"A church is a place in which gentlemen who have never been to heaven brag about it to persons who will never get there"

This quote by H. L. Mencken is a negative view of the church and its members. He is recommending that the church is a location where individuals who have actually never ever been to paradise, or experienced its happiness, boast about it to those who will never ever get there. He indicates that the church is a location of hypocrisy, where people talk about something they have never ever experienced, and those who will never ever experience it are expected to believe them. He is also recommending that the church is a location of exclusion, where those who have actually not been to paradise are made to feel superior to those who will never ever arrive. Mencken's quote is a criticism of the church and its members, and a reminder that the church ought to be a location of addition and acceptance, not exemption and superiority.