Some of you say religion makes people happy. So does laughing gas.

Darrow’s quip is a skeptical jab at the claim that religion is justified because it makes people happy. By comparing religious consolation to “laughing gas” (nitrous oxide), he implies that producing a pleasant feeling is not, by itself, evidence of truth, moral superiority, or social value. The line also reflects Darrow’s broader public persona as a freethinking critic of orthodox religion: he often argued that comfort can be manufactured by many means, some trivial or artificial, and that serious questions—about reality, ethics, and justice—should not be settled by whether a belief soothes anxiety. The humor sharpens the critique by reducing a lofty defense of religion to a mere mood effect.