No one can conceive a supernatural Being, and what none can conceive,
none ought to worship, or even assert the existence of. Who worships a
something of which he knows nothing, is an idolater. To talk of, or bow
down to it, is nonsensical; to pretend affection for it, is worse than
nonsensical. Such conduct, however pious, involves the rankest
hypocrisy; the meanest and most odious species of idolatry; for
labouring to destroy which, Atheists are called 'murderers of the human
soul,' 'blasphemers,' and other foolish names, too numerous to mention.
It would be well for all parties, if those who raise against Atheists
the cry of 'blasphemy,' were made to perceive that godless unbelievers
cannot be blasphemers; for, as contended by Lord Brougham in his Life of
Voltaire, blasphemy implies belief, and, therefore, Atheists who do not
believe in God, cannot logically or justly be said to blaspheme him. The
blasphemer, properly so called, is he who imagines Deity, and ascribes
to the idol of his own brain, all manner of folly, contradiction,
inconsistency, and wickedness. Yes, the blasphemer is he who invents a
monster and calls it God; while to reject belief therein, is an act both
reasonable and virtuous.
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