Comments

  1. says

    You might also like these Mencken quotes:

    “There is no possibility whatsoever of reconciling science and theology, at least in Christendom. Either Jesus rose from the dead or he didn’t. If he did, then Christianity becomes plausible; if he did not, then it is sheer nonsense. I defy any genuine scientist to say that he believes in the Resurrection, or indeed in any other cardinal dogma of the Christian system.
    — H. L. Mencken

    Faith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable…. A man full of faith is simply one who has lost (or never had) the capacity for clear and realistic thought. He is not a mere ass: he is actually ill.
    — H. L. Mencken

    Isn’t he great?!

  2. stevie_nyc says

    If there is any one thing that proves the need of seperation of church from state it’s George Bush. Wish we could seperate him from the state.

    You really do have to ignore reality and have a whole lot of faith to think he’s a great president. Disproves the whole “i just have to have faith in my covictions” crap.

  3. says

    Apropos Mencken quotes are legion:

    The capacity of human beings to bore one another seems to be vastly
    greater than that of any other animals. Some of their most esteemed
    inventions have no other apparent purpose, for example, the dinner party
    of more than two, the epic poem, and the science of metaphysics.

    Faith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief in the occurence of the
    improbable.

    The truth is that Christian theology, like every other theology, is not only
    opposed to the scientific spirit; it is also opposed to all other attempts
    at rational thinking. Not by accident does Genesis 3 make the father of
    knowledge a serpent — slimy, sneaking and abominable. Since the earliest
    days the church as an organization has thrown itself violently against every
    effort to liberate the body and mind of man. It has been, at all times and
    everywhere, the habitual and incorrigible defender of bad governments, bad
    laws, bad social theories, bad institutions. It was, for centuries, an
    apologist for slavery, as it was the apologist for the divine right of kings.

    The evidence of the emotions, save in cases where it has strong objective
    support, is really no evidence at all, for every recognizable emotion has
    its opposite, and if one points one way then another points the other way.
    Thus the familiar argument that there is an instinctive desire for immortality,
    and that this desire proves it to be a fact, becomes puerile when it is
    recalled that there is also a powerful and widespread fear of annihilation,
    and that this fear, on the same principle proves that there is nothing
    beyond the grave. Such childish “proofs” are typically theological, and
    they remain theological even when they are adduced by men who like to
    flatter themselves by believing that they are scientific gents….

    There is, in fact, no reason to believe that any given natural phenomenon,
    however marvelous it may seem today, will remain forever inexplicable.
    Soon or late the laws governing the production of life itself will be
    discovered in the laboratory, and man may set up business as a creator
    on his own account. The thing, indeed, is not only conceivable; it is
    even highly probable.

    H. L. Mencken’s Law:
    Those who can — do.
    Those who can’t — teach.

    Martin’s Extension:
    Those who cannot teach — administrate.

    Sorry, just had to throw that last one in :)

  5. shyster says

    Mencken is one of my heroes so I want to play too. A couple of short but typically trenchant quotes: We must respect the other fellow’s religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart.
    The only really respectable Protestants are the Fundamentalists. Unfortunately, they are also palpable idiots.

  6. Ed Darrell says

    Mencken was either a prophet or a teacher on creationism, too. He rather wrote the book on hoaxes, having unintentionally conducted one of the greatest experiments on hoaxing in history: http://www.sniggle.net/bathtub.php

    Supporters of evolution need to study it to see the tactics of creationists. I’m not sure whether creationists should study it to see how non-facts become “believed,” because I fear this is part of the creationism training manual.

  7. David Harmon says

    Well, you know things are really f**d-up when the comedians make more sense than the news announcers. And we passed that point a while ago….

  8. says

    listening to our president’s ideals continues to amaze me. it seems like EVERY aspect of the republican stance is completely OPPOSITE of logic and productivity. everything they stand for is backwards, like bizarro world. it is only a matter of time before the internet is privatized as it is in other countries, so, thank you for sharing with us while you still can!