The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1927-04-01
My Country IT'S Of Thee
BIZ NAT KAPLAN.

The Reactionaries Canonize A Rebel
Although George Brandes was pre-
eminently an aesthetic whose most no
table work was done in the fields of
literature and criticism, the revolu-
tonary turn of mind of the Danish
Jew and world citizen finds expre--
sion in many of his comments. Were
it not for his all-absorbing literary
interests and a profound pessimism he
might have been a political revolu-
tionary. AS it was his teachings were
colored with a parlor-red tint.
And now, liberal rabbis and other
leaders Of American Jewish thought
are attempting to adopt Brandes as
one of their own. In one week three
New York rabbis extolled his jewish
ness. The man never denied his Sc
mite originals name was George
Morris Cohen Brandes-but it is es-
tablished that he never attended a
synagogue. And the American He
brew" of October 20, 1926 quoted
him as saying: "Mine is the free
thinking point of view, not the Jew.
ish attitude. My convictions are in
accord with the concepts of Spinoza,
who was reviled by the Christians
and driven from the synagogue by
the Jews. Thus, l feel myself to be
! a Jew only when abused as a Jew
Unlike Spinozo who was upset sem
timentally by formal excommuni-
cation, it appears that Brandes made
his self-willed separation clear.
In addition to his nonconformist
stand with reference to religion, he
was opposed to nationalism, asserting
that "nationalism characterizes our
present age. The nations have fallen
into the stupid habit of praising them
selves. Almost every nation thinks
itself the first in the world. !"
"The twentieth century has been
century of illusions. Europe entered
it devoted to illusions. Our most ia
nous men everywhere believed what
they wanted to believe. Herbert Spen-
Ger in England spread the doctrine
that the instincts of humanity woulc
produce world peace at will. Dos
toievski in Russia preached the doc
trine of patience, while Tolstoi and
KropotlSin announced their belief in
the essential goodness of humanity.
The peoples themselves had gone fur
Their. Goodwill had been preached
throughout Europe and America. AS
far as the masses of the people were
concerned, all nations were peace-lov-
ing, even in 1914. To be dangerous,
it was sufficient for them merely to
be patriotic. Patriotism and world
peace do not agree"
And now these "liberap rabbis who
rub impeccably-clad shoulders with
other American paytriots patronize
Brandes as one of their own. Which
leads me to observe this with refer
ence to my people-they will celebrate
anyone who happens to be Jew and
attains fame. Today some of them
are hailing Jesus as Jewish teacher,
the madly exalted Nazarene who pro-
claimed universal brotherhood, the
poor beaten Jew who was framed by
Pharisees like those who now admit
Brandes, the rebel, into their ranks.
They are making a posthumous at
tempt to bring Brandes into the fold,
the man who incurred the hatred of
the ecclesiastes by opposing woman
suffrage on the ground that by CIV
ing the vote to women the power of
the clerical party would be increased
because women attend church more
often than men. They attempt to
paint him as religious man and
Danish patriot while they forget that
he was at one time driven from his
homeland and consistently opposed
to religion and nationalism.
That he went no further in his
teachings may be explained by state
ment made last year at about this
time; 81 have given up all hope about
the progress of mankind. find that
cruelty, hypocrisy and stupidity, in
stead of diminishing, have become I'M
conquerable enemies which articles
and books are fighting in vain. :"
One wishes that he had made closer
contact with the masses and thereby
gained a stronger faith and more
courageous spirit to help him in his
fight. This much Is certain: Brandes
was and is far removed from the
types Of manhood and Of intellect
represented by the Jewish "libcrals"
who attempt to call him one Of their
own.
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