"The ancient Poets animated all sensible objects with Gods..."

[Zenlitened]

The ancient Poets animated all sensible objects with Gods or
Geniuses calling them by the names and adorning them with the
properties of woods, rivers, mountains, lakes, cities, nations,
and whatever their enlarged & numerous senses could percieve.

And particularly they studied the genius of each city &
country. placing it under its mental deity.
Till a system was formed, which some took advantage of &
enslav'd the vulgar by attempting to realize or abstract the
mental deities from their objects: thus began Priesthood.
Choosing forms of worship from poetic tales.

And at length they pronounced that the Gods had orderd such things.
Thus men forgot that All deities reside in the human breast.

                                                      William Blake

[beam me up scottie]

1. .

"Thomas Paine had passed the legendary limit of life. One by one most of his old friends and acquaintances had deserted him. Maligned on every side, execrated, shunned and abhorred -- his virtues denounced as vices -- his services forgotten -- his character blackened, he preserved the poise and balance of his soul. He was a victim of the people, but his convictions remained unshaken. He was still a soldier in the army of freedom, and still tried to enlighten and civilize those who were impatiently waiting for his death, Even those who loved their enemies hated him, their friend -- the friend of the whole world -- with all their hearts.

On the 8th of June, 1809, death came -- Death, almost his only friend.

At his funeral no pomp, no pageantry, no civic procession, no military display. In a carriage, a woman and her son who had lived on the bounty of the dead -- on horseback, a Quaker, the humanity of whose heart dominated the creed of his head -- and, following on foot, two negroes filled with gratitude -- constituted the funeral cortege of Thomas Paine."

Robert Ingersoll

[Zenlitened]

4. One of the most instrumental people in our nation's history...

... and that's how he was treated at the end? Ugh. Was it because of his atheism?

[beam me up scottie]

5. That's what I've read

and I also think he was seen as a threat to the establishment.
Heartbreaking isn't it?
Your post reminded me of the way society views free thinkers.

[Zenlitened]

6. Sad thing is, he was probably more a deist than an atheist

His "crime" seems to have been daring to criticize the priest-caste. This is an excerpt from Age of Reason:

I believe in one God, and no more; and I hope for happiness beyond this life.

I believe in the equality of man; and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavoring to make our fellow-creatures happy.

But, lest it should be supposed that I believe in many other things in addition to these, I shall, in the progress of this work, declare the things I do not believe, and my reasons for not believing them.

I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish church, by the Roman church, by the Greek church, by the Turkish church, by the Protestant church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church.

All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.

I do not mean by this declaration to condemn those who believe otherwise; they have the same right to their belief as I have to mine. But it is necessary to the happiness of man, that he be mentally faithful to himself. Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving; it consists in professing to believe what he does not believe.

It is impossible to calculate the moral mischief, if I may so express it, that mental lying has produced in society. When a man has so far corrupted and prostituted the chastity of his mind, as to subscribe his professional belief to things he does not believe, he has prepared himself for the commission of every other crime. He takes up the trade of a priest for the sake of gain, and in order to qualify himself for that trade, he begins with a perjury. Can we conceive any thing more destructive to morality than this?

More:
http://www.ushistory.org/paine/reason/reason1.htm

His complete writings are online -- what a great resource!

http://www.ushistory.org/paine/

[onager]

2. Then we had those OTHER ancient poets...

Damn non-believin' troublemakers. And if Xians had existed in their time, I bet they would have bashed 'em!

"The world holds two classes of men--intelligent men without religion, and religious men without intelligence."--Abu al-Ala Ahmad Ibn Abd Allah al-Maari (973-1057), Syrian poet

"Rest brother rest. Have you done ill or well?
Rest, rest, there is no god, or gods, who dwell,
Crowned with avenging righteousness on high
Nor frowning ministers of their hate in hell..."--Lucretius (99-55 BCE), Roman poet

"Open your mouth and shut your eyes, and see what Zeus shall send you...Shrines! Shrines! Surely you don't believe in the gods! What's your argument? Where's your proof?"--Aristophanes (448-380 BCE), Athenian comic poet

"Religion is regarded by the common people as true, by the wise as false, and by the rulers as useful."--Seneca (4 BCE-65 CE), Roman dramatist and philosopher

(All quotes are from "2000 Years Of Disbelief" by James Haught)

[Zenlitened]

3. Wow! Those are great quotes.

I'll have to look for that book. Thanks! :hi: