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Waldo Emerson was a—Yes, he went by Waldo, not his first name Ralph—was a writer, lecturer, philosopher, and abolitionist in 19th century America. He also led the transcendentalist movement, which believed that people were inherently good. But when he gave a graduation speech at Harvard Divinity School, his alma mater, saying that human moral intuition was a better guide for how not to be a dick than religious doctrine was, people were fucking pissed.
--On This Day in History, Shit Went Down: July 15, 1838--
“In this refulgent summer,” he began his address. Fuck. Off to google. It means “shining brightly.” Okay. Then he goes on about how awesome nature is for a bit, and man is but a child under the “almost spiritual rays” of the stars. Seems pretty harmless so far. But transcendentalism is about self-reliance and independence, and institutions that make their tax-free income off telling you how to live their lives don’t like that kind of shit.
Emerson had been a Unitarian minister, and at the time Harvard was the center of academic Unitarian thought. What’s Unitarianism? It’s when someone says they’re Christian but Jesus ain’t God. Fuck the holy trinity. One God! Jesus was just, like, inspired and shit, but not a god. A messenger. Kinda like Mohammed. Unitarians are also against original sin and predestination and say hey the Bible is actually not infallible. But on July 15, 1838, Waldo took shit too far.
He said humans can intuit what is good and what is bad. Acts of good or evil are instantly internally rewarded or punished by the actors themselves, regardless of what external reactions, reward or punishment, result. I don’t totally agree with that, because it assumes that humans aren’t a bunch of selfish cockwaffles. But where he really pissed people off was where he basically said that man is God regarding his inward virtue. Not only that, but he said that since the human soul can elevate itself, then itdecides if it goes to heaven or hell. Oh, he also said the church’s preaching sucked. He accused the ministers of lifelessness, saying it is done in a “vulgar tone” and “they make his [Jesus’s] gospel not glad.” Oh, no! Not not glad!
And I’m sure a lot of religious Americans in 1838 who just finished their degrees in divinity were nodding their heads and clapping their hands. Heh. Right.
Nah they were all like fuck you dude. You’re a fucking atheist. FYI, calling someone an atheist in 1838 ‘murica was a major insult. The Christian Examiner, which was the main Unitarian mag, said Emerson’s speech—the parts it considered intelligible—was “utterly distasteful” and “neither good divinity nor good sense.” Others said he poisoned young men’s minds, and even his former mentor shit on him in a sermon.
Because of his promotion of secular spirituality, and his rejection of superstition and dogma that was a foundation of most religions across the eons, Emerson was banned from speaking at Harvard for three decades. Dude was too ahead of his time for those folks.
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