tood
when taken to mean what they say. His prayer--Thy kingdom come, Thy
will be done on earth as it is in Heaven--was surely meant to be taken
literally Are our opponents prepared to assert that in Heaven there
will be factories working women and children for starvation wages;
coal-mines and private property in land, dividing the population of
Heaven into two classes, one revelling in riches and luxury,
destructive of soul and body, the other grovelling in poverty, also
destructive of all that is best in life? If not, how can they
consistently support the system which inevitably produces that state
of things upon earth?"[985]

Other Socialists frankly confess that Socialism is absolutely
incompatible with Christianity and all other religions; that Socialism
can succeed only if religion be abolished, and that therefore religion
must be abolished. The philosopher of British Socialism states:
"Socialism utterly despises the 'other world' with all its stage
properties--that is, the present objects of religion. It brings
back religion from heaven to earth."[986] "As to the ethical
teaching of Christ, with its one-sided, introspective, and
individualistic character, we venture to assert that no one
acquainted with the theory of modern scientific Socialism can for one
moment call it Socialistic. Socialism has no sympathy with the morbid,
eternally-revolving-in-upon-itself transcendent morality of the Gospel
discourses. This morality sets up a forced, to the vast majority
impossible, standard of 'personal holiness' which, when realised,
has seldom resulted in anything but (1) an apotheosised priggism,
_e.g._ the Puritan type, or (2) in an epileptic hysteria, _e.g._
the Catholic saint type."[987] Mr. Blatchford states: "I have
been asked why I have 'gone out of my way to attack religion.'
In reply I beg to say that I am working for Socialism when I
attack a religion which is hindering Socialism, that we must pull down
before we can build up, and that I hope to do a little building, if only
on the foundation. I oppose the Christian religion because I do not
think the Christian religion is beneficial to mankind, and because I
think it an obstacle in the way of humanism."[988] Another very
influential writer says: "Personally I feel called upon to attack
Christianity as I would any other harmful delusion. I do not believe in
the theology of Jesus any more than I do in his sociology. It is no use
pretending that Socialism will no