Head of the Whole Business

Red Conspirator: J. Peters and the American Communist Underground by Thomas Sakmyster; University of Illinois Press, March 2011 $50.00, 312 pages, including 6 black & white photographs reviewed by David Chambers FROM AUGUST 3, 1948, until today, America has had to wait to learn more about the head of Soviet espionage in Washington during the 1930s. On that day, Whittaker Continue Reading →

Baltimore Reading Series Honors American Mercury

by Ann Hendon ACCORDING TO Reading Local, there’s a new literary reading series in Baltimore that honors the spirit of H.L. Mencken and The American Mercury. They say: The second installment of the New Mercury Reading Series was held at Jordan Faye Contemporary Gallery, featuring Charles Cohen, Steve Luxenberg, and Melissa Hale. Their mission statement is a re-envisioning of H. Continue Reading →

Instead of burning Korans, why not debate the merits of all “holy” books?

by Robert Johnson A CHRISTIAN PREACHER in Gainesville, Florida wants to burn Korans, citing the ninth anniversary of 9/11. Muslims around the world are upset and some are taking to the streets to demonstrate their anger that anyone would want to burn what they consider the word of God. From the start of the Abrahamic “revealed” religions, Judaism, Christianity and Continue Reading →

What is Deism?

by Robert L. Johnson Deism was the religion of America’s Founding Fathers, and their wisdom in embracing it should not be forgotten today. DEISM VS. REVEALED RELIGION REVELATION, or revealed religion, is defined in Webster’s New World Dictionary as: “God’s disclosure to man of Himself.” This should read, “God’s alleged disclosure to man of himself.” For unless God reveals to Continue Reading →

Anarchist’s Progress

by Albert Jay Nock This classic essay on freedom was published in The American Mercury in 1927. I. The Majesty of the Law When I was seven years old, playing in front of our house on the outskirts of Brooklyn one morning, a policeman stopped and chatted with me for a few moments. He was a kindly man, of a Continue Reading →