In our own country, as well as in England, the labor movement has
developed not merely outside the range of organized Christianity, but in
the teeth of the bitterest opposition to it. Christianity, since it came
into power, has always preached to the poor in defense of the privileges
and possessions of the rich.
In a recent publication by Jerome Davis, which is entitled "Labor Speaks
for Itself on Religion," the author has compiled the opinions of labor
leaders in the United States, Canada, Great Britain, Russia, Germany,
Czechoslovakia, Mexico, China, Austria, Australia, Belgium, and Japan.
It is a terrific indictment by labor against organized religion. The
author tells us, "Here is labor speaking for itself, and in the by and
large it feels that the Church has not understood or helped it to secure
justice. The majority believe that the Church has a capitalistic bias.
It is a class institution for the upper and middle classes." This is
putting the matter rather mildly when one considers their grievances
expressed in their own words. Again Jerome Davis asks, "Is it possible
that our Church leaders are to some extent blinded by current
conventional standards? Are they so busy sharing the wealth of the
prosperous with others in spiritual quests that they fail to see some
areas of desperate social need? Do they to some degree unconsciously
exchange the gift of prophecy for yearly budgets and business boards?"
James H. Maurer, the president of the Pennsylvania Federation of Labor,
speaks for labor and the title of his subject is, "Has the Church
Betrayed Labor?" Mr. Maurer's opinion follows: "A worker living from
hand to mouth, and lucky if he is not hopelessly in debt besides,
working at trip-hammer speed when he has work, with no security against
enforced idleness, sickness, and old age, can hardly be expected to
become deeply interested in, or a very enthusiastic listener to sermons
about Lot's disobedient wife, who because she looked back was turned
into a pillar of salt. He is far more concerned about his own overworked
and perhaps underfed wife who, due to the strain of trying to raise his
family on a meager income that permits of no rest or proper medical
care, is slowly but surely turning into a corpse. To go to a church and
listen to a sermon about the sublimeness of being humble and meek, that
no matter how desperate the struggle to live may be one should be
contented and not envy the more fortunate, because God in His infinite
wisdom has ordained that there shall be rich and poor and that no matter
how heavy one's burdens on this earth, one should bear them meekly and
look for reward in the world to come and remember that God loves the
poor--such sermons naturally sound pleasing to the ears of the wealthy
listeners, and the usual reward is a shower of gold and hearty
congratulations by the sleek and well-fed members of the congregation.
But to an intelligent worker such sermons sound like capitalistic
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account