The Daily Worker Newspaper, September 11, 1926, Page 7

ee A By WM, PICKENS. IDDU KRISHNAMURTI! A name to conjure with. Its unpronounci- bleness and strangeness will appeal to the ignorant. Hig backers and ex- ploiters are shrewd enough to know that the easiest way to impose some new religious fanaticism on the minds | of the ignorant is to go to the other side of the world and get some! stranger of a strange name and fetch him around to be “the Messiali,” “the Anointed,” “the Christ”—all or which terms mean the same thing. We'll bet Mrs. Besant, or anybody else, a quarter of a dollar that the theosophists never would have nerve enough, in an English-speaking coun- try, to make a god or a demi-god out of a plain “Henry Smith” or “John Jones.” But “Jiddu Krishnamurti” has the necessary number of strange sounds in it. Do you remember the happy old lady who, returning frem the Sunday morning service, said: “I certainly did enjoy the preaching this morning! I just love to hear the preacher repeat that wonderful word —~‘Mesopotamia!’” Messiahs are no new things in hu- man history. Many new religions have had them, or held out hopes to have them, That is necessary to a new religion, Now our theosophists are exploiting this young Oriental. That is another thing about Messiahs: they have to be young, around 30 years—old enough to be comparatively safe and yet young enough to be ap- pealing. And so Jiddu Krish (we will call him that to save time, or maybe just Krish will do) is adopted by our theosophists. Theosophy is a religious cult whose devotees pretend to be more directly connected with some god than do the followers of most other religions. The word means “di- vine wisdom” or “wisdom of god.” | ways pretends to have some closer Whenever a fellow wants to get ont/connection with God than ordinary of working hard for a living he al-| mortals have. Buyin of THE DAILY WORKER. Second Section: This Magazine Section Appears Every Saturday in The DAILY WORKER. The Messiahs ALEX. BITTELMAN, Editor. SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 1926 Other Faki do that. They pretend to control prt 'yate wires to heaven, but they live in the sweat of other men’s brows. A few centuries ago this Krish, with his claim to some sort of inside deal- ing with the Almighty, could have been put over big on this little world. But today, if we must worship ay human at all, we are going to worship some of our real benefactors, like Rdison or Burbank or Carver. One Burbank in a million years is worth more, both to the stomachs and to the 30uls of mankind, than is a “Messiah” svery season, Theosophy may serve the more brainless section of the rich by re- jeving them of the ennni of their dleness and furnishing them with a uore aristocratic religion than that of he sweaty working people... After all -he wealthy old dames might.worship something a heap worse’ than this lit- ile brown man Krish. They might have a fair-looking god out of Valen tino, but he could dance and drink and cuss too humanly, and his per formances were too easy for the com mon people to grasp and comprehend. | But Krish is sufficiently unknown and | unknowable to turn the trick. And it jis a good deal better “divine” states- |manship to fetch “Jiddu Krish” from ithe far heights of India than to at- | tempt to put over “Sam Shanks” from ;the red hills of Georgia, | Go to it, Krish! We wish you best of luck-—by all meahs Bathor re? than that which has overti@n mdst” of the “Messiahs.” We hope you will ilways avoid scandal, which will be hard enough, even for a god, under he circumstances—and we advise |ihat you demand of them always “cash down” for all of your promissory notes By Jerger | on divine favors. There was just one such people never do depend on God | Messiah who loved his enemies and to feed and clothe them, however; |sought first of all the kingdom of they expect the ordinary mortals to | heaven—and they lynched him. | | aOR You will notice that THE COMING A. F. OF L. CONVENTION. N the fourth of October the Amer ican Federation of Labor will con- vene its regular annual convention in Detroit, Michigan. It devolves there fore upon every trade unionist to be gin giving serious consideration to the problems confronting the labor move ment and to the means for strengthen- ing it. we wish to call the attention of our readers to the Program for Building The Trade Untons issued by the Trade Union Educational League. The pro- gram was carried by The DAILY WORKDR in its Labor Day issue, American labor must giva serious In connection with this important |creastng the ranks of the trade unions | yaccilation and even event in the life of American labor,|and strengthening their fighting pow-| treachery among the BRITISH MINERS DETERMINED TO WIN. thought to the present situation. |/7'HE British miners lack no courage, nor perseverance, nor readi- Every trade union organization that ness for sacrifice. What they do need is moral and material sup- ry its responsibility to ese ~ p24 port from their brothers abroad. And it is our duty here to come mre rs ovement organization is in| 1 -ross immediately with the maximum that we have, and more. peal of pig cosnge oo oe See what the Russian workers did. Up to date they have con- the convention of the A. ¥. oh L. | tributed a total sum of $4,500,000 and have again decided to assess There are great opportunities to be | themselves to the extent of one percent of their earnings to aid the found in the present situation for in-|Gritish miners. American labor should take note of this fact and try to emulate the example. International class solidarity is the dearest possession of labor- Hardly an- other factor is as vital to the success of labor struggles at the present time as the growing consct- ousness of the world A Lump of Scab Coal! unity of labor. Ted day it is the British ; miners that are in need of support from the workers in other lands. Tomorrow the American miners are most likely to be im the same position. And the success of both will depend up- on the readiness of the workers of the world to render this support, Remember that the British miners are confronting not only the British cap- italists and their By Vose | government but also er, The slogan of the left wing for| right wing and sham the Organization of the Unorganized | left wing leaders in should become the demand of the en-| the trade unions. tire movement te be expressed tn con-| Dangerous as this crete action by the A. F. of lL, con+| situation is, the Brit- vention in Detroit, ish miners arg de termined to wia, A. B. By Jerger “