The Meaning Of Religious Freedom
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.
- H. L. Mencken
March 14th, 2006 at 8:07 am
Where did you get this quote from?
March 14th, 2006 at 8:26 am
I’ve been re-watching the original Stanley Kramer version of Inherent the Wind and so went poking online for trial transcripts and other writings from the actual Scopes trial.
What I found was this, which on its Mencken page links to this, which is where the quote is from.