“……Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.” [1]
“Religion is a superstition that originated in man’s mental inability to solve natural phenomena. The Church is an organised institution that has always been a stumbling block to progress.” [2]
Religion at the start of the 21st century
Bibliography and further reading
A contribution to a debate - ‘The wrongs done by the Christian right – US and UK’
Revolutions Per Minute number 10
Welcome to issue 10 of RPM. We are confident that readers will find the work extremely interesting, not to mention thought provoking.
Due to a lack of time and money it has been necessary to restrict our analysis to Britain, particularly England and Wales. We have not, however, ignored international developments and in chapter five attempts have been made to locate the growth of Islam in Britain to developments in the rest of the World.
The title was deliberately chosen to include ‘a contribution to a debate.’ This is because we want to see readers make one and even before going to print we received an article on ‘the wrongs done by the Christian right’ which has been included at the back. Future contributions would, with the person’s permission, go on the web-site connected to RPM, at www.red-star-research.org.uk. We look forward to receiving them.
Major contributors to this issue are Jim Fox, Jon Mendel, Steve Green and Tony Hall. Thanks to all of them.
Issue 9 of RPM: ‘THE RICH AT PLAY – foxhunting, land ownership and the ‘Countryside Alliance’ sold extremely well. It was also positively reviewed in a number of magazines and newspapers.
Thanks, once again to all those who have taken out a subscription to RPM and an extra special thanks to those who’ve taken out a standing order – details at the back for anyone interested. The subscriptions include each issue of RPM as well as a range of badges, the most recent is one of Zapata.
The next two issues of RPM are already in production. Issue 11 will be on ‘The English working class – radical and revolting’ and Issue 12 on ‘Making the NHS accountable to the people.’
If you have a piece of work you would like to be considered for publication then please make contact.
Mark Metcalf
Revolutions
Per Minute
BCM Box 3328,
London WC1N 3XX
07967 886257
www.red-star-research.org.uk
Notes:
1. Karl Marx [1818 – 1883]. Marx was a German philosopher and political economist whose works [particularly Das Kapital] attempted to analyse the nature of the capitalist mode of production. Marx believed that, by creating a class of industrial workers [the proletariat], capitalism sowed the seeds of its own destruction. Capitalism was simply an historical stage in the development of human societies whose culmination would be the advent of the classless society – communism. Marx wrote very little about religion as such. The quote is taken from a work entitled ‘A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right’ [February 1844]
2. Emma Goldman [1869 – 1940]. Goldman was an American anarchist who believed in freedom, the right of individual self-expression, the freedom from prejudice and convention. Her writings on religion [although sparse] are to be seen in this context. The quotation is taken from ‘What I Believe’[1908]