Page:Nikolai Bukharin - Programme of the World Revolution (1920).djvu/80

 of reasoning shows us that we can convey manure with the aid of the "Prophet Elijah," and that he makes a good carman. Let us suppose that we believed in the Prophet Elijah version. In that case we should never have invented tramcars. That means that, owing to religion, we should for ever have remained in a state of barbarism. Another instance. War breaks out, people perish in millions, oceans of blood are shed. A reason explaining this must be found. Those who do not believe in God think, reason, and analyse; they see that the war was started by Tzars and Presidents, by the rich bourgeoisie and landowners; they see that war is conducted for plundering purposes and for filthy aims; and therefore they say to the workers of all countries, "To arms against your oppressors!" "Down with capital!" We see quite a different attitude in the case of a religious man. Sighing like an old woman, he reasons as follows: "God is punishing us for our sins. Lord, our heavenly father! Thou art chastising us justly for our transgressions." And if he is very pious, and Greek Orthodox into the bargain, he makes it a point to use one particular kind of food on definite days (this is called fasting), to beat his forehead against stone floors (this is called penance), and to perform a thousand other idiotic things. Equally foolish things are done by the religious Jew, the Moslem Turk, the Buddhist Chinese, in a word by everyone who believes in God. Hence it follows that really religious people are incapable of fighting. Religion, as we have shown, not only leaves people in a state of barbarism, but helps to leave them in a state of slavery. A religious man is more inclined to suffer anything that happens resignedly (for everything, as they believe, "comes from God" ("from on high"); he considers himself bound to submit to the authorities and to suffer, for which he will be repaid a hundredfold in the life to come. Little wonder, then, that the dominant classes in capitalist States look upon religion as a very useful tool for deceiving and stultifying the people.

At the beginning of the chapter we saw that the power of the bourgeoisie is sustained not only by bayonets but also by dulling the brains of the slaves. We also saw that the bourgeoisie poisons the minds of its subjects on an organised plan. For this purpose there is a special organisation, namely, the Church organised by the State. In nearly all capitalist countries the church is just as much a State institution as is the police; and the priest is as much a State official as is the executioner,