The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-06-17
RELIGIOUS DOPE
PEDDLERS BLOW
Their FOGHORNS
But Figures Show Up
/ Pulpit Founders
BY HELENE WooLF.

~ EtNI WOOLEe
Il am an atheist" proclaimed Ma
than Leopold defiantly as he faced
his inquisitors. Here was fuel for all
the religious fanatics who search the
newspaper for horrible examples. A
youthful murderer, a cold-blooded
criminal and self-styled atheist, who
declares that we must have gods and
devils to brighten the workers with.
OF course the rabbits made use Of it
against the irreligious; the orthodox
against the reform Jews; the gentiles
against all Jews the Christians
against the atheists. And the Ku Klux
Khan 'chuckled audibly.
Atheists in Minority.
Yet if these venerable gentlemen
with their admirable piety, we're to ex-
anime the jails of today they would
find the atheists by no means in the
majority.
Says Professor w. A. Bonger Of Am
sterdam in his "Criminality and Eco
inomic Conditions: "The first place"
{, "a reference to the percentage Of
criminality of different religions) lis
almost always held by the Catholics,
the second by the Professionals, and
then come the Jews Except in cases
of receiving stolen goods, etc), and
the minimum of criminaIity lin all
crimes without exception) is shown
by the IrreIigious!"
This hardly proves the contention of
our pious friends, that lack Of faith
in dictatorial God, who metes out
reward and punishment like an old
fashioned schooImaster, is the cause
Of most crimes
Rellgionists ApIenty.
In the Cook county Jail the report
for 1928 shows that the total number
of atheists was 307, while the number
Of religious inmates, ranging from
Confucionists and Catholics to Chris
tian Scientists, was 1882. In other
words, the irreligious represented
8 6-10 per cent of the total; the re-
ligious So 40 per cent
Undeniably the Catholics are more
strongly influenced by their religion
than those who profess other creeds.
Yet Of these prisoners, 4,25S, nearly
so per cent were Catholics, with the
certainty Of future on a diabolicaI
toasting fork to dissuade them from
crime.
The so-called "Protestants" could
boast of 1905, Is per cent of the to-
tai and five times as many as the athe-
lists
Even Baptlsts in Picture.
The Baptists and Methodists, both
| Of whom are known for the -stfietRess-
with which they impress righteous
ness on their children, and the GER
tainty each has that he alone has the
correct prescription for a future of
blessed laziness, had 1917 and SOB,
respectively.
And the Jews, who are becoming
deplorably lax in their religious devo-
ton had 354 in Cook county, which
certainly suffers from no shortage of
Jews.
Professor Bonge says: an the
Netherlands we can estimate the in
crease of irreligion; according to the
census of 1899 to 1909 the percentage
of those who are not members of any
/ church has increased 1900 per cent in
| 80 years 80. The curve of crime has
fallen without any doubt"
Sixty-two Clergy Punched.
II there is any person who is re-
warded by his virtue it is clergyman.
These reverend dope-peddlers are &C
tually paid to keep others in a sane
timonious frame of mind, and yet dur
ing the years 1921 and 1922 sixty-two
clergymen were arrested by the Chi
cago police department
Crimes are often committed in the
name of religion. This is not the place
to discuss the numerous Protestant
and Catholic massacres which jazz up
history. 1t should be enough to men,
ton two fairly recent and familiar
crimes-that of a Catholic priest Of
New York. named Miller, who cut
girl in half to save her soul, and that
of an equally considerate Chicago
Italian named Piano, who shot his SON
with view Of obtaining his eternal
salvation.
All of which goes to show that il
Nathan's present pose proves any
thing, it is merely that an exception
| is not the best possible authority for