If Mankind Had Always Been Logical And

For Extending Its Sway, Partly By Force Of Arms, Partly By The Voluntary Submission Of Weaker Tribes, The Community Soon Acquires Wealth And Slaves, Both Of Which, By Relieving Some Classes From The Perpetual Struggle For A Bare Subsistence, Afford Them An Opportunity Of Devoting Themselves To That Disinterested Pursuit Of Knowledge Which Is The Noblest And Most Powerful Instrument To Ameliorate The Lot Of Man.

For When A Nation Becomes Civilized, If It Does Not Drop Human Sacrifices Altogether, It At Least Selects As Victims Only Such Wretches As Would Be Put To Death At Any Rate. Thus The Killing Of A God May Sometimes Come To Be Confounded With The Execution Of A Criminal.

Yet It Would Be Unfair To The Generality Of Our Kind To Ascribe To Their Intellectual And Moral Weakness The Gradual Divergence Of Buddhism And Christianity From Their Primitive Patterns. For It Should Not Be Forgotten That By Their Glorification Of Poverty And Celibacy Both These Religions Struck Straight At The Root Not Merely Of Civil Society But Of Human Existence. The Blow Was Parried By The Wisdom Or The Folly Of The Vast Majority Of Mankind, Who Refused To Purchase A Chance Of Saving Their Souls With The Certainty Of Extinguishing The Species.

By Religion, Then, I Understand A Propitiation Or Conciliation Of Powers Superior To Man Which Are Believed To Direct And Control The Course Of Nature And Of Human Life.

The Scapegoat Upon Whom The Sins Of The People Are Periodically Laid, May Also Be A Human Being.