H.L. Mencken as an Antitheist

H.L. Mencken was a noteworthy journalist, essayist, editor, social commentator, antitheist and cynic of the late 19th and early 20th century. He has lived on through his writings and quotes on many issues of his time and issues that still exist today. One of those issues is that of religion and most of the other issues that stem from it. H.L. Mencken's approach to religion was much like his approach to everything else - unforgiving. Please note that the quotes in this article that come from H.L. Mencken do not necessarily reflect the views of this writer. Mencken was, if anything, quite politically incorrect.

H.L. or Henry Louis Mencken was born in Baltimore, Maryland (1880) and there he put forth most of his effort as a writer. He began his career in journalism in 1899, when he began writing for the Baltimore Morning Herald. Seven years later, he began writing for the Baltimore Sun, for which he contributed his editorial and journalistic skills until a stroke rendered him unable to write in 1948. Between 1899 and 1948, H.L. Mencken made his opinion about religion, and just about everything else, known to the world. He also made it abundantly clear that he thought very highly of his own opinion. Right or wrong, and he was always one or the other depending on who you talked to, he delivered his point and made no apologies just like any great journalist.

A stranger to religion, H.L. Mencken was not. As a child, he went to church and attended Sunday school. When he was older, he would describe the reasoning behind this as his father's need for a nap. His father was not a religious man, so Henry may not have been far from the truth. However, one must presume that his mother was religious for Mencken to have been attending church as a child. As an adult, he said that this world could not have been the result of creation by one omnipotent god. He thought that only something alone the lines of a "committee of incompetent gods" or none could have made this mess. If one were to judge by that quote, Mencken was not an atheist, but an agnostic. That does not change the fact that he was antitheist.

H.L. Mencken made many remarks about religion, particularly fundamentalist Christianity, that were rather derogatory. He said this about fundamentalists, "no amount of proof of the falsity of their beliefs will have the slightest influence on them." He went on to remark upon Genesis (the tale of the "creation," which is viewed by some as metaphorical, but that fundamentalists take literally). He said that Genesis contains "cosmogony so simple that even a yokel can grasp it." He must have been grinning ear to ear when he got the opportunity to cover the religion-related trial of the century - the Scopes Trial. No doubt, he was prepared to deride at least half of the individuals involved in the proceedings and that he did.

The Scopes Trial or The State of Tennessee vs. John Scopes (1925) was something of a legal circus. A 24-year-old teacher by the name of John Scopes admitted to teaching evolution in a biology class (it was in the textbook). At the time, there were many people gunning for creation-only curriculums. So, John Scopes was brought to trial. His defense consisted of several men, including Clarence Darrow, whose name is now forever linked to the case. The prosecuting team had the help of William Jennings Bryan, a three-time presidential candidate, orator, lawyer and deeply religious man. Mencken was scathing in his reports of Bryan, whom he referred to as a "buffoon", but had nary a bad word for Mr. Darrow. He spoke of the spectators as the "morons in the audience." Mencken was in his prime during the Scopes Trial, which he said had "something of the air of a religious orgy.

After his stroke, H.L. Mencken could scarcely communicate, let alone write. He spent his last years getting his affairs in order. He died in bed in January of 1956. Let us leave off with some of his more derisive quotes on religion.

"He [a clergyman] gets his living by assuring idiots that he can save them from an imaginary hell."

"The scientist who yields anything to theology, however slight, is yielding to ignorance and false pretenses."

Sources

H.L. Mencken, retrieved 1/7/11, cooperativeindividualism.org/menckenbio.html