Page:Can a man be a Christian on a pound a week? - Hardie.djvu/10

 mere incident, abolish all poverty, and dethrone the brute god Mammon. Not only so, but the fierce and unending struggle for a living or for wealth which characterises modern life would give place to a kindly brotherhood, wars would cease, and

Under such conditions the pound a week man would be living a full life, developing all his faculties in accordance with the laws of his being, and ever rising higher and higher in the scale towards that perfect manhood which is surely the goal of human existence. But, some horrified critic will say, This is Socialism, and Socialism is anti-Christian. Others, however, may find in the picture a realisation of the meaning of the words which they learned at their mother’s knee when they were taught to pray, “Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.”

Leaving aside the personal abuse which the publication of the foregoing article brought out, let me deal with the main objections raised against it by the more or less responsible critics. These may be summarised under the following heads:—