[fureverywhere] To treat with Voltaire for a bit...I have his rare "Pocket Theology". This little (4"x3") vest pocket book, (123pgs),is an alphabetical listing of Xtian figures, biblical lore, and religious terminology rendered with the exquisite satire which only a Voltaire could write. Oddly, the book has no date and was published in Kansas...of all places!! It must be quite old, to judge by the paper, and also by the fact that it originally sold for a mere ten cents!
Here are two of many entries under letter 'B'.
BRAINS: 'a good Xtian should have no brains, or at least the less he has of them the better. With the help of preceptors, confessors, and convents, Xtian parents can have the brains of their offspring reduced to the smallest volume".
BLOOD: "the church abhors the sight of blood. She would faint at the sight of a single drop, but has no objection to it being shed in torrents by the magistrates, the hangmen, and the Army, who are her surgeon-in-chiefs".
The book was a gift from an old friend, long gone, [sigh] , who was a Jesuit priest for over twenty yrs., until resigning his orders. To the end he felt guilt at having been duped for so long. He left me the letter of resignation to his bishop. I treasure both these documents not only for sentimental value, but as an example of the power of books to stimulate 'critical thought', demolish superstition, and raise the intellect.
PS) my library is quite humble now...only several hundred volumes.
