The remedy is to be sought first in the destruction of the priest [the systemic priesthood: religious, governmental and business]; we are not mere destructives; we delight not in pulling down; but the bad must be removed before the good can be introduced; conviction and repentance precede regeneration; moreover we are Christians, and it is only by following out the Christian law, and the example of the early Christians, that we can hope to effect anything; Christianity is the sublimest protest against the priesthood ever uttered ... in the person of [Christ] Jesus both God and Man protested against the priesthood -- we may offend in what we say, but we cannot help that; we insist upon it, that the complete and final destruction of the priestly order, in every practical sense of the word priest, is the first step to be taken towards elevating the laboring classes ... He who redeemed man did not spring from the priestly class ... the chief priests were at the head of those who demanded his crucifixion ...
Let us have no class of men whose profession it is to minister at the altar [the altar of power and commerce]; let us leave this matter to Providence; when God raises up a prophet, let that prophet prophesy as God gives him utterance ... let us have none to prophesy for hire [prophets for profit] ... none of your hireling priests, your "dumb dogs" that will not bark ... what are the priests of Christendom as they now are?; miserable panderers to the prejudices of the age, loud in condemning sins nobody is guilty of, but silent as the grave when it concerns the crying sin of the times ... the next step in this work of elevating the working classes will be to resuscitate the Christianity of Christ; the Christianity of the Church has done its work; we have had enough of that Christianity ...
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