A Testimony of Beliefs - Part One

                In the aftermath of the Scopes trial, H.L. Mencken wrote an article for The Baltimore Evening Sun that addressed the subject of religion and how it was refuted in the trial. In his article, Mencken praised Mr. Darrow’s attack on religion and emphasized the utter absurdity in religious institutions and the strong stigma surrounding any attacks against them. While I found some to have certain validity, most of the statements written by Mencken were overly bias, insulting to many, and lacking the evidence to support his claims.

                In his article, Mencken showed a strong belief for the freedom to challenge religion and for the elimination of the implied sacredness of religious beliefs. He stated that “The way to deal with superstition is not to be polite to it, but to tackle it with all arms, and so rout it, cripple it, and make it forever infamous and ridiculous.” I agree with Mencken’s belief that religion should not be exempt from criticism by law, but I disagree that anyone should disregard respect when questioning someone of their beliefs. Everyone should retain a common courtesy when criticizing someone else’s beliefs. To eliminate that courtesy would be comparable to telling a three-year old that there is no Santa Claus. It would be extremely disrespectful to blatantly discredit a theory that has enough evidence for someone to retain such a strong belief in it.

                “What should be a civilized man’s attitude toward such superstitions? It seems to me that the only attitude possible to him is one of contempt. If he admits that they have any intellectual dignity whatever, he admits that he himself has none.” In this statement, Mencken seems to convey that any person that believes in religion is stupid and barbaric. He fails to realize that many intelligent people are in fact religious.(303)