Throughout history, some of the most genius people have held some belief in some form of a deity; for example, Einstein, Plato, Descartes, and Aristotle were all pious men. By simply declaring a belief in these “superstitions,” one does not declare any lack of intellect or civilized manner.
It is clear from this article that Menken holds a strong disdain for the legitimacy of religious facts. He wrote that “these ideas remain mere rubbish. Not only are they not supported by the known facts; they are in direct contravention of the known facts.” I disagree with this statement; not everything written in the bible, or any other religious text, is completely false. Many things should be open for interpretation and should in fact be questioned; for that is the only way to prove that any are indeed factual. I believe that religious texts do contain fictional, metaphorical, and exaggerated stories that should not all be taken in a literal sense. However, I know that many of the things that are in religious texts have certain legitimacy. The bible for example contains many facts that have been proven by science; it stated the perfect dimensions for a stable water vessel, the fact that matter is made up of invisible particles, and that there are mountains and springs on the ocean floor. These are only a few of the scientifically proven biblical facts.
It is clear that H.L. Mencken was a religious skeptic and was highly against the apparent religious protection that surrounded the Scopes trial. I understand where many of his angry claims came from but regard them as fictional and offensive to religious people everywhere. While there are many unintelligent pious people, simply declaring a belief in religion does not immediately label that person as having a lack of intelligence. I agree that there should be no penalty for questioning someone’s beliefs, but disagree with any premeditated assumptions of that person for having that belief. (325)
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