 Russell sums up his views about religion quite plainly: “My own view on religion is that of Lucretius. I regard it as a disease born of fear and as a source of untold misery to the human race” (A1957, 18). According to Russell, not only are most religious beliefs intellectually and morally pernicious, the religious point of view itself “is a conception quite unworthy of free men” (A1957, 17). Throughout his life, Russell thus put significant effort into opposing religious ideas and institutions of all kinds. As he reports in his Autobiography, upon arriving at Brixton Prison in 1918, “I was much cheered on my arrival by the warder at the gate, who had to take particulars about me. He asked my religion, and I replied ‘agnostic.’ He asked how to spell it, and remarked with a sigh: ‘Well, there are many religions, but I suppose they all worship the same God.’ This remark kept me cheerful for about a week” (1968, 34). 