The Left has purified itself and has espoused an anti-religious attitude that has also become increasingly cynical of the uneducated class, along with the working class and immigrants. As a result, the Left has betrayed and destroyed many of its traditional alliances. The result? Have you noticed the rise of right-wing "populism" in our world?

I agree with that, Joe, but it is not all "The Left", just a very substantial part of it.

Let me put in a rather long extract from the foreward to the 2017 Labour manifesto:


Britain needs to negotiate a Brexit deal that puts our economy and living standards first. That won't be achieved by empty slogans and posturing. We cannot put at risk our links with our largest trading partner. Instead we need a jobs-first Brexit that allows us to upgrade our economy for the 21st century.

Labour will invest in the cutting-edge jobs and industries of the future that can improve everybody's lives. Which is why this manifesto outlines a fully costed programme to upgrade our economy. From childcare to transport, housing to lifelong learning, Labour understands how a successful economy depends on services that support us all.

" FOR THE MANY NOT THE FEW "

So yes, this election is about what sort of country we want to be after Brexit. Is it one where the majority are held back by the sheer struggle of getting by? That isn't the Britain Labour is determined to create.

So let's build a fairer Britain where no one is held back. A country where everybody is able to get on in life, to have security at work and at home, to be decently paid for the work they do, and to live their lives with the dignity they deserve.

Let's build a country where we invest our wealth to give everyone the best chance. That means building the homes we need to rent and buy, keeping our communities safe with more police officers, giving our children's schools the funding they badly need, and restoring the NHS to its place as the envy of the world.

Don't let the Conservatives hold Britain back.

Let's build a Britain that works for the many, not the few.


I find that a good summary of what I see as the Left objectives. Childcare, housing, lifelong learning, decent pay for work, live their lives with the dignity they deserve and so on,

There is nothing whatever anti-religious in that. In fact if expressing your religion is part of your dignity, that is fully in line with the Labour party view.

Anti-religion is not a Leftist principle. Sure, there's 'opium of the people' stuff (But as Wiki points out the full quotation is "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people". Often quoted only in part, the interpretation of the metaphor in its context has received much less attention. It the same with Nietzsche; his "God is dead" quote is in a context that is rarely considered).

The core Left principles are, to my mind, like espoused by the manifesto. Forcing religion in there, pro or anti, simply weakens the coherence of the left.