The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1924-07-10

People who are in the profitable
business of trying to convince the
masses that religion is necessary for
happiness in this world and protec-
ton from excessive heat in the next,
continually trot out the falsehood that
crime is in large measure, If not en-
tirely, due to the GOODNESS Of society
in general toward their doctrine. The
$4,000 different varieties of hokum
peddlers vociferously bark the merits
Of their individual wares and swear by
the eternal that unless you accept
their God and give the other 5000
the cold shoulder the devil will give
you the hot griddle when you stop
paying on this earth.
That religion is crime deterrent
is finished fable. Quite the contrary.
Organized murder on a colossal scale,
great war for instance, is usually
carried on accompanied by the bless
ings of the priests and the sanction
of the deity, represented of course by
whatever organized gang Of religious
hokum merchants happens to be the
most acceptable to the ruling class OF
the nations engaged in the war. AS
it takes at least two to stage a fight
of any kind, it takes more than one
nation to make war, so we often find
two nations who worship in the same
manner, even to detail, securing the
blessing of their God, in their at
tempts to murder the same Gods chill
dren on the other side of line known
as a national boundary.
Buckets of holy water are sprinkled
on the gallant heroes who go forth to
save the capitalists pork chops from
the greedy maws Of their opponents.
But the preachers discover that the
fighting is not for foreign markets OF
other loot, but for Christianity lin ia
pan it would be Shintoism), democ
racy or the freedom of the seize
Those who have any moral scruples
over sticking sharp bayonets into the
quivering flesh of other human beings
are inoculated with religious phobia
germs, and their eyes soon begin to
CLEAN with fanatical light over the
prospect of wading in the gore of their
fellow-men. All for the Lord.
Whenever a criminal happens to
hold a radical viewpoint on any ques
ton, the sob sisters of the capitalist
press, male and female. Immediately
begin to flood the papers with articles
seeking to prove that radicalism is re
sponsible for crime. But the crimes
of preachers have become so common
that even the newspapers do not fea
ture them any more, unless the case
is of exceptional interest, as when Q
conspicuously godly preacher is dis
covered playing the role of King Da
vid to so per cent of his flock.
The fact that the notorious interna
tional spy, Ignatius T. Trebitsch
Lincoln, now identified as lotto CHR.
EEL" held in Rome on the charge OF
completely in the murder of the Italian
socialist deputy, Matteotti, is an ex
Anglican curate, will not be stressed
in the capitalist press. The capital
4. lists realize the usefulness OF organ
izod religion in their task OF keepint
the workers in a state Of passivity
and dreaming of happy homes beyond
the skies to compensate them for thu
misery they suffer in this world un
der capitalist exploitation. There
fore the master class are averse L
bringing discredit on religion by fea
turing the crimes and moral direlic
tions of its standard bearers.
The Left Wing socialist at thu
Cleveland convention Of that organ
ization, who wanted referendum OF
the liquidation of the party-that II
what its surrender to LaFoliette real