Introduction to Ingersoll

I had a good summer for reading. My ‘to read’ book pile, as usual, is deep. But my pendulum swing between periods of prolific reading and droughts of mindless TV has swung back to reading these last few months. Despite having several other books going at once, I recently picked up a thin volume while browsing Politics & Prose recently, I picked up a book titled, “What’s God Got to Do With It? Robert Ingersoll on Free Thought, Honest Talk & The Separation of Church & State

Prior to the introduction, was this quote:

While I am opposed to all orthodox creeds, I have a creed myself; and my creed is this. Happiness is the only good. The time to be happy is now. The place to be happy is here. The way to be happy is to make others so. This creed is somewhat short, but is is long enough for this life, strong enough for this world. If there is another world, when we get there we can make another creed. But this creed certainly will do for this life.

Robert Green Ingersoll, 1882

I knew right away that I liked Robert Ingersoll and bought the book.

Robert Ingersoll was a famous politician and orator in the late 1800s. He was a strong advocate for freethought and humanism. The book contains excerpts from Ingersoll’s speeches and writings on topics including; God in the Constitution, Why I Am an Agnostic, Superstition, On Separation of Church and State, and How to Be Saved.

In the introduction, Tim Page, the editor of this thin volume wrote;

The present volume is intended to whet curiosity about the life and work of a most unusual American for a generation and a country that still has need of him. It is, unapologetically, a reading edition for a present-day audience; I have cut his speeches silently and generously, placing an emphasis on subjects that seem to have a continuing relevance.

He succeeded with me. It was wonderful and amazing to discover such writing that more than anything I can recall reading before more closely matched my own way of thinking on so many topics. I’ll be reading much more Ingersoll, and I recommend this volume to anyone who values my opinion.

Book Review: The Great Agnostic

The Great Agnostic: Robert Ingersoll and American FreethoughtThe Great Agnostic: Robert Ingersoll and American Freethought by Susan Jacoby

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I first learned about the American politician, orator and ‘great agnostic’ Robert Ingersoll after reading a couple of books about American Freethinkers back in 2005 and 2006. I similarly enjoyed this biography about him, a book which now has many dog eared pages for particularly noteworthy quotes or passages. Among my favorites from Ingersoll is his creed,

Happiness is the only good.
The time to be happy is now.
The place to be happy is here.
The way to be happy is to make others so.

It’s opportune that I finished this book while near Peoria, I will try and pay a visit to his statue in Glen Oak Park while I’m here, and must later visit his resting place in Arlington National Cemetery. Robert, you have a standing invite to attend ‘Chris’ Afterlife Dream Party of Historical Figures’. I hope you’ll be there, oh wait… nevermind.

View all my reviews


UPDATE: We made our visit to Glen Oak Park and paid homage to Ingersoll!

chris_will_ingersoll

 

Freethinkers

Last September I read a book called What’s God Got to Do With It? that introduced me to the life and writings of Robert Ingersoll, a famous politician and orator of the late 1800s who was an advocate of secular government and a leader among those who described themselves as Freethinkers.

I enjoyed that book very much, and started searching for more on the same subject matter. Ingersoll left a voluminous written legacy, and I considered digging more deeply into his works. But my searching led to to a broader view of the subject that appealed to me, Freethinkers; A History of American Secularism.

Everywhere you look in America today, the religious-right is working to inject religion into government. George’s Bush’s Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, and efforts to teach “Intelligent Design” in classrooms, are but a few examples.

Frequently, proponents of such change argue that attempts to separate church and state go much farther than our founding father’s originally intended. Freethinkers is a fascinating history of that reveals what a monumental accomplishment it was for America’s founders too succeed at creating a secular government, and traces the role of freethought through wartime, the woman’s and civil rights movements, and up to the present day, that I heartily recommend to anyone.