GOD AND MY NEIGHBOUR




THE SIN OF UNBELIEF


Huxley quotes with satirical gusto Dr. Wace's declaration as to the
word "Infidel." Said Dr. Wace: "The word infidel, perhaps, carries
an unpleasant significance. Perhaps it is right that it should. It
is, and it ought to be, an unpleasant thing for a man to have to say
plainly that he does not believe in Jesus Christ."

Be it pleasant or unpleasant to be an unbeliever, one thing is quite
clear: religious people intend the word Infidel to carry "an unpleasant
significance" when they apply to it one. It is in their minds a term
of reproach. Because they think it is _wicked_ to deny what they believe.

To call a man an Infidel, then, is tacitly to accuse him of a kind
of moral turpitude.

But a little while ago, to be an Infidel was to be socially taboo.
But a little while earlier, to be an Infidel was to be persecuted.
But a little earlier still, to be an Infidel was to be an outlaw,