The socialist movement can only be revived by building bridges to the world's great religions

The hard truth is that " socialism " in China is not much different from " Stalinism " in Russia in the 1930s. Leon Trotsky wrote brilliantly about " The Revolution Betrayed " before his assassination in Mexico by Stalin's agents in 1940. Today the mainstream news media in the United States imagines that the FAR LEFT is lurking in the Bernie Sanders wing of the Democratic Party. You will not find old Bernie wrapped in a red flag hiding under a mansion room bed . Sad to say but so many Marxist vanguard parties ( self-appointed ) - claiming to be anti-Stalinist in the tradition of Leon Trotsky - have degenerated into daffy personality cults similar to the notorious Church of Scientology with its dedicated army of " Clears ". The biggest mistake of the old Soviet Union was to declare itself OFFICIALLY ATHEIST not long after the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 - an event that inspired the workers of the whole world. As a longtime independent democratic socialist - while appreciating Marx's insight into capitalist exploitation and oppression - I think the socialist movement can only be revived by building bridges to the world's great religions - Catholic , Protestant , Jewish , Islam , Buddhist . Otherwise the passion for social justice can degenerate into nihilism and purely destructive mob violence. MATTER IN MOTION is very interesting but not worthy of worship .