Sequachee Valley news. (Sequachee [Sequatchie], Tenn.) 1896-1952, 1912-07-11
SOCIALISM ANTl.cHRISTlAN
Editor News

, socialism as is acknowledged by it
! leaders is materialistic BY reason o
/ its philosophy which is an integra
part of it, therefore. socialism is nee
essarily antagonistic to Christianity
the philosophy of which it contradict
in all essential details. We are nov
to see the practical attitude of social,
ism towards religion in general anC
towards Christianity in particular
The only way we can determine the
practical attitude of socialism is from
the utterances of its platforms and re-
Cognized leaders and writers. 1t shall
be our task in this paper to present to
the readers Of the News such quota
tions as will in our opinion show the
practical attitude of socialism towards
the Christian religion. Let no one
think that in doing this we ara falling
into the error of making socialism re-
sponsible for the utteranees of individ-
uals. Our argument is this. The on
ly way to ascertain the practical atti-
tude of any society or organization on
any subject is through the utterances
of the recognized leaders of that So
ciety or organization and its official
manifestos. If we can find a unanim-
ity of opinion as to socialism's atti-
tude towards religion in the utterances
of it's recognized leaders and manifes-
tos we must accept this as the practic-
al attitude of socialism towards relig-
! ion.
Now, a reading of socialist litera-
ture shows practical oneness of opin-
ion among socialist leaders as to its
attitude towards religion. What that
attitude is will be seen from the fol-
lowing quotations taken from promi.
nent socialist sources. The founder of
modern scientific socialism, Karl
Marx, wrote: "Religion rs fantas-
tic degradation of human nature. :"
Engels, wrote: ''Three great obstacles
block the path of social reform-priv-
ate property, religion and the present
form of marriage" Also: Beyond
nature and man there is nothing and
those higher beings created by our re-
ligions fancy are but the fantastic re-
Elections of our own being" The fa-
nous agitator and socialist leader of
Germany. Wilhelm Liebknecht. said:
''It is our duty as socialists to root out
the faith in God with all our zeal, nor
is any one worthy the name who does
not consecrate himself to the spread of
atheism" Comrade A. Bebel, Social
ist leader in the German Reichstag ia
a speech to that body said: Gentle
men. you ATTACK our views on relig-
ion because they are atheistic and ma
terialistic. acknowledge the correct
ness of the impeachment. am firmly
convinced that socialism finally leads
to atheism. = Bebel also said: .'Chris-
tianity and socialism are like fire and
water to one another Karl Kautsky,
another representative German social
ist. writes ''It ia especially difficult
to reconcile with scientific socialism
the idea of God man or a super man
(meaning Christi whose mission was
to redeem man by the power of his
personality or to lift man to a higher
degree of existence" Comrade Van
dewelde, Belgium socialist of promi-
nence, member of the Chamber of
Deputies writes. ''We are bounu to
admit that both in philosophy and pol
itics there must be war between so
cialism and the Church" Comrade
E. Ferri, a leading socialist of Italy,
writes: Socialism knows and fore
sees that religious beliefs, whether one
regards them with Sergi as pathology
cal phenomena of human psychology,
or as useless phenomena of moral in
crustation, are destined to perish by
atrophy with the extension of even
science"
The Platform of the French Social
ist Party contains this paragraph:
''The Socialist Party needs to reorgan-
ize the new world, free minds, eman-
cipated from superstition and preju
dices. Over against all religious dog
mas and churches, as we'll as over |
against the class conception of the
bourgeosie, it sets the unlimited right |
of free thought the scientific THAT is,
conceptioE1 of the uni
verse and a system of public education
based exclusively on science and reas-
on
We have already quoted in another
paper from the Manifesto" Of the So
cialist Party of Great Britain to show
that socialist philosophy is material
ism. We add the further quotations
from the same source: "If man sup
ports the church or in any respect al
Iows religious ideas to stand in the
The activity of the party, he proves
Ju6TcDJ budb no uOCb uOb dCCopL sUCldl-
SIN as fundamentally true and of the
irst importance and his place is out
ide. No man can be consistently both
. socialist and christian. A
.hristian socialist is, in fact, an anti
ocialist - CLEARLY then, the basis
# socialist philosophy is utterly in
with religious ideas"
Socialism being not merely a polit- ,
CO. economic creed but also an integral !
,art of consistant world philoso-
Ihy.' Socialism as system of So
iety means the end of supernatural ,
'eliefs" Comrade Blatchford,
,rominent socialist writer of England,
writes: ~ am working for socialism
vhen attack religion which is hinu-
ring socialism"
Comrade Belfort Bax. another En-
.lish socialist, writes: ''It is an ack- :
owledged fact that practically all So
ialists are atheists, agnostics OF secu-
artists / am referring to socialists,
OF to hybrids who chose to label j.
themselves Christian Socialists,
'hatever that may mean" =
The above are, specimen quotations !
AIKEN from prominent socialist sources
4 foreign countries. All the men quot
1 are or were when living, socialists
4 good standing While the quota
ions from the platform and manifesto
ertainly are authoritati fol the
1untries which they represe ent it is