The Waterbury Democrat., 1935-09-11
0. w. CAMPBELL ATTEMPTS TO CROSS SWORDS WITH
 J. w. FITZPATRICK

247 So. Main St.
 Waterbury. Conn
 September 10. 1895. Editor of The Democrat:
 I see that James William Fitz- patrick has taken time out from his job of selling the Hayes regime to the voters to take a crack at the Communist position on religion. feel that the slanderous statements which MT. Fitzpatrick has made must be answered.
 I do not want to spend much space on the claptrap about "slan- dering the President, but would just like to ask MT. Fitzpatrick to ask any worker in any shop in the city if that worker is receiv- ing wages that are high enough to meet the increased cost of living resultant from the crop destroying, commodity curtailment program of the administrations; if that worker can buy his family even the barest necessities of life. dare either the President or MT. Fitzpatrick to re- peat the question asked by Roose- welt last year in one of his 'fireside chats to the people of the United States, Are you better off than you were last year?"
 Not that the Republicans were or would be any better. No. The only form of government which will raise the standard of living of the workers is a government of the workers themselves. This is the reason that the Communist Party is advocating WORKERS AND FARMERS PARTY, A, LABOR PARTY, A PARTY WHICH WILL DO AWAY WITH BOTH THE DEMOCRATS ANDSTHE REPUB- LICANS, THE PARTIES OF THE MILLIONAIRE CAPITALISTS.
 It is easy enough to print names and to quote trite phrases, such as Communism is, nothing but So- cialism applied" (by the way. { I wonder from what Mir. Fitzpatrick copied this one?), but I, will rely on the official Communist position on religion, which may be found in pdIupnIStS SOiN oS lho IVY WSA hSto Book Shop, PAT South Main. St., Room 1, which I quote:
 "The state must not concern. it. self with religion; religious soci- cities must not be bound to the state. Every one must be absolutely free to profess whatever religion he likes, or to profess no religion, i..e,,. to be anvatheist ..,. There must be no discrimination whatever in the rights of citizens on religious grounds. (Religion, by Lenin. page 8). Jay
 In discussion with a group of students of the Union Theological Seminary, New York, on February 15, 1895. Earl Browder. general secretary of the Communist Party U. S. A., answered the question. "What is the official position of the Communist Party of the United States on the question of religion?", as follows:
 "The Communist Party takes the position that the social function of religion and religious institutions is to act as an opiate to keep the lower classes passive, to make them accept the bad conditions under which they live in the hope of a reward after death. From this esti- mate of the social role of religion it is quite clear that the Communist Party is the enemy of religion. We Communists try to do the opposite of what we hold religion does. We try to awaken the masses to real ization of the miserable conditions under which they live. to arouse them to revolt against these condi- tions of life now; not to wait for any supposed reward in heaven, but to create a heaven on earth; that is, to get those things which they dream about as good things, to realize them in life. It is clear that any serious movement to rouse and organize the masses to the realization of, a. better life now, must struggle against anything that tends to create passivity, to create the idea that it is better to submit passively to the powera that be.
 On the other hand, the Commun- ist Party is absolutely opposed to any form of coercion on religious matters. Communists are for relig- ious freedom internationally. The Communists do not consider relig- ion a private matter when itcon- cerns revolutionists. But they con sider that in relation to state power, to governmental policies. religion is private matter. The state should not intarfsre with, or in