Mencken's Creed

[archerships]

Courtesy of Eirikur Hallgrimsson:

" Mencken was a crusading newspaperman who would frequently but heads with the
censorious Boston establishment in the early part of the 20th century.
I was researching his involvement with "the Hatrack story" when I came
across this.



Mencken's Creed

I believe that religion, generally speaking, has been a curse to mankind -
that its modest and greatly overestimated services on the ethical side have
been more than overcome by the damage it has done to clear and honest
thinking.

I believe that no discovery of fact, however trivial, can be wholly useless
to the race, and that no trumpeting of falsehood, however virtuous in
intent, can be anything but vicious.

I believe that all government is evil, in that all government must
necessarily make war upon liberty...

I believe that the evidence for immortality is no better than the evidence
of witches, and deserves no more respect.

I believe in the complete freedom of thought and speech...

I believe in the capacity of man to conquer his world, and to find out what
it is made of, and how it is run.

I believe in the reality of progress.

I - But the whole thing, after all, may be put very simply. I believe that
it is better to tell the truth than to lie. I believe that it is better to
be free than to be a slave. And I believe that it is better to know than be
ignorant."

Comments

[misfitz.livejournal.com]

I'd love to use this entire creed as a sig file, but somehow I don't think any of the mailing lists I subscribe to would appreciate that. (Of course, I can always use different signatures associated with various email addresses, but what fun is THAT?)

[crasch.livejournal.com]

How about using the last sentence:

"...I believe that it is better to tell the truth than to lie. I believe that it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe that it is better to know than be ignorant."

--excerpt from Mencken's Creed

[gentlemaitresse.livejournal.com]

I think I disagree with the part about government, if by government we mean a group of people coming together and electing people to make certain decisions in their stead. I belong to a homeowner's association, and they maintain the road in our neighborhood. That's about all they do, actually, although there are a few other stupid rules that were put in place many years ago and nobody enforces any more.

It is beneficial for all of the property owners here to have someone collect money and arrange for the road mainenance for us. I can see how it would be beneficial for the states to have a federal government collect money and use it to pay for the defense of all the states together against foreign enemies. But that government would have to be very strictly controlled by the people it is intended to serve, or else the people end up serving it.

[urbanape.livejournal.com]

But in doing so, there is, as he points out 'necessarily', a sacrifice of liberty. It seems to me that he's not making a judgement of degree, only kind :)

[gentlemaitresse.livejournal.com]

I'm giving my money into the treasury and allowing a neighbor to take care of the hassle of arranging for road maintenance. Please explain what liberty I have sacrificed.

[urbanape.livejournal.com]

Can you live in your neighborhood and not participate in the association?

[gentlemaitresse.livejournal.com]

I certainly could have chosen not to participate by simply not buying this particular home. That was an option.

I could possibly make a case for not participating if I didn't use the road. But anyone who benefits from the use of the road certainly ought to contribute to its maintenance. :-)