
admirable religion. To this he has
given the name of the Religion of
Beast. To some extent it bears 8
close resemblance to the Religion OF
Humanity, but it does not offer to
the worship OF the faithful al III
comrr, henslble abstraction. Used as
the inventor of theineW religion uses
it, Beast" is term analogous to M.
Comte's Humanity" It means
those characteristics OF Man which
he sharesIin common with the bessts.
beast" in this sense is Synonymous
with the beastliness OF our nature.
1t includes ou= bodies and their ap
petites, aud excludes everything that
psrtskes of the nature of the moral
qualities. The Religion of Beast
commends itself to every L1ateriaIist,
because it entirely ignores the spirit
ual and the moral. 1t is a religion
that the more ardent atheist can EN-.
brace with enthusiasm and that Car
never dwarf mankind by its uanat
ural restraints.
OF course the, object which is Sc
before the .devotee of the Religion O
Beast is the cultivation OF Whateve
is beastlY in mankind. It will hav
its ritual framed to give expression
10 the reverence OF believers Tor Bess
and to develop ell our besstly in
stihcts. 1t will have its calendar @
saints such as St. Ostrich, to
patron OF the lre9uepters Of railws
restaurants; st. Goat, the patron c
retormers of the school of Bradlaug
and Bsssnt. and st. Donkey, to
chief saint and patron OF the new II
l;glon. By initiating the example {
prominent beasts the devotee VI
cultivate his own beastliness until 3
becomes indistinguishable, SO far 6
his qualities and actions are col
cerned, from Beast. He will
swinish like = swine; thievish lik
the magpis; stupid like the mule. an
maligant ike the cobra. The il
isngloie and undesirable part
Man called by the P0sitivi.ts his hl
mainly VIII utterly vanish, 30 ths
even tnesmost imaginative deyotee
the Religion ( Humanity will fail
find him anything out tie qualiti
of Beast.
This Is evidently the religion wDil
is needed to take the place of CAR
tianisy. The Religion OF HUMANE
csn never meet me wants of our q
ture. bat the Religion of Beas. col
tanning all that Is true in the ReligiC