A utopian radical

Modern Age, Wntr-Spring, 2004 by Barry Alan Shain

Most important for Mill, in what he viewed as a two-step process, destruction first and reconstruction next, was the eradication of Christianity and its replacement with a new religion of man. Accordingly, Hamburger devotes the middle four chapters of his book to exploring with great care these central planks in Mill's revolutionary strategy.

For Mill, Christianity was simultaneously the teacher of selfishness--for him the most serious character flaw that must be overcome--and of self-abnegation. These two otherwise incompatible criticisms are not in tension for Mill because for him true individuality is expressed through altruism. Thus, Christianity is destructive of both sociability and individuality. Mill, of course, was able to take this position because of his utter lack of acquaintance with human nature--most particularly normally sexed men. (4) Given his view of human nature as being absolutely plastic, Mill could believe that if Christianity were to be eradicated and replaced with a "religion of man," then men could be taught to love themselves in others and, thus, become fully altruistic.

Unlike most Victorians who were unbelievers but who believed that Christianity was a salutary myth, for Mill it was above all Christianity that stood in the way of human progress. Its eradication, then, was essential, and this could best be accomplished by attacking its dogmas in a world of free thought and discussion. "Mill expected that 'real freedom of speculation' would have the effect of 'making [all persons] unbelievers.'" In short, his goal was to embarrass and discredit Christianity into oblivion through open discussion and debate; thus, the necessary defense of the freedom of thought and discussion--as an instrumental rather than an intrinsic good.

Less convincing is Hamburger's unwillingness to concede that, in a certain sense, Mill himself can be described as some kind of Christian along the lines of, say, contemporary Unitarians. Mill, in his life, resembles a Christian monk whom God has abandoned. Yet his ascetic life was still devoted to service, in this case, to mankind. Was not Mill, in truth, prescient in his teachings? Has not Christianity become ever more human-centered since Mill? Today, is it not the case that most elite Christians view the Second Tablet of the Ten Commandments as the only one worthy of attention? Do they not love God primarily in light of their love of man? Quite possibly, then, in spite of his evident hatred of organized Christianity, Hamburger might have taken more seriously Mill's embrace of Jesus the man--and the possibility that Mill, somewhat like Locke in his "Letter on Toleration," was marking out the boundaries of Christianity's future--one in which the love of man replaces the love of God. How ironic it would be if Mill has accomplished his goal of destroying theocentric Christianity, but only by working from within Christianity (and Judaism as well) rather than from without.

What does demand further explanation, in a work exalting candor, is Mill's belief that he needed to keep his views on Christianity concealed. Here again, Hamburger's remarkable scholarship convincingly demonstrates that Mill believed that he must not reveal in his published works his true thoughts, so amply displayed in letters and essays read by a close circle of friends. Mill feared social ostracism and possibly criminal prosecution, to be sure, but more importantly he wanted to retain his readership. If books were capable of instigating revolutionary action, to do so they must be read. Mill realized that if he were to write openly about his utopianism and his hatred of Christianity, he might well be relegated to the trash heap of history, upon which most written works eventually land. He wanted to be read because he wanted to guide future intellectuals in their efforts to replace the culture of stunted and dwarfed human beings dedicated to "miserable individuality" with that of true individuality and fellow-feeling. In the words of Harriet, she and Mill wanted their words to serve as pemmican to the cultural warriors of the future. To do so required circumspection concerning Christianity.