Public-domain ebook
Language: en1,148 downloads on Project Gutenberg
Subjects
In: Essays, Letters & Speeches·Religion/Spirituality·Economics
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #1558.
Upton Sinclair’s The Profits of Religion is a polemical essay that treats Christianity not as a matter of faith but as an economic system. The work opens with a sweeping declaration that “Supernaturalism… is a Source of Income and a Shield to Privilege,” followed by a self‑conscious claim of originality after twenty‑five years of thought and a year of investigation. Sinclair then launches into a vivid allegory of “bootstrap‑lifters”, people straining upward in spiritual exercises while an unseen “Wholesale Pickpockets’ Association” pilfers their pockets. This extended metaphor segues into a detailed inventory of religious institutions, each labeled as a variant of the same profit‑driven cult. The introductory section frames the book as the first of a planned series, promising an “Economic Interpretation of Culture” that will extend the critique from the church to education, journalism, and literature.
The prose is unapologetically combative, blending satirical narrative with dense, early‑20th‑century social‑science rhetoric. Sinclair’s voice is that of a reformist journalist‑turned‑economic analyst, employing irony, rhetorical questions, and a catalog‑like listing of denominations to underscore his argument. Readers who relish vigorous critiques of institutional power, enjoy historical perspectives on the intersection of religion and economics, or appreciate Sinclair’s blend of literary flair with statistical argument will find this work compelling. Those seeking a more devotional or neutral study of Christianity will likely be put off by its overtly activist tone.
The opening · free to read
This book is a study of Supernaturalism from a new point of view--as a Source of Income and a Shield to Privilege. I have searched the libraries through, and no one has done it before. If you read it, you will see that it needed to be done. It has meant twenty-five years of thought and a year of investigation. It contains the facts.
I publish the book myself, so that it may be available at the lowest possible price. I am giving my time and energy, in return for one thing which you may give me--the joy of speaking a true word and getting it heard.
The present volume is the first of a series, which will do for Education, Journalism and Literature what has here been done for the Church: the four volumes making a work of revolutionary criticism, an Economic Interpretation of Culture under the general title of "The Dead Hand."
The book keeps going
Reading is free forever. Sign up and watch scenes appear while you read.
Scenes Storieta drew for other classics.
New illustrated classics
Once or twice a month: the latest books to get full character casts, scene art, and free comic editions. No account needed.
