Free Political Propositions

It is now nothing if not all too evident and true that all this contemporary Jewish and Papal use of old and worn-out book-languages serves no other purpose than to hoodwink the public and, consequently, to deceive them easily. Through a common language in any part of the world, the most widely used—such as, for example, French in Europe—must be set forth and taught to young and old most readily and inexpensively, and to female as well as male persons, daughters and sons, in order to induce and instruct them perfectly in speaking, reading, and writing. The young, whose usage is still found to be far too weak and tender to be able to grasp and understand all the objectives, contents, and force of the laws, must be so affected by respect and by ceremonies and good impressions that lead to good morals, and by rules of firm and equal freedom, that, when they reach the years of discretion, they may very readily and easily arrive at the understanding and observance of all that is required for an equally shared freedom and for the commonwealth. And to perform this most surely, all deceit or superstitions and superstitious indoctrination must be carefully avoided regarding the young as well as adult persons, as the most dangerous cliff of stubbornness. For superstition is the only cliff of a stubborn arrogance, against which most outstanding minds in this world, up until now, can be said to have thoughtlessly run aground and perished. With regard to this, one must also strive, most surely, to induce and make understood that the mutual interests and worthy well-being of soul and body, concerning a commonwealth, can never conflict nor be able to conflict. They must always be directed and steered toward mutual strengthening. And therefore, whenever someone, through arrogance and the drift of a self-adopted opinion, would want to teach, drive, and pursue absolutely that one must cast aside all mutual strengthening and well-being of the body in order to obtain the eternal preservation and welfare of our souls, I would judge that such a person must be seen as a harmful instrument and, in some measure, a destroyer of the commonwealth, and consequently, with the greatest oversight, must be countered most speedily and, according to the circumstances, either curbed or suppressed. But regarding all other opinionated impulses not directly conflicting with the observance, support, and strengthening of a commonwealth, I would consider a complete freedom of the use of reason sufficient to cause them all, in time, most conveniently and safely to disappear and die out for the common benefit and well-being. For the same free use of reason, as the foundation of a commonwealth and of equally shared freedom, shall not only be found powerful for the destruction of any particular, unfounded loose opinions and impulses, but even for the full destruction of all pretended highest authorities of human writings and propositions, whenever they shall be found to conflict directly with undeniable reason, the true standard of a commonwealth, and equally shared freedom. With this, namely undeniable and consequently divine reason, I shall then further strive, as best I can and now immediately, to investigate how, among a gathering of people, the commonwealth shall be able, most surely and safely,