Hi Nick Hmmm. I think your

Hi Nick Hmmm. I think your analysis is a bit too pat for my liking.  Did the rulers of soviet state capitalism require belief in the existence of  a god in order to hold down the Russian working class?  Nope. Not at all. To the contrary, this was an “atheistic state”.  Are we therefore to deduce that atheism leads us unerringly towards state capitalism?   Of course not. And it’s not just state capitalism – there are some ardent atheists who strongly support the free market.  Indeed, here are one or two ex members of the SPGB I can think of here. Their atheism did not prevent them from arriving at this unedifying way of looking at the world. Ditto religion.  Some religions are fiercely critical of the establishment and mainstream religion. If anything this works to undermine capitalist hegemony rather than reinforce it. I think a more nuanced approach to the religious question is called for – one which firmly separates metaphysical or ontological materialism from historical materialism.  That latter is the only thing that really counts as far as the socialist case is concerned and religious individuals are demonstrably capable of thinking in historical materialist terms – every bit as much as non religious individuals  – notwithstanding their religious beliefs. Isn’t that all that really matters in the end? Cheers Robin