1858.68
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Thoreau Ponders Manliness in the Church and Base Ball
| Salience | Peripheral |
|---|---|
| Tags | FamousFamous |
| Location | |
| City/State/Country: | Concord, MA, United States |
| Modern Address | |
| Game | Base BallBase Ball |
| Immediacy of Report | Contemporary |
| Age of Players | AdultAdult |
| Holiday | |
| Notables | |
| Text | "The church! It is eminently the timid institution, and the heads and pillars of it are constitutionally and by principle the greatest cowards in the community. The voice that goes up from the monthly concerts is not so brave and so cheering as that which rises from the frog-ponds of the land. The best 'preachers,' so called, are an effeminate class; their bravest thoughts wear petticoats. If they have any manhood they are sure to forsake the ministry, though they were to turn their attention to baseball*." (*Note: "baseball" is an editor's choice of word-form: John Bowman reports that two Thoreau journal references themselves [see also chronology item #1830c.2] are written "base-ball" and "base ball"). |
| Sources | Henry David Thoreau, Journal entry for November 16, 1858, Journals. |
| Warning | |
| Comment | The thrust of Thoreau's entry has puzzled us a little. John Bowman writes: "This is but a small excerpt from a journal entry that is all but rabid about organized religion and its churches, which Thoreau attacks for being afraid to confront the hard truths and realities of our lives. Exactly what he means by that final phrase -- 'though they were to turn their attention to base ball' -- has been debated, but my interpretation is as follows: He seems to be saying that, in particular, its ministers/preachers are so cowardly as to be 'effeminate,' and if any of them were truly manly they would do better to leave the ministry and engage in some other activity -- even playing base ball, despite its questionable value, would be preferable. But others may have read this differently."
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| Query | Feel free to throw more light on what Thoreau is saying here. Edit with form to add a query |
| Source Image | [[Image:|left|thumb]] |
| External Number | |
| Submitted by | John Bowman |
| Submission Note | Posting to 19CBB, September 2015, emails of October 2015 |
| Has Supplemental Text |
1858.68 Thoreau Ponders Manliness in the Church and Base Ball"
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