Product Description

Robert Ingersoll (1833—1899) is one of the great lost figures in United States history, all but forgotten at just the time America needs him most. An outspoken and unapologetic agnostic, fervent champion of the separation of church and state, and tireless advocate of the rights of women and African Americans, he drew enormous audiences in the late nineteenth century with his lectures on “freethought.” His admirers included Mark Twain and Thomas A. Edison, who said Ingersoll had “all the attributes of a perfect man” and went so far as to make an early recording of Ingersoll’s voice.
The publication of What’s God Got to Do with It? will return Robert Ingersoll and his ideas to American political discourse. Edited and with a biographical introduction by Pulitzer Prize winner Tim Page, this new popular collection of Ingersoll’s thought – distilled from the twelve-volume set of his works, his copious letters, and various newspaper interviews – promises to put Ingersoll back where he belongs, in the forefront of independent American thought.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #81134 in Books
• Published on: 2005-08-16
• Released on: 2005-08-16
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781586420963
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

From The Washington Post
Robert Ingersoll belongs to that group of popular 19th-century lecturers who have faded from public consciousness because they failed to leave behind a written masterpiece. But Tim Page, The Washington Post's music critic and the editor of What's God Got To Do With It? Robert Ingersoll on Free Thought, Honest Talk & the Separation of Church and State (Steerforth; paperback, $10), claims, "He does not deserve his present obscurity," and the well-chosen nuggets here put him right back on center stage.

Born in upstate New York in 1833 to a Congregational minister, Ingersoll was raised in a house of fiery fundamentalism, which he abandoned as soon as possible. But he retained his intimate knowledge of the Bible and theology and used it strategically for the rest of his life to slash away at what he considered the pernicious superstitions of religion.

Commemorating the centennial of the Declaration of Independence, he told his audience: "In 1776 our fathers endeavored to retire the gods from politics. . . . It was a notice to all churches and priests that thereafter mankind would govern and protect themselves. Politically it tore down every altar and denied the authority of every 'sacred book,' and appealed from the Providence of God to the Providence of Man." As Page acknowledges, "Even 130 years later, one cannot imagine any traditional politician speaking such words and remaining in the game for very long." Indeed, Ingersoll, whom Page calls "our apostle of heterodoxy," left a promising political career (as a Republican!) and "spent the last quarter century of his life as a peripatetic, Socratic gadfly, stinging fundamentalist American wherever and whenever he could."

In this collection of short excerpts from his speeches, interviews and newspaper articles, the patron saint of free thought celebrates human reason and decries the influence of blind faith. Opponents of the Kansas Board of Education, federal funding for church social programs and faith-based restrictions on medical research will find here the inspiration to keep fighting.

The Radicalism of Robert Ingersoll
Copyright 2005, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.

Review
"In this collection of short excerpts . . . the patron saint of free thought celebrates human reason and decries the influence of blind faith. Opponents of the Kansas Board of Education, federal funding for church social programs and faith-based restrictions on medical research will find here the inspiration to keep fighting."
— Washington Post

"Ingersoll's ideas force a reader to reexamine the words freedom, liberty, truth and democracy. This little paperback has the pleasant feeling of a morning spent listening to a lecture or sermon on a small-town green."
— Los Angeles Times

About the Author
Tim Page is the Pulitzer Prize—winning chief music critic for the Washington Post. He is the author of Dawn Powell: A Biography and editor of The Diaries of Dawn Powell (Steerforth Press, 1995) and Selected Letters of Dawn Powell.

Customer Reviews

Short fast intro to Robert Ingersoll; whom I wish were around today
At only 130 pages or so - and short ones at that, this is not some massive tome by a guy who wrote 120 years years ago in flowery 19th century language that will sit on your shelf gathering dust.

You can chew this up in an afternoon - or a few afternoons, if you'd like to savor it more. And it's completely readable prose - no archaic Victorian language here.

In fact, the main thing that makes one realize that this book isn't contemporary writing is the lack of cynicism and snarkiness aimed at the other side; religious zealots that want to insert God into public policy, law, education and so on.

There's no bitterness here, no anger at what has been lost or could be lost in our society if we overthrow rational thought, enlightenment and science over for any 2000 year old magic book.

Ingersoll's points about why God is not mentioned in the US Constitution and why that was such a bold important step in the evolution of society is something that I wish every fundamentalist in America would read and consider.

Tim Page's non-sycophantic intro to Ingersoll is also well-done, pointing out how remarkable he was, even if his writings never produced the single polished gem that might have kept his works known a little more in the early 21st century.

It's a valuable book for any freethinker in America today; cheap, and well put together. Highly recommended.

Ingersoll, where have you gone?
This brief selection of Robert Ingersoll's writing is one which I would repeatedly pick up to read an essay, put it down and walk away, and read some more the following day. No, it was not that bad, it was, in fact, that good. I felt the need to read it over a week's time rather than finish it in one sitting on a quiet afternoon, which easily could be done, so that the words had time to soak in. Ingersoll, though he wrote over a century ago, gives modern readers a great deal to think about. Truly, it is easy to forget that these works are not contemporary, as the issues he speaks about are still relevant, and perhaps even more so now. It is not until he mentions things such as workers earning three dollars a day that we are reminded of our distance in time, if not in character and predicament. It also reminds us of how desperately our country needs an Ingersoll today.

Ingersoll was a pragmatic agnostic and an incredible moral thinker. Then, as now, his skepticism kept him from reaching high political office. Readers will find that his reasoning is sound and powerfully convincing while his language remains approachable but still with its own inspirational beauty:

"You cannot be so poor that you cannot help somebody. Good nature is the cheapest commodity in the world; and love is the only thing that will pay ten per cent to borrower and lender both. Do not tell me that you have got to be rich! We have a false standard of greatness in the United States. We think here that a man must be great, that he must be notorious; that he must be extremely wealthy, or that his name must be upon the putrid lips of rumor. It is all a mistake. It is not necessary to be rich or to be great, or to be powerful, to be happy. The happy man is the successful man. Happiness is the legal tender of the soul. Joy is wealth." (Ingersoll 1877)

I cannot recommend this book strongly enough to anyone who is concerned with the state of America and its constitution, church and state relations, child abuse, and various other issues. Ingersoll reveals even the ridiculousness of today's political debates, where a candidate's faith is often more important than their political platform. Tim Page's introduction is informative and places Ingersoll's works in their historical and modern context. Also, Page has edited some of Ingersoll's essays, but not to their detriment. And really, at ten dollars (almost four days pay in Ingersoll's time, but probably less than an hours work for you), how can you go wrong?

He freed a lot of minds.
So wrote editor Tim Page of Robert G. Ingersoll in the introduction to this short, easy to read book. Ingersoll was one of the intellectual giants of the second half of the 19th century. Sadly and tragically he is now all but forgotten. Known as The Great Agnostic, he spent his life pointing out hypocrisy, railing against injustice and ridiculing superstitious beliefs. As America's foremost practitioner of rational thought, he had the ear of many a President. Yet he remained always modest and never deviated from living a life characterized by kindness, love of humanity and generosity in all things.

Any writing or speech attributable to Robert Ingersoll is worth reading and rereading. And those contained in What's God Got to Do with It? are no exceptions. This collection consists of a number of short works on a wide range of subjects. Like his admiration for Robert Burns and Thomas Paine. The unfairness of tax exempt status for churches. The ugliness of corporeal punishment of children. The futility of prayer and fasting. Women's rights and much, much more.

For those unfamiliar with the humanistic philosophy of Robert Ingersoll, this book would be a fine place to start. America sorely needs another Ingersoll now more than ever. He was one of the greats.