The Profits of ReligionIt is not too much to say that today no daily newspaper in any large American city dares to attack the emoluments of the Catholic Church, or to advocate restrictions upon the ecclesiastical machine.-from "Holy History"Few readers have not heard of Upton Sinclair's 1906 book The Jungle, his fictionalized account of Chicago's meatpacking industry, which set in motion dramatic social and governmental changes and highlighted the power of investigative journalism. But his 1918 book The Profits of Religion, a viciously witty censure of religious institutions in America, remains unjustly obscure. Drolly but bitterly subtitled "an essay in economic interpretation," this potent book condemns religious leaders for taking advantage of the credulity and hopefulness of ordinary Americans to line their own pockets and amass political influence. Not merely a brilliant work of persuasive journalism, this is also a document of the idealistic socialism that lingered after World War I, when the triumph of the movement's ideal still seemed possible.American writer UPTON SINCLAIR (1878-1968) was an active socialist and contributor to many socialist publications. His muckracking books include The Moneychangers (1908), King Coal (1917), Oil! (1927), and Boston (1928). |
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Page 16
... of the rich ? What are we to say when we see idealism become hypocrisy , and the moral and spir- itual heritage of mankind twisted to the knavish pur- poses of class - cruelty and greed ? What I 16 THE PROFITS OF RELIGION Religion.
... of the rich ? What are we to say when we see idealism become hypocrisy , and the moral and spir- itual heritage of mankind twisted to the knavish pur- poses of class - cruelty and greed ? What I 16 THE PROFITS OF RELIGION Religion.
Page 17
Upton Sinclair. poses of class - cruelty and greed ? What I say is - Boot- strap - lifting ! It is the fate of many abstract words to be used in two senses , one good and the other bad . Morality means the will to righteousness , or it ...
Upton Sinclair. poses of class - cruelty and greed ? What I say is - Boot- strap - lifting ! It is the fate of many abstract words to be used in two senses , one good and the other bad . Morality means the will to righteousness , or it ...
Page 28
... classes living in the midst of animals which they tend , but whose flesh they rarely taste . Even in modern America , sweet land of liberty , our millions of tenant farmers raise chickens and geese and turkeys , and hardly venture to ...
... classes living in the midst of animals which they tend , but whose flesh they rarely taste . Even in modern America , sweet land of liberty , our millions of tenant farmers raise chickens and geese and turkeys , and hardly venture to ...
Page 31
... class which has done the hard and exhausting work , the " hewers of wood and drawers of water " ; and there has been another , much smaller class which has done the directing . To belong to this latter class is to work also , but with ...
... class which has done the hard and exhausting work , the " hewers of wood and drawers of water " ; and there has been another , much smaller class which has done the directing . To belong to this latter class is to work also , but with ...
Page 35
... class , all innovation will of necessity be taken as an attack upon that class ; it will be literally a crime- robbing the priests of their age - long privileges . And of course they will oppose the robber - using every weapon of ...
... class , all innovation will of necessity be taken as an attack upon that class ; it will be literally a crime- robbing the priests of their age - long privileges . And of course they will oppose the robber - using every weapon of ...
Contents
11 | |
19 | |
45 | |
The Church of the Servant Girls | 103 |
The Church of the Slavers | 159 |
The Church of the Merchants | 199 |
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Popular passages
Page 212 - Now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, Yet lackest thou one thing : sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven : and come, follow me.
Page 86 - Not to covet nor desire other men's goods ; but to learn and labour truly to get mine own living, and to do my duty in that state of life unto which it shall please God to call me.
Page 282 - And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them : for that is delivered unto me ; and to whomsoever I will I give it. If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.
Page 217 - The Church's one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord; she is his new creation by water and the word : from heaven he came and sought her to be his holy Bride; with his own blood he bought her, and for her life he died.
Page 200 - Mammon, the least erected spirit that fell From heaven ; for even in heaven his looks and thoughts Were always downward bent, admiring more The riches of heaven's pavement, trodden gold, Than aught divine or holy else enjoy'd In vision beatific.
Page 37 - And he smote the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men : and the people lamented, because the Lord had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter.
Page 37 - When the Lord thy God shall bring thee into the land whither thou goest to possess it, and hath cast out many nations before thee, the Hittites, and the Girgashites, and the Amorites, and the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou...
Page 86 - To submit myself to all my governors, teachers, spiritual pastors and masters. To order myself lowly and reverently to all my betters.
Page 37 - Jebusites, seven nations greater and mightier than thou ; and when the Lord thy God shall deliver them before thee ; thou shalt smite them, and utterly destroy them ; thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor shew mercy unto them...