The Gods An honest God is the Noblest Work of Man.
Each nation has created a god, and the god has always resembled his creators. He hated and loved what they hated and loved, and he was invariably found on the side of those in power. Each god was intensely patriotic, and detested all nations but his own. All these gods demanded praise, flattery, and worship. Most of them were pleased with sacrifice, and the smell of innocent blood has ever been considered a divine perfume. All these gods have insisted upon having a vast number of priests, and the priests have always insisted upon being supported by the people, and the principal business of these priests has been to boast about their god, and to insist that he could easily vanquish all the other gods put together.
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Poster Comment:
So begins Ingersoll's great piece, which is a pleasure to read aloud.
Ingersoll's focus later in the piece is the Bible, and Christianity, IMO one of the religions least deserving of criticism.
His first sentence -- "Each nation has created a god, and the god has always resembled his creators" -- is very powerful. He then proceeds to discuss commonalities.
But his premise is just as powerful in the illumination of differences between the peoples of the book, in the ways they relate to themselves and to others.