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H.L. Mencken on Religion
No one ever argued more forcefully or with such acerbic wit against the foolish aspects of religion as H. L. Mencken (1880-1956). As a journalist, he gained national prominence through his newspaper columns describing the now-famous 1925 Scopes trial, which pitted Fundamentalists against a public school teacher who dared to teach evolution. But both before and after the Scopes trial, Mencken spent much of his career as a columnist and book reviewer lampooning the ignorant piety of gullible Americans.S. T. Joshi has brought together and organized many of Mencken's writings on religion in this provocative and entertaining collection. The articles here presented demonstrate that Mencken canvassed the entire range of religious phenomena of his time, from evangelists Billy Sunday and Aime Semple McPherson, to Christian Scientists, and theosophists and spiritualists. On a more serious note are his discussions of the philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche and the scientific worldview as a rival to religious belief. Also included are poignant autobiographical accounts of Mencken's own upbringing and his core beliefs on religion, ethics, and politics.If anything was sacred to Mencken, it was the right to speak one's mind freely, and many of his attacks are directed against those true believers who he felt tried to foist their beliefs on others to stifle independent thinking. For everyone who values freethought and sharp intelligence, this collection of articles by America's premier iconoclast is a must.
338 pages, Hardcover
First published June 1, 2002
19 people are currently reading
572 people want to read
About the author
H.L. Mencken
636 books728 followersHenry Louis "H.L." Mencken became one of the most influential and prolific journalists in America in the 1920s and '30s, writing about all the shams and con artists in the world. He attacked chiropractors and the Ku Klux Klan, politicians and other journalists. Most of all, he attacked Puritan morality. He called Puritanism, "the haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy."
At the height of his career, he edited and wrote for The American Mercury magazine and the Baltimore Sun newspaper, wrote a nationally syndicated newspaper column for the Chicago Tribune, and published two or three books every year. His masterpiece was one of the few books he wrote about something he loved, a book called The American Language (1919), a history and collection of American vernacular speech. It included a translation of the Declaration of Independence into American English that began, "When things get so balled up that the people of a country got to cut loose from some other country, and go it on their own hook, without asking no permission from nobody, excepting maybe God Almighty, then they ought to let everybody know why they done it, so that everybody can see they are not trying to put nothing over on nobody."
When asked what he would like for an epitaph, Mencken wrote, "If, after I depart this vale, you ever remember me and have thought to please my ghost, forgive some sinner and wink your eye at some homely girl."
(from American Public Media)
At the height of his career, he edited and wrote for The American Mercury magazine and the Baltimore Sun newspaper, wrote a nationally syndicated newspaper column for the Chicago Tribune, and published two or three books every year. His masterpiece was one of the few books he wrote about something he loved, a book called The American Language (1919), a history and collection of American vernacular speech. It included a translation of the Declaration of Independence into American English that began, "When things get so balled up that the people of a country got to cut loose from some other country, and go it on their own hook, without asking no permission from nobody, excepting maybe God Almighty, then they ought to let everybody know why they done it, so that everybody can see they are not trying to put nothing over on nobody."
When asked what he would like for an epitaph, Mencken wrote, "If, after I depart this vale, you ever remember me and have thought to please my ghost, forgive some sinner and wink your eye at some homely girl."
(from American Public Media)
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 21, 2012
It is necessary for me to give a synopsis of my personal religious views as way of full disclosure prior to giving a review. You should consider my statements in that context. I am an atheist, but a very pro Christian one. I think having faith usually makes people happier, and I wish I had it. I think the concept that supernatural forces created the universe is preposterous and it is ridiculous that an omnipotent being is aware or even cares about my activities – but I know very smart Christians who think I am a knucklehead. I am more likely than not to agree with politics of an evangelical preacher, though I think his religious judgment is delusional. We were founded as a Christian nation, and are better off for it. There I am with all my contradictions.
OK now for the review. H.L. Menken is brilliant. His vocabulary and his breadth of knowledge is expansive. His wit is cutting and spot on. He frankly ridicules religion. During his lambast he makes a good point, “There is, in fact, nothing about religious opinions that entitles them to any more respect than other opinions get.” But if religious opinions are the basis of an individual doing good works, should we kick sand.
Eventually I decided to put my conflicts aside and read this series of articles as a window to a sharp analytical mind. Religion needs a critic to keep the excesses in check, just like we need opposing political parties.
I say read this, but keep and open mind.
OK now for the review. H.L. Menken is brilliant. His vocabulary and his breadth of knowledge is expansive. His wit is cutting and spot on. He frankly ridicules religion. During his lambast he makes a good point, “There is, in fact, nothing about religious opinions that entitles them to any more respect than other opinions get.” But if religious opinions are the basis of an individual doing good works, should we kick sand.
Eventually I decided to put my conflicts aside and read this series of articles as a window to a sharp analytical mind. Religion needs a critic to keep the excesses in check, just like we need opposing political parties.
I say read this, but keep and open mind.
April 25, 2012
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE H.L. Mencken, and this is a great collection. His honesty, his wit, his snark (is that a noun?), his intellect, his humor--it's all here. I always enjoy reading his work and I always learn new words. I recommend this book for anyone who is contemptuous of religion or otherwise holds him or herself above the "common man."
March 4, 2008
Mencken is a journalist, but a journalist with a dry and biting humor that bleeds out of his writing. In this collection of his journalistic deeds, including the famous "Monkey Trial" coverage, he let's his sarcasm lose on the perhaps unsuspecting readers of The Baltimore Sun, The New Yorker, and other publications.
The book is organized by subject matter, the Scopes Trial having its own section. Each essay, being from a newspaper, is short enough to read quickly. So, if you want to read two or three, or grab a brew and read a few sections it doesn't matter.
I read this book 'on the side' of another (I can't remember which) with no problem. One of my favorite little tidbits is entitled "Vox Populi, Vox Dei" which is a list of "sins".
Mencken wrote in the 20's and 30's and so the book is also interesting from a historically social point of view which is just an added plus.
I think this is a good representation of Mencken as well as a good introduction and Joshi, being an outspoken atheist, adds to the literary flavor of this book. A good read: a couple of laughs and a lot of shaking your head at the idiocy that humanity sometimes is.
The book is organized by subject matter, the Scopes Trial having its own section. Each essay, being from a newspaper, is short enough to read quickly. So, if you want to read two or three, or grab a brew and read a few sections it doesn't matter.
I read this book 'on the side' of another (I can't remember which) with no problem. One of my favorite little tidbits is entitled "Vox Populi, Vox Dei" which is a list of "sins".
Mencken wrote in the 20's and 30's and so the book is also interesting from a historically social point of view which is just an added plus.
I think this is a good representation of Mencken as well as a good introduction and Joshi, being an outspoken atheist, adds to the literary flavor of this book. A good read: a couple of laughs and a lot of shaking your head at the idiocy that humanity sometimes is.
August 11, 2013
Put simply, Mencken is the foremost American badass. His wit, clear prose, and damning critiques make all of his writings a national treasure.
This compilation is particularly great. Mencken shits on each of the big three monotheistic religions, but devotes a majority of his attention to the organized religion which inflicted its wrath on the United States most profoundly during his time: Christianity.
Somewhat depressingly, Mencken's critique of Christianity in the American south and the rural Midwest is just as true today as it was when he wrote it. Thankfully, society seems to have moved in a direction in which most of the backwards laws with religious origins are either abolished or opposed by a good chunk of the populace(prohibition in particular comes to mind).
It's also worth noting that Mencken was remarkably ahead of his time. His support for blacks, women, and other persecuted groups wasn't acceptable in mainstream society until well after his death. It could be argued that he's still a step ahead of modern society.
I fully recommend this book to anyone who appreciates the good things in life: humor, facetiousness, and a heavy dose of iconoclasm.
This compilation is particularly great. Mencken shits on each of the big three monotheistic religions, but devotes a majority of his attention to the organized religion which inflicted its wrath on the United States most profoundly during his time: Christianity.
Somewhat depressingly, Mencken's critique of Christianity in the American south and the rural Midwest is just as true today as it was when he wrote it. Thankfully, society seems to have moved in a direction in which most of the backwards laws with religious origins are either abolished or opposed by a good chunk of the populace(prohibition in particular comes to mind).
It's also worth noting that Mencken was remarkably ahead of his time. His support for blacks, women, and other persecuted groups wasn't acceptable in mainstream society until well after his death. It could be argued that he's still a step ahead of modern society.
I fully recommend this book to anyone who appreciates the good things in life: humor, facetiousness, and a heavy dose of iconoclasm.
April 7, 2014
Best quote so far: "The meaning of religious freedom, I fear, is sometimes greatly misapprehended. It is taken to be a sort of immunity, not merely from governmental control but also from public opinion. A dunderhead gets himself a long-tailed coat, rises behind the sacred desk and emits such bilge as would gag a Hottentot. Is it to pass unchallenged? If so, then what we have is not religious freedom at all, but the most intolerable and outrageous variety of religious despotism. Any fool, once he is admitted to holy orders, becomes infallible. Any half-wit, by the simple device of ascribing his delusions to revelation, takes on an authority that is denied to all the rest of us."
August 13, 2009
I read this awhile back, but it wasn't in the good reads database when I joined. We really need someone like Mencken in the world today----someone who is bold and brilliant and can stick it to the self-righteous ones who think they have a handle on "truth".
March 25, 2015
Great read
September 11, 2025
Acerbic observations on religion by H. L. Mencken, American journalist, essayist, literary and social critic, and non-believer. I was particularly interested in his coverage of the Scopes trial in which he describes evangelical Fundamentalism, its biblical literalism, fervent anti-science position, bigotry, and theocratic authoritarian impulses. He describes the pervasive ignorance of fundamentalists who shun complex truths in favor a simple explanations even when they are nonsensical. They were written in 1925 but sadly also describe white Christian nationalist attitudes today.
November 4, 2013
My interest in Mencken started in January, when Anti-Intellectualism in American Life occasionally referred to him as who intellectuals were reading during the 20's and 30's, then again as a central character while reading Summer for the Gods (both highly-recommended books) What better way to get a picture of the 20's than through the lens of a popular intellectual journalist?
Mencken provides exactly that---a view into the 20's that is not only light-hearted and witty but touches on prohibition, the KKK, and the eccentricities of different Christian denominations.
He touches on the lack of quality political discourse and differentiation in the two-party system:
His criticism of religion is shallow but entertaining, in a Dawkins kind of way. Like Dawkins, Mencken expects that people will simply give up religion over time, particularly in an era where science was rapidly answering basic questions about the universe:
He pokes fun at religious extremism in Dayton, during the Scopes trial:
Mencken describes an exchange with a Dayton cop, the "captain in charge of the squad", who threatens to jail anyone teaching against religion for "disturbing the peace":
His criticism doesn't always stay focused on Dayton, but takes the rest of the country to task when appropriate, describing the lack of appreciation for subversive teachers:
This particular book is much longer than I had anticipated. It's worth reading for direct insight on the Scopes Trial or the period in general, but given that the book is published as a collection of newspaper writings, there's a lot of content that's better skimmed.
Mencken provides exactly that---a view into the 20's that is not only light-hearted and witty but touches on prohibition, the KKK, and the eccentricities of different Christian denominations.
He touches on the lack of quality political discourse and differentiation in the two-party system:
"A Democrat in Georgia believes precisely what a Republican in Kansas believes; if they continue to vote against one another it is only because they are too stupid to notice their complete agreement."
His criticism of religion is shallow but entertaining, in a Dawkins kind of way. Like Dawkins, Mencken expects that people will simply give up religion over time, particularly in an era where science was rapidly answering basic questions about the universe:
"To confess to a belief in [evangelical theology] today is to confess not only to stupidity, but also to a kind of malignancy---a delight in opposing decent ideas and harrowing honest men."
He pokes fun at religious extremism in Dayton, during the Scopes trial:
"It may seem fabulous, but it is a sober fact that a sound Episcopalian or even a Northern Methodist would be regarded as virtually an atheist in Dayton."
Mencken describes an exchange with a Dayton cop, the "captain in charge of the squad", who threatens to jail anyone teaching against religion for "disturbing the peace":
"'But suppose', I asked him, 'a prisoner is actually not disturbing the peace. Suppose he is simply saying his say in a quiet and orderly manner.'
'I'll arrest him anyhow,' said the cop.
'Even if no one complains of him?'
'I'll complain myself.'
'Under what law precisely?'
'We don't need no law for them kind of people.'"
His criticism doesn't always stay focused on Dayton, but takes the rest of the country to task when appropriate, describing the lack of appreciation for subversive teachers:
"Suppose a teacher in Kansas taught that prohibition was evil, or a teacher in New Jersey that it was virtuous. But I need not pile of suppositions. The evidence of what happens to such a contumacious teacher was spread before us copiously during the late uproar about Bolsheviks. And it was not in rural Tennessee but in the great cultural centers which now laugh at Tennessee that punishments came most swiftly, and were most barbarous. It was not Dayton but New York City that cashiered teachers for protesting against the obvious lies of the State Department."
This particular book is much longer than I had anticipated. It's worth reading for direct insight on the Scopes Trial or the period in general, but given that the book is published as a collection of newspaper writings, there's a lot of content that's better skimmed.
June 10, 2014
Why I am a great father:
a.) I made my eldest daughter think for herself one fine morning by offering forth satirical cross-examination deliberately contrived to be idiotic.
b.) After a brief discussion on the benefits of community college, my son now has visions of becoming a highly respectable gentleman of French origin who operates a men's hat store in West Baltimore.
c.) I offer forth the following to my children whenever I forget to pay the electrical bill: Sock Puppet Theatre: The Dramatis Personae of The Old Testament.
d.) I introduced all three of my children to a series of evangelists who practice in the alley behind Hollins Street.
e.) Armed with only semi-ecclesiastical robe of violent purple and vacuous voice I proceeded to negotiate a free game of bowling for my son provided that I pay for, in advance, seven additional games at regular price.
f.) In order to inspire equal respect and appreciation for all religions, on a carefree, lazy Saturday afternoon my children and I did rowel and bedevil only the pious.
a.) I made my eldest daughter think for herself one fine morning by offering forth satirical cross-examination deliberately contrived to be idiotic.
b.) After a brief discussion on the benefits of community college, my son now has visions of becoming a highly respectable gentleman of French origin who operates a men's hat store in West Baltimore.
c.) I offer forth the following to my children whenever I forget to pay the electrical bill: Sock Puppet Theatre: The Dramatis Personae of The Old Testament.
d.) I introduced all three of my children to a series of evangelists who practice in the alley behind Hollins Street.
e.) Armed with only semi-ecclesiastical robe of violent purple and vacuous voice I proceeded to negotiate a free game of bowling for my son provided that I pay for, in advance, seven additional games at regular price.
f.) In order to inspire equal respect and appreciation for all religions, on a carefree, lazy Saturday afternoon my children and I did rowel and bedevil only the pious.
February 4, 2016
It is interesting to read compilations like this to realise that there were actually many atheistic writers who wrote about religion (chiefly against religion) from the early 20th century. However, as such writers are anti-establishment, they are not as renown or their books as promoted as the religious ones. The name H L Mencken did not even register with me until I came across this compilation of his religion essays.
Mencken is a fine writer. But as most of the essays in this compilation were written for magazines and over a few decades, many of these essays feel repeated when read in such a compilation. This would not have been the case if Mencken has written an entire book on the subject, in which case the chapters will most likely not feel like repeats of earlier chapters.
The best essays are the first ones. Subsequent essays later in the book feel like rehashes of the earlier essays, and could be skipped. I won't recommend this book as not all the essays are of the same standard of excellence. For a book against religion, Richard Dawkins The God Delusion is much better read as it better structured than a compilation of essays.
Mencken is a fine writer. But as most of the essays in this compilation were written for magazines and over a few decades, many of these essays feel repeated when read in such a compilation. This would not have been the case if Mencken has written an entire book on the subject, in which case the chapters will most likely not feel like repeats of earlier chapters.
The best essays are the first ones. Subsequent essays later in the book feel like rehashes of the earlier essays, and could be skipped. I won't recommend this book as not all the essays are of the same standard of excellence. For a book against religion, Richard Dawkins The God Delusion is much better read as it better structured than a compilation of essays.
October 14, 2008
I had heard about H.L. Mencken from various sources so I decided to pick up this book. His sentiments on religion are pragmatic. He realizes that most people do not have the mental capacity to live their lives without some form of religion and therefore eradication is untenable.
He has quite the sense of humor also. For example he states persuading someone away from religion is the equivalent of a husband taking advice to stop beating his wife. In other words the husband should have figured that out on his own.
A large portion of the book is dedicated to his reporting on the Scopes trial. I found this topic particularly interesting in light of recent Intelligent Design movements. Also worth mentioning is his analysis of Prohibition and its ties to the Klan and Baptists. Definitely a perspective of history not taught in school.
He has quite the sense of humor also. For example he states persuading someone away from religion is the equivalent of a husband taking advice to stop beating his wife. In other words the husband should have figured that out on his own.
A large portion of the book is dedicated to his reporting on the Scopes trial. I found this topic particularly interesting in light of recent Intelligent Design movements. Also worth mentioning is his analysis of Prohibition and its ties to the Klan and Baptists. Definitely a perspective of history not taught in school.
December 24, 2009
Well-done polemic. Entertaining to read even when one disagrees, which in my case is more often than not.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews