H. L. Mencken Quotes
Equality before the law is probably forever unattainable. It is a noble ideal, but it can never be realized, for what men value in this world is not rights but privileges.
Mencken, H. L. Minority Report: H. L. Mencken's Notebooks. Alfred A. Knopf, 1956.
One of the earliest codes of equality before the law for both rich and poor.
“Familia” in Latin meant in this context, the community or the citizens as opposed to the officials, The Bishop determined the former was under attack by the officials who in the probating of wills and estates would take bribes or levy taxes under “laws” that they would make up on the spot bilking the rightful inheritors of the property and wealth of the deceased. The principle that laws and regulations must be written down in advance and not otherwise, is a fundamental part of Western law today, But as this quotation shows, it was not always such.
This is a remarkable quotation. Because of the issue of plural marriage, many Americans regarded the early Mormons as having no respect for the country or its laws. However, as this quotation shows, the Mormon leader, prophet and founder specifically commanded his people to not only support the United States law but specifically mentions The Constitution. He told his followers that God approves of the United States constitution and states that it is in a sense universal, belonging to all mankind. There is no other religious founder who so thoroughly validated a national constitution and system in the history of the world. Yet he was assassinated and after his death, the United States Government was almost in a full scale war with the Mormons. There is still a vestige of anti-Mormonism in the United States among some Christian Fundamentalists. Yet the Mormon church has been a thoroughly American church, historically, conceptually, and philosophically It has even shared some of the American historical errors such as its sexism and discriminatory rules and view of Blacks. The latter has been remedied {625268} as the rest of America has changed, and the discriminatory role of women is very traditional and is shared with most other Christian fundamentalists and orthodox Jews.
Henry Louis Mencken was an American journalist, essayist, satirist, cultural critic, and scholar of American English. He commented widely on the social scene, literature, music, prominent politicians, and contemporary movements. His satirical reporting on the Scopes Trial, which he dubbed the "Monkey Trial," also gained him attention.
