Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Preview
  • The Profits of Religion

  • By: Upton Sinclair
  • Narrated by: Peter Lerman
  • Length: 9 hrs and 52 mins
  • 5.0 out of 5 stars (1 rating)

£0.00 for first 30 days

Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

The Profits of Religion

By: Upton Sinclair
Narrated by: Peter Lerman
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £14.99

Buy Now for £14.99

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

Upton Sinclair, the muckraking giant of 20th century journalism and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Jungle, turns his critical eye upon the world of religion. Mind you, he is not critical of God nor of the teachings of Christ, but of the organized religions throughout history and of our times.

The narration is by Audiofile Magazine Earphones Award-Winning narrator Peter Lerman, who has also narrated The Brass Check by the same author.

This book is of the Dead Hand series, which includes investigations and critiques of corrupt and exploitative industries: The Jungle (meatpacking), King Coal, Oil!, The Brass Check (journalism), and others.

Here, Sinclair rails against the corruption of religion throughout history and in his day. He tells of their bloody pasts and their oppressive present; their collusion with corrupt and tyrannical governments and trusts. Sometimes he simply tells tales of the ridiculous sects and "prophets" which have sprung up so frequently and continue to do so.

His harsh analysis of religion foreshadows the contemporary writings of authors and thinkers such as Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, Daniel Dennett, and Richard Dawkins.

Public Domain (P)2021 Peter Lerman
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Listeners also enjoyed...

Greatest Thing in the World cover art
The Greatest Thing in the World cover art
Karma According to the Secret Doctrine: Articles by William Q. Judge cover art
The Expulsive Power of a New Affection cover art
Light on the Path: Theosophy cover art
Plato's Phaedrus cover art
Wealth cover art
Advanced Course in Yogi Philosophy cover art
Cosmic Consciousness cover art
Letters from a Stoic cover art
The Secrets of Success cover art
Ecce Homo cover art
The Philosophy of Friedrich Nietzsche cover art
The Science of Being Great cover art
Letters from a Stoic: Complete (Letters 1 - 124) Adapted for the Contemporary Reader (Seneca) cover art
Fourteen Lessons in Yogi Philosophy and Oriental Occultism cover art

What listeners say about The Profits of Religion

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Still as relevant as it was 100 years ago

Bootstrap-lifting? says the reader. IT IS A VISION I have seen: upon a vast plain, men and women are gathered in dense throngs, crouched in uncomfortable and distressing positions, their fingers hooked in the straps of their boots. They are engaged in lifting themselves; tugging and straining until they grow red in the face, exhausted. The perspiration streams from their foreheads, they show every symptom of distress; the eyes of all are fixed, not upon each other, nor upon their boot-straps, but upon the sky above. There is a look of rapture upon their faces, and now and then, amid grunts and groans, they cry out with excitement and triumph.
I approach one and say to him, “Friend, what is this you are doing?” He answers, without pausing to glance at me, “I am performing spiritual exercises. See how I rise?” “But,” I say, “you are not rising at all!” Whereat he becomes instantly angry
. “You are one of the scoffers!” “But, friend,” I protest, “don’t you feel the earth under your feet?” “You are a materialist!” “But, friend, I can see—” “You are without spiritual vision!”
And so I move on among the sweating and groaning hordes. Being of a sympathetic turn of mind, I cannot help being distressed by the prevalence of this singular practice among so large a portion of the human race. How is it possible that none of them should suspect the futility of their procedure? Or can it really be that I am uncomprehending? That in some way they are actually getting off the ground, or about to get off the ground?
Then I observe a new phenomenon: a man gliding here and there among the bootstrap-lifters, approaching from the rear and slipping his hands into their pockets. The position of the spiritual exercisers greatly facilitates his work; their eyes being cast up to heaven, they do not see him, their thoughts being occupied, they do not heed him; he goes through their pockets at leisure, and transfers the contents to a bag he carries, and then moves on to the next victim.
I watch him for a while, and finally approach and ask, “What are you doing, sir?”
He answers, “I am picking pockets.” “Oh,” I say, puzzled by his matter-of-course tone.
“But—I beg pardon—are you a thief?” “Oh, no,” hie answers, smilingly, “I am the agent of the Wholesale Pickpockets’ Association. This is Prosperity.”
“I see,” I reply. “And these people let you—”
“It is the law,” he says. “It is also the gospel.”
I turn, following his glance, and observe another person approaching—a stately figure, clad in scarlet and purple robes, moving with slow dignity. He gazes about at the sweating and grunting hordes; now and then he stops and lifts his hands in a gesture of benediction, and proclaims in rolling tones,
“Blessed are the Bootstrap-lifters, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.”

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!