GUIDE TO THE PHILOSOPHY 1938 - 1947.pdf - Rare Books at ...

674 ETHICS AND POLITICS: THE MODERNS
independently ofhuman will, realize themselves through its
agency but in all good faith by the exploiting class, who
have as a rule sincerely believed in the truth of the doctrines
whose practice by the many was a necessary condition
of their own continued tenure of economic power. Using
religion as a means, they have nevertheless revered it as
an end. Absolute truth and pragmatic truth have thus gone
hand in hand, but while the former was a myth, the
latter was a reality.
Unpremeditated
Revelations of the True Position.
Occasionally, however, a member of the governing class,
at once less tactful and more clear-sighted than his fellows,
has not hesitated to expose the foundations upon which
his position rested; for example, Napoleon I, who, though
a notorious sceptic, stoutly refiised to be drawn into anti-
Christian or anti-clerical legislation. Taxed with the
protection which he afforded to a religion in which he
did not believe, "What is it," he asked his critics, "that
makes the poor man think it quite natural that there are
fires in my palace while he is dying of cold? that I have
ten coats in my wardrobe while he goes naked? that at
each of my meals enough is served to feed his family for
a week? It is simply religion, which tells him that in
another life I shall be only his equal, and that he actually
has more chance of being happy there than I. Yes, we
must see to it that the floors of the churches are open
to all, and that it does not cost the poor man much to
have prayers said on his tomb/ 9
Religion and the Industrial Revolution. Proceeding
with his interpretation of the function of religion, the
communist notices how in the nineteenth century, when
the danger to Capitalism from the growing proletariat
first made itself felt, the religious beliefs of the governing
classes became more fervent as their conduct became more
edifying. It was important that the proletariat brought
into existence by the industrial revolution should learn