impiety

The impiety of Thales had a more enduring impact, his reputation soaring over the ages.

But it doesn’t include lines from later in the speech, reproaching his audience for prematurely celebrating the progress of abolition: “Your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; ... all your religious parade and solemnity, ... mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy — a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages.”

Ancient sources talk about his perishing at sea for his impiety, or alternatively, say that the brotherhood banished him and constructed a tomb for him, expelling him from the world of human beings.

She was known for making provocative statements in class, such as dismissing as a political stunt Socrates’ famous apology at his trial for impiety and corruption.

Passing a bill that would make Juneteenth a federal holiday, in this historical context, is, as Douglass stated of 4th of July celebrations almost 170 years ago, “mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy—a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages.”