Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-11-30
BERNARD SHAW On GOD
British Dramatist Declares
That He is Only a Will.
RELIGION FAULTY, HE SAYS
New Belief Needed to Impel Us to
Tackle Social Problems.
SUGGESTS GOD AS A WOMAN
Immaculate Conception Doctrine
Should Be All Religious, Accord
ing to the Shaw Idea

LONDON. November 29.-"some Neces-
sary Repairs to Religion Is the title of a
lecture delivered by Bernard Shaw In con-
nection with the Guild of st. Matthew. at
Essex Hall. tonight.
Mr. Shaw said we had a great many
pressing social problems to solve, but lack
ed religion which would impel to
tackle them.
II the great congregation of towards
called the human race were to be got to
disregard their own safety and interest.
they must be made religious. A religious
man was not one who belonged to the
Church OF England or who did not, and
the enthusiasm of men who did not belong
to that church seemed much greater than
that of men who did Nor was he a man
with special creed. A religious man was
one who had sure knowledge that ne was
here. not to fulfill some narrow purpose. but
as an instrument of the force which created
the world and probably the universe. Re
ligion made man courageous, and If he
was not Intelligent II made him extremely
dangerous. In the absence of religion a
coarse man had the most courage. but
with religion the most fragile and sensitive
became enormously courageous.
Jonah and Noah Lies.
Until we could get rid OF the Bible in
the sense in which we had spoken Of it
for 800 years religion in England would
be impossible Another obstacle
Darwin's Origin of Species" In which
evolution. its great religious and philo-
sophie side being ignored became material
istic and soul destroying in its conception
of the universe.
There was no established religion on
earth today in which an intelligent. edu-
Gated man could believe. No such man
could belong to the Church of England
without considerable reservation. The
great body OF legend which every religion
accreted around itself might be true
as Hamlet was true. but to tell chill
dren that the stories of Jonah and Noah's
ark were literally true was to lie.
Belief In God Through Fear.
Many people who said they believed in
God did so because they thought that other
wise He would strike them dead. That
was abnominable idolatry. Yet in schools
religion was taught much in this way. The
Jehovah of the earlier parts of the Bible
was abominable idolarty. Yet In schools
to have Jephtha's daughter sacrificed to
Him. and sent bears to eat up little chill
drens The result was thatthe masses be-
came so irreligious that people did not dare
to teach them genuine religion, for they
would not believe 1t.
Powerlessness Of God.
The main truth that required to be
taught was the powerlessness OF Cod If
we conceived God a moral force we
must admit that apart from us He was
=powerless. Millions revoited against re-
ligion when confronted with the question.
IF God Is so powerful. why Is the world
such horrible placer" It was no use
saying God could not be understood. A
man in the dock would not be excused
because he said he had some higher pur-
pose that others could not understand.
The only way in which God could work
was through ourselves He had no hands
or brains but ours: He was nothing but a
will. If we wanted to personify Him. why
not personify Him as woman. The doc
trine OF the Immaculate Conception should
be Incorporated In all religions, because
4 1t reminded US Of womans place In God
head. and made US realize that all concep-
ton was immaculate and not sin.
The will that drove the universe was
driving every man more or less, even the
, most sordid stockbroker In London, and 1t
was evidently driving at some sort OF moral
conception Another thing to remember
about God was that He made mistakes.
Only after many trials He had produced a
man who. though only makeshift. was at
his best rather wonderful creature. II
men realized that what God was driving at
finally was a perfect comprehension of His
own purpose. there would be little difficulty
In making them religious, observant and
intelligent.
What Religion Can Give.
The one thing religion could give us was
not comfort, but courage and self-respect.
People Jumped in with their religion and
philosophy and morals a number of other
= things which were merely associated ideas
b. and customs. He never talked disrespect-
fully of religion. but his mission was to tell
people OF the rubbish that choked religion.
, Until that rubbish was got rid of there was
no chance OF getting a world in which any
thing worth talking about would ever be
done