Hmm, it's not worthy of Cheezy's ask a red thread, so I'll put it here. Could a commie still be a commie if said commie weren't Godless?
Godless, yes. Religionless, probably less likely. There's no problem with the belief in the existence of a Higher Being, in a philosophical or deist sort of sense. Hell, there's not even that much of a problem with religion As A Thing, the problem is with how religion is used and what its message does to the otherwise revolutionary potential of an oppressed people. Marx referred to religion as "the opiate of the masses" because its social effect was similar to the physical effect opium has on the body - to dull pain and make one slothful. Because of the common message of religions that tolerance of temporal evils is temporary, because greater, infinite spiritual rewards await, religion creates a way for the masses to "dull the pain" of poverty and oppression by giving them the mental fortitude to put up with evils that would otherwise motivate people to do something about the evils that surround them who believe that this is the only world in which we we get to exist.
As Cutlass said, the moral model of the Judean Carpenter is one that most communists can appreciate. And there are of course models of communist thinking in many religions, such as the
waqf in Islamic law and the kibbutzim which Zionist Jews formed in Palestine.
Here are a few select quotes from Christian theologians which make reference to a communist morality:
"You hoard your wealth, and do not bother to look upon those who are worn and oppressed by necessity! You will say to me: “How am I doing wrong if I hoard what belongs to me?” And I ask you: “What are the things that you think belong to you? From whom did you receive them? You act like someone who goes to a theatre, and having sat in the seats that others might have taken, tries to stop everyone else from coming in, taking for himself what should have been used by everyone.” And so it is with the rich, who having been the first to gain what should be common to all, keep it for themselves and hold onto it. If everyone took only what he needed, and gave the rest to those in need, there would be neither rich nor poor. " - St. Basil of Caesarea
"We are called upon at the beginning of the 20th century to decide the question propounded in the Sermon on the Mount, as to whether we will worship God or Mammon. The present day is a Mammon worshipping age. Socialism proposes to dethrone the brute god Mammon and to lift humanity into its place. I beg to submit, in this very imperfect fashion, the resolution on the paper, merely promising that the last has not been heard the Socialist movement either in the country or on the floor of this House, but that, just as sure as radicalism democratised the system of government politically in the last century, so will socialism democratise the country industrially during this century upon which we just entered." - Keir Hardie
Walked into that one...
