美国语文第五册 第260期:宗教 社会的唯一基石(2)

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　　that there is no recompense for sacrifices to uprightness and the public good; 为正义与公众事业奉献牺牲的人无法获取补偿。

　　that an oath is unheard in heaven; that secret crimes have no witness but the perpetrator; 天空不再听到铿锵誓言，作恶多端者无人为其犯罪指证，

　　that human existence has no purpose, and human virtue³ no unfailing friend; 人类生存没有目标，人类美德没有始终如一的支持，

　　that this brief life is everything to us, and death is total, everlasting⁴ extinction⁵; 有信仰的生活对我们来说意味一切，然而死亡最终来临，象征永恒的万劫不归，

　　once let them thoroughly⁶ abandon religion, and who can conceive or describe the extent of the desolation which would follow? 一旦彻底放弃宗教，谁能想象抑或描述接踵而来孤独寂灭的人类精神荒原？

　　We hope, perhaps, that human laws and natural sympathy would hold society together. 我们寄望，或许，人类法则和本性悲悯可以促进整个社会凝聚抱团。

　　As reasonably might we believe that were the sun quenched⁷ in the heavens, our torches would illuminate⁸, 不妨合乎情理地设想一下，如果天空中太阳最终熄灭，

　　and our fires quicken and fertilize⁹ the creation. 人类火炬能否持久发光？

　　What is there in human nature to awaken¹⁰ respect and tenderness, 人类光明能否孕育世间万物生长？

　　if man is the unprotected insect of a day? And what is he more, if atheism¹¹ be true? 如果，无神论确实可信，或者人类沦为不受保护的一介虫豸，那么，究竟什么可以唤醒人类本性或心底蛰伏的生命尊重与脉脉温情？

　　Erase¹² all thought and fear of God from a community, and selfishness and sensuality would absorb the whole man. 泯灭所有思想，消除社会群体对上帝的敬畏，沉溺于声色犬马的物质享受，整个人类离彻底堕落亦就为期不远。

　　Appetite, knowing no restraint, and suffering, having no solace¹³ or hope, would trample¹⁴ in scorn on the restraints of human laws. 不知自我约束的贪婪欲望，毫无安慰祈盼的逆来顺受，势必轻蔑地践踏人类法律的底线。

　　Virtue, duty, principle, would be mocked and spurned¹⁵ as unmeaning sounds. 良好美德、责任担当以及普世原则将任由嘲弄蔑视并随意抛弃，

　　A sordid¹⁶ self-interest would supplant¹⁷ every feeling; 肮脏卑劣地追求自身利益更是肆意剔除每一个体的真实情感，

　　and man would become, in fact, what the theory in atheism declares him to be,—a companion for brutes¹⁸. 事实上，正如无神论理论公开宣称的，人类无疑终将沦与禽兽为伍。

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