Programme of the World Revolution/Chapter 17
CHAPTER XVII.
SPIRITUAL LIBERATION—THE NEXT STEP TO ECONOMIC LIBERATION.
(THE CHURCH AND THE SCHOOL IN THE SOVIET REPUBLIC.)
The working class and its party, the party of Communist Bolsheviks, are struggling not only for economic freedom but also for spiritual liberation of the toiling masses. Economic liberation itself will be the easier attained the sooner the workman and the farm labourer get their brains cleared of all the rubbish with which the landowners and the manufacturing bourgeoisie have stuffed them. We have already noticed before how cleverly the dominating classes have hitherto bound the workers with their newspapers, journals, pamphlets, priests, and even the school, which they cleverly converted from an organ of enlightenment into an institution for dulling the minds of the people.
One of the agencies in achieving this object was the belief in God and the Devil, spirits good and evil (angels and saints), in short, in religion. A great number of people have grown accustomed to believe in all this, whilst if we analyse these ideas and try to understand the origin of religion and why it is so strongly supported by the bourgeoisie, it will become clear that the real significance of religion is that it is a poison which is still being instilled into the people. It will also become clear why the party of the Communists is a strong antagonist of religion.
Modern science has proved that the original form of religion was the worship of the souls of dead ancestors. This worship began at a time when the so-called elders—that is to say, the richer, more experienced and wise old men of the tribe who already had some power over the rest, had attained great importance. In the early stages of human history, when men were still living in herds, like semi-apes, people were indeed equal. It was only later on that elders or heads of tribes began to have command over the whole tribe: they were the first to be worshipped. The worship of the spirits of the dead rich—this is the basis of religion: and these "sacred" idols were later on changed into a terrible God who punishes and forgives, judges and governs. Let us analyse why people have come to accept such an explanation of everything that takes place around them. The reason is that people judge of things that are little known to them by comparing them with things with which they are familiar: they weigh and measure things on a scale that is concrete and comprehensible. A well-known scholar quotes the following instance. A little girl, brought up on a private estate here there was a poultry farm, constantly had to do with eggs: eggs were ever present before her eyes. Once, when she saw the sky strewn with stars, she told a story of how the heavens were sprinkled with a vast number of eggs. Such instances may be quoted endlessly. The same thing holds true as regards religion. People saw that there are those who obey and those who are obeyed. They constantly witnessed the following picture—the elder (and later on the prince) surrounded by his followers, more experienced, wiser, stronger and richer than the others, orders others and reigns over them: the others act according to his wish: he is obeyed by all.
This kind of thing witnessed daily and hourly appeared to explain all that takes place in the world. There is on the earth, they said, one commander and those who obey him. Consequently, they reasoned, the whole world is built up on the same scheme. There is a master of the world, a great, strong, terrible master upon whom everything is dependent, and who punishes his servants severely for disobedience. This master over the world is God. And so the idea of a god in the heavens arises only in those cases when people are accustomed to the power of the elders over the tribe.
It is an interesting fact that all the names given to God confirm the same origin of religion. The Russian words for God and for rich are of the same origin; thus "Bog" (God) and "Bogat" (rich) are derived from the same root. God is great, powerful, and rich. God is called Lord or Master. What does "Lord" signify but the contrary to servant or slave? In prayers we have: "We are thy servants." God is further called the "Heavenly King." All the other titles point in the same direction: "sovereign," "ruler," and so on. And so, what does "God" really mean? It means, as we are told, a rich, strong master, a slave owner, a "heavenly king," a judge—in short, an exact copy, a reproduction of the earthly power of the elders, and later on of the princes. When the Jews were governed by their princes, who punished and tortured them, there arose the teaching of a cruel and terrible God. Such is the God of the Old Testament. He is a vicious old man, who chastises his subjects severely. Let us now consider the God of the Greek Orthodox Church. The teachings concerning this god arose in Byzantium, in the country which served as a model of despotism. At the head stood a despotic monarch surrounded by his ministers; these, in their turn, were surrounded by high officials; next followed a whole host of avaricious officials. The Greek orthodox religion is an exact model of this system. The "Heavenly King" sits above. Around him are gathered the most important saints (for instance, Saint Nicholas, the Holy Virgin, something after the style of an empress, the wife of the Holy Ghost), these are ministers: next comes a hierarchy of angels and saints in the order of officials in a despotic government. These are the so-called "ranks of angels and arch-angels": cherubs, seraphs heralds and various other "ranks" or "offices." The word "rank" itself shows that we have to do with officials ("rank" and "official" are words which have the same root in the Russian language). These "ranks" are represented on images in such a way as to show that he who stands higher in rank is better dressed, has more laurels, that is to say, he has more "orders," just the same as on our sinful earth. In a despotic State the official invariably demands "a bribe," else he will do nothing for you; and just in the same way it is necessary to light a candle before the image of the saint or he will get angry and not deliver your message to the highest official—to God. In a despotic State there are special officials whose express mission is to act as intercessors, for a bribe," of course. Here in the orthodox religion there are also special saints—"intercessors," or intermediaries, especially women. For instance, the Holy Virgin is, so to speak, a professional female "intercessor." Of course, she does not perform her services free of charge; she expects to have more churches built in her name than anyone else, and a great number of surplices have to be bought for her images, ornamented with precious stones, and so on.
In short, we see that the belief in God is a reflection of the commonest everyday relations: it is the belief in slavery, which people are made to believe exists not only on the earth, but in the whole universe. We understand, of course, that in reality there is nothing of the kind; and it is clear to everybody that such legends hinder the development of humanity. The progress of Man is possible only when he finds natural explanations for all phenomena. But when, instead of a logical reason, people invent a god or saints or demons or devils, then, of course, we can expect nothing sensible. Here are a few more instances. Some religions people believe that thunder is caused by the Prophet Elijah taking a ride in his chariot; and therefore, when they hear thunder they take off their hats and make the sign of the cross. In reality this electricity which causes thunder is perfectly well known to science, and by this same power we run trams and carry on them many things we desire. A logical line 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, the gendarme, the detective. He receives a Government salary for administering his poison to the masses. This is the most dangerous part of the whole affair. Were it not for this monstrously firm and strong organisation of the plundering capitalist State, there would be no room for a single priest. Their bankruptcy would be swift enough. But the trouble is that the bourgeois States support the whole church institution, which in return staunchly supports the bourgeois Government. At the time of the Tzar the Russian priests not only deceived the masses, but even made use of the confessional to find out what ideas or intentions their victims entertained towards the Government; they acted as spies while discharging their "sacred duties." The Government not only supported them, but even persecuted by imprisonment and exile and all other means, all so-called "blasphemers" of the Greek Orthodox Church.
All these considerations explain the programme of the Communists with regard to their attitude to religion and to the Church. Religion must be fought, if not by violence, at all events by argument. The Church must be separated from the State. That means that the priests may remain, but should be maintained by those who wish to accept their poison from them or by those who are interested in their existence. There is a poison called opium; when that is smoked, sweet visions appear; you feel as if you were in paradise. But its action tells on the health of the smoker. His health is gradually ruined, and little by little he becomes a meek idiot. The same applies to religion. There are people who wish to smoke opium; but it would be absurd if the State maintained at its expense, that is to say, at the expense of the people, opium dens and special men to serve them. For this reason the Church must be (and already is) treated in the same way: priests, bishops, archbishops, patriarchs, abbots and the rest of the lot must be refused State maintenance. Let the believers, if they wish it, feed the holy fathers at their own expense on the fat of the land, a thing which they, the priests, greatly appreciate.
On the other hand, freedom of thought must be guaranteed. Hence the axiom that religion is a private affair. This does not mean that we should not struggle against it by freedom of argument. It means that the State should support no church organisation. As regards this question, the programme of the Bolshevik Communists has been carried out all over Russia. Priests of all creeds have been deprived of State subsidy. And that is the reason why they have become so furious and have twice anathematised the present Government, i.e., the Government of the workers, by excommunicating all workers from the church. We must note this. At the time of the Tsar they knew well enough the text in the Scripture which says, "There is no power but from God," and "The powers that be are to be obeyed." They willingly sprinkled executioners with holy water. But why have they forgotten these texts at a time when the workers are at the head of the Government? Is it possible that the will of God does not hold good when there is a Communist Government? What can the reason be? The thing is very simple. The Soviet Government is the first Government in Russia to attack the pockets of the clergy. And this, by the way, is a priest's most sensitive spot. The clergy are now in the camp of the "oppressed bourgeoisie." They are working secretly and openly against the working class. But times have changed, and the masses of the labouring class are not so prone to become the easy prey to deceit they were before. Such is the great educational significance of the Revolution; revolution liberates us from economic slavery, but it also frees us from spiritual bondage.
There is another vital question concerning the mental education of the masses. It is the question of the school.
At the time of the domination of the bourgeoisie the school served more as an organ of educating the masses in a spirit of submission to the bourgeoisie than as a medium of real education. All primers and other appurtenances of study were permeated with the spirit of slavery. Especially was this the case with history books. These did nothing but lie in describing the feats of the Tsars and other crowned scoundrels. Next to these, an important part in the schools was played by the clergy. Everything aimed at one object: to mould the child so that it should emerge not a citizen but a subject, a slave, capable if the occasion requires to kill his fellow-men should they rise against the capitalist Government. Schools were divided into grades; there were schools for the common people and others for the better classes. For the latter there were colleges and universities, where the sons of the bourgeoisie were taught various sciences with the final object of teaching them how to manage and subjugate the rabble; for the rabble there was the lower school. In these, more than in the others, was the influence of the clergy predominant. The object of this school, that gave very little knowledge but taught the children a great deal of religious lies, was to prepare people to suffer, obey, and be resignedly submissive to the better classes. The common people, had no access whatever to the higher schools, that is to the universities, the social higher technical schools, and various other institutions. And thus an educational monopoly was created. Only the rich or those supported by the rich could enjoy a more or less decent education. For these reasons the intellectuals utilised their position in a very clever manner. And, of course, at the time of the October Revolution they were against the workers; they scented danger of their privileges and rights vanishing if everybody had the right to study, and if the "rabble" were given the possibility of acquiring knowledge.
It is therefore necessary in the very first place to make education general and compulsory. In order to construct life on new principles it is necessary that a man should be accustomed from childhood to honest toil. For this purpose school children should be taught all kinds of manual labour in the schools. The doors of the high schools should be open to all. The priests should be turned out of the schools; let them, if they wish to, fool the children anywhere they like, but not in a Government institution: schools should be secular and not religious. The organs of the local government of the workers have control over the schools, and should not be parsimonious where public instruction and the supply of all the requisites for successful teaching for boys and girls is concerned. At present in some of the villages and provincial towns, some idiotic school-masters, aided by the "kulaks" (or rather the "kulaks" aided by these idiots) are carrying on a propaganda, saying that the Bolsheviks are aiming at destroying science, abolishing education, and so on. This is, of course, a most despicable lie. The Communist Bolsheviks have quite different intentions; they wish to liberate science from the yoke of capitalism, and to make all science accessible to the labouring masses. They wish to destroy the monopoly (exclusive right) of the rich to education. This is the true foundation of the matter: and it is no wonder that the rich are afraid of losing one of their chief supports. If every workman acquires the qualifications of an engineer, then the position of the capitalist and of the rich engineer is not worth a brass farthing. They will have nothing more to boast of, for there will be many such as they. No undermining of the workers' cause, no amount of sabotage by the old servants of capital will be of any avail. And that is what the right honourable bourgeoisie is afraid of.
Culture for the bourgeoisie, spiritual subjection for the poor—these are the capitalists' war cries. Culture for all, liberation of the mind from the yoke of capital—this is the watchword of the party of the working class, the party of the Communists.