Posted by Jonah on August 22, 2000 at 17:36:22:

In Reply to: Voltaire posted by dale malner on August 22, 2000 at 11:01:16:

Hi. I found two references.

Promulgation Universal Peace, page 414:

...Such an attitude as
this would cause the enmity of many centuries to pass away. If we
declare that Moses was the Prophet of God and that His Book was the law
of God, does it harm our religious standpoint? Not at all. Furthermore,
every nation is proud of its great men and heroes even though those
great ones may have been atheists or agnostics. Today France glorifies
Napoleon Bonaparte, saying, "He was a French military genius," whereas,
in reality, he was a tyrant. They say, "Voltaire was ours," although
Voltaire was an atheist. "Rousseau was a great man of this nation," and
yet Rousseau was irreligious. France is proud of these great men. Feasts
are held commemorating them, their names are perpetuated in special
days, their memories treasured in prominent places, and there is music
and celebration in their honor. The nation is proud of them....

Secret Divine Civilization, pages 72 and 75:

...It is true that there are foolish individuals who have never properly
examined the fundamentals of the Divine religions, who have taken as
their criterion the behavior of a few religious hypocrites and measured
all religious persons by that yardstick, and have on this account
concluded that religions are an obstacle to progress, a divisive factor
and a cause of malevolence and enmity among peoples. They have not even observed this much, that the principles of the Divine religions can
hardly be evaluated by the acts of those who only claim to follow them.
For every excellent thing, peerless though it may be, can still be
diverted to the wrong ends. A lighted lamp in the hands of an ignorant
child or of the blind will not dispel the surrounding darkness nor light
up the house--it will set both the bearer and the house on fire. Can we,
in such an instance, blame the lamp? No, by the Lord God! To the seeing,
a lamp is a guide and will show him his path; but it is a disaster to
the blind.

...Among those who have repudiated religious faith was the Frenchman,
Voltaire, who wrote a great number of books attacking the religions,
works which are no better than children's playthings. This individual,
taking as his criterion the omissions and commissions of the Pope, the
head of the Roman Catholic religion, and the intrigues and quarrels of
the spiritual leaders of Christendom, opened his mouth and caviled at the Spirit of God (Jesus).
In the unsoundness of his reasoning, he failed to grasp the true
significance of the sacred Scriptures, took exception to certain
portions of the revealed Texts and dwelt on the difficulties involved.
"And We send down of the Qur'an that which is a healing and a mercy to
the faithful: But it shall only add to the ruin of the wicked."

...

...The events that transpired at the advent of the Prophets of the past,
and Their ways and works and circumstances, are not adequately set down in authoritative histories, and are referred to only in condensed form
in the verses of the Qur'an, the Holy Traditions and the Torah. Since,
however, all events from the days of Moses until the present time are
contained in the mighty Qur'an, the authoritative Traditions, the Torah and other reliable sources, We shall content Ourself with brief references here, the purpose being to determine conclusively whether religion is the very basis and root-principle of culture and civilization, or whether as
Voltaire and his like suppose, it defeats all social progress,
well-being and peace.

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