If we go back to the beginning,
we shall find
that ignorance
and fear
created the gods;
that fancy, enthusiasm,
or deceit
adorned them;
that weakness worships them;
that credulity preserves them
and that custom, respect and tyranny support them
in order to make
the blindness
of men
serve their own interests.
If the ignorance of nature
gave birth to gods,
the knowledge
of nature
is calculated
to destroy them.

- Baron D’Holbach