n the leading Socialist book-stores of
America, but even at the National Office of the party in Chicago.

In most countries of Europe, where the war against religion is much more
open and widespread than in America, the Socialists are frank in
confessing that their movement is atheistic and anti-religious.

In our own country some of the more violent Socialistic enemies of the
church admit both in their speeches and in their writings that they
would be extremely happy to see the very idea of God become a matter of
ancient history. Christian Socialists of the old Carr faction, who
constitute a minority of far less than one per cent of the Socialist
Party of the United States, have not only conceded the existence of an
atheistic propaganda within the ranks, but have attacked it and utterly
failed to suppress it.

Apart from these two classes of American Socialists, who admit the
existence of a campaign in favor of atheism, most Socialists in our
country, because they fear that votes will be lost if our people are
convinced of the anti-religious character of the party, steadfastly deny
that they are conspiring against religion. Indeed they are quite cunning
and crafty in their effort to beguile the unwary. If the person
hesitates joining the party, owing to his conviction that nearly all the
Socialist leaders have been the enemies of religion, he is informed that
it would be just as foolish for him not to be a Revolutionist for this
reason, as it would be for one not to become a Republican because Robert
Ingersoll did not believe in God and even propagated atheism.

As the conspirators against religion have, by this plausible argument,
involving the name of Ingersoll, removed the prejudices that many
persons formerly had against Socialism on account of the atheistic
teachings of its leaders, it seems but fitting to give a short
refutation of the deceptive argument and to point out the absurdity of
the comparison just mentioned.

In the first place, although Robert Ingersoll was an atheist, he never
stated that Republicanism was anti-religious. On the other hand, very
many of the highest authorities in the Marxian Party, whose extensive
knowledge of Socialism justifies our belief that they know but too well
the policy of the revolutionary movement, admit that Socialism
postulates atheism and war against religious beliefs. Ingersoll,
moreover, never attacked religion nor taught atheism with a view to
furthering the caus