The Socialists had thus seriously weakened the state at two vital points. By their continuous advocacy of a republic and their obstructive tactics they had impaired to a considerable extent the authority of the state, and autocratic government rests upon authority. By their internationalist teachings they had shaken the foundations of patriotism. And there is still another count against them. Opponents of Socialism accuse its advocates of being enemies of the Christian religion and the church. Socialists declare in reply that Socialism, being a purely economic school of thought, does not concern itself with religious matters in any manner. They point out further that the programs of Socialist parties in all lands expressly declare religion to be a private matter and one about which the party does not concern itself. This is only part of the truth. It is true that Socialism officially regards religion as a private matter, but German Socialism--and the Socialism of other lands as well--is in practice the bitter enemy of the organized church. There is an abundance of evidence to prove this assertion, but the following quotations will suffice. August Bebel, one of the founders of German Socialism, said: "We aim in the domain of politics at Republicanism, in the domain of economics at Socialism, and in the domain of what is today called religion at Atheism."[11] [11] Quoted by W. H. Dawson in _German Socialism and Ferdinand Lassalle_, ch. 15. _Vorwaerts_, central organ of German Socialism, wrote on July 1, 1892: "We would fight churches and preachers even if the preachers and curates were the most conscientious of men." _Vorwaerts_ contrived also to add insult to the statement by using the word _Pfaffen_ for preachers, a word having a contemptuous implication in this sense throughout Northern Germany. Karl Kautsky, for years one of the intellectual leaders of the Socialist movement in Germany and one of its ablest and most representative publicists, said:[12] "The one-sided battle against the congregations, as it is being carried on today in France, is merely a pruning of the boughs of the tree, which then merely flourishes all the more strongly. The ax must be laid to the roots." [12] Die neue Zeit, 1903, vol. i, p. 506. _Genosse_ Dr. Erdmann, writing after the war had begun, said: "We have no occasion to conceal the fact that Social-Democracy is hostile to the church--whether Catholic or Evangelical--and that we present our demands with special decision because we know that we shall thus break the power of the church."[13] [13] Sozialistische Monatshefte, 1915, vol. i, p. 516.