H. L. Mencken Quotes
To die for an idea; it is unquestionably noble. But how much nobler it would be if men died for ideas that were true!
Mencken, H. L. Prejudices: Third Series. Alfred A. Knopf, 1922.
It is hard to believe that there are any people in the world that would try and educate youth in this manner, but it is common amongst the ultra fundamentalist Muslims to day. However, it is very similar to what the Christians, including the Pope, preached a millennium ago and what the Japanese preached to their young Kamakasi in WWII.
Some apologists for the Muslim Brotherhood claim that the organization is social and political and not violent or advocates of terrorism. However, quotations like this one calls clearly for the sacrifice of lives. Hamas, a recognized terrorist organization is the Palestinian Branch and Offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood which has never repudiated any of their terrorist murders and actively raises money for Hamas. See the original founding principle of the Muslim Brotherhood—{621776}
The people of the American colonies were outraged by the Stamp Act which in effect placed a tax on almost everything operational in the economy at the time by making people buy government stamps to seal virtually all legal documents. Ingersoll had become the icon of the hated Stamp Tax collector holding what was then a very senior position in the Royalist government. The Sons of Liberty, today considered patriots, but then looked upon by the government as a groups of hooligan terrorists, caught up with Ingersoll and kidnapped him and took him to a house in Wethersfield. There he was roughed up and then given the choice of resigning his Stamp Act position or being hanged. He signed his resignation with this statement. The quotation and the incident is used by people who glorify the patriotism and the risk that the Sons of Liberty took for their beliefs. Others, use the quote and incident to illustrate that when such behavior occurs in countries today we often refer to it as terrorism such as in the Iraq War insurgency where the insurgents threatened government officials with death if the did not resign and often made good on their threat. A particular interesting historical story is Ingersoll’s son, Jared Jr. Unlike his Royalist father, young Ingersoll, Jared Jr., was an active patriot, serving in public office and was one of the signers of the U.S. Constitution.
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.
