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THOMAS PAINE – THE AGE OF REASON

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At the beginning of Part I of the Age of Reason, Thomas Paine lays out his personal creed:

“I believe in one God, and no more; and I hope for happiness beyond this life.

“I believe in the equality of man; and I believe that religious duties consist in doing justice, loving mercy, and endeavouring to make our fellow-creatures happy.But, lest it should be supposed that I believe many other things in addition to these, I shall, in the progress of this work, declare the things I do not believe, and my reasons for not believing them.I do not believe in the creed professed by the Jewish Church, by the Roman Church, by the Greek Church, by the Turkish Church, by the Protestant Church, nor by any church that I know of. My own mind is my own church.All national institutions of churches, whether Jewish, Christian or Turkish, appear to me no other than human inventions, set up to terrify and enslave mankind, and monopolize power and profit.I do not mean by this declaration to condemn those who believe otherwise; they have the same right to their belief as I have to mine. But it is necessary to the happiness of man that he be mentally faithful to himself. Infidelity does not consist in believing, or in disbelieving; it consists in professing to believe what he does not believe.”

Thomas Paine, 1794

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POSSIBILITIES

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BARRIERSMohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was the preeminent leader of Indian independence movement in British-ruled India. Employing nonviolent civil disobedience, Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.  The term Indian Independence Movement encompasses activities and ideas aiming to end first the company rule (East India Company), and then the rule of the British.

Mohandas Gandhi’s storied history of resistance included many stints in jail, starting with a two-month imprisonment in 1907 in South Africa, where he was working to end discrimination against Indians living there. He was arrested for urging them to ignore a law requiring Indians to be registered and fingerprinted. While in jail, Gandhi read Henry David Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience”, which would become a major part of his philosophy upon his return to India. Back in his home country, Gandhi was put behind bars several times for his movement to end British rule. In 1922 he was tried for the last time by the British government for “bringing or attempting to excite disaffection towards His Majesty’s Government established by law in British India.” He pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to six years, of which he served two before being released for an emergency appendectomy. India achieved independence on Aug. 15, 1947, five months before Gandhi was assassinated.

Gandhi preached rebellion, launched mass civil disobedience and was repeatedly jailed. When arrested, he pleaded guilty and asked for the severest punishment. In South Africa, the charge against him and his co-workers was proved by witnesses furnished by him. The horror, shame and hardship of jail life, originally a punishment allotted to criminals, scared the Indians. Gandhi removed this fear from their hearts. He was jailed eleven times. Once he was arrested three times within four days. If he had to complete all his jail terms, he would have spent 11 years and 19 days in jail. Occasionally his punishment was reduced and and he altogether spent 6 years and 10 months in prison. At the age of 39, he first entered a jail. He came out of the prison gates for the last time when he was 75.

On 14 and 15 August 1947 the Indian Independence Act was invoked.