Chapter XVI

"In God We Trust," on coins that represent our labor and our endeavor, is an insult to the intelligence, courage and independence of the people, and a stinging rebuke to those responsible for our progress.

A motto that more truthfully represents our material progress and intellectual development would be: "In Science We Trust;" or, "Humanity and Justice Our Aim."

The more we eliminate God from us, the more we are _one without him_, the better for us all, the better for humanity, the better for all the world. The less we "know" of God, the less God that is "in us," the more _human_ we become.

The greatest, most frightful and destructive wars of all time have been those which were started in "defense" of God, as if "he" cared what man says or does.

The most frightful and torturous instruments ever conceived by man are those that were made to force people to "believe in" God.

The history of religious persecution and torture is the horror of the world.

May I ask, where was God, and what did he do, to stop this frightful nightmare of torture committed in "his" name?

And may I answer for you, that he was where Moses was when the light went out?

Remember this: There will never be a solution to any of our fundamental problems, and mankind will never, in the full sense of the word, be free, as long as there exists in the human mind the insanity of religious belief. As long as God occupies a portion of our thoughts, mankind must be content to suffer the hatred and antagonism of man.

Let us make up our minds now, let us resolve now, to stop fighting one another, and fight God by helping one another.

Let us stop fighting our fellow prisoners and fellow sufferers, and fight God.

Let us help our fellow prisoners and fellow sufferers.

Let us cleanse our minds of this superstitious poison of an "after life," and work and labor for the good and welfare of Here and Now.

We possess the knowledge and the means and, within the span of only one day, could bring about the much-longed-for "Brotherhood of Man."

We could eliminate hatred from our hearts, and instill Justice as our guide. We could eradicate poverty from our midst and bring happiness to sorrowing mankind. We could blot out tyranny among men and exchange it for the priceless legacy of freedom and make the relation between man and man bear some semblance of humanity.

But--and I say this with redoubled conviction, and with all the power, force, energy and vehemence that I possess--if we are Nature's best endeavor, if man is Nature's best product, if the Natural world is incapable of any improvement, and life will forever be made to submit to the tyrannical conditions of Nature, then it were better ten thousand times over, that life were never called into existence, and that the universe were null and void!

THE END

EDISON LETTER TO JOSEPH LEWIS

* * * * *

_From the Laboratory of Thomas A. Edison, Orange, N.J._

August 18, 1921.

Mr. Joseph Lewis, c/o The Truth Publishing Co., 1400 Broadway, New
York City.

Dear Sir:--

I received your book--"The Tyranny of God"--and have read it
through. I think as you do that death ends all, yet I do not feel
certain, because there are many facts that seem to show that the
real units of life are not the animal mechanism itself, but groups
of millions of small entities living in the visible cells. The
animal being their mechanism for navigating the environment, and
when the mechanism fails to function, i.e. die, the groups go out
into space to go thru another cycle. The entities are each highly
organized and perform their allotted task. If there is anything
like this we still have a fighting chance. You have doubtless read
interviews I have given lately on this subject. They appeared in
the Scientific Monthly for October 30, 1920 and the Cosmopolitan
for May, 1920.

Yours very truly,

Thos A Edison

Famous Inventor Gives Views of Death and Immortality in Correspondence with Author of "The Tyranny of God."