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400 MIR Letters Dear MIR, Further to your article on blasphemy in MIR No.40, I would like to make a few comments. Firstly, the law of blasphemy has its basis in the class struggle waged between the Church, the largest single landowner in England, and the people, during the Middle Revolutionary priests such as John Ball, who preached that the Bible did not condone the class system but instead supported the common ownership of all goods, were hounded, goaled and finally executed for their views which were condemned as 'blaspemous'.
Similarly hundreds of thousands of workers were burned at the stake before the fiction and non-fiction. Reformation in their struggle against the economic despotism of the Roman Church and for religious tolerance, which as religion and politics in Medieval times were virtually synonymous, means that they were struggling for the right of freedom of speech and thought.
Secondly, a general blasphemy law would give any religion the right to censor and have punished anyone who wished to express an it ise cal tor the recide oal that the from the shelves of local authorities which have 'the promotion of homosexuality' as their theme. This could effectively ban books by some of literature's greatest names, for example, Proust, Wilde, Orton, Genet and Forster. However it is another element of the thin edge of a totalitarian wedge which is designed to take away our hard-won civil rights, in the same way that this government has taken away our trade union and employment rights, in order to stifle any possible outlet for dissent when this government and the system they represent face a crisis which threatens its very existence.
Paul Weare, Folkestone Dear Comrades, Bill Hopwood was absolutely right to criticise the book reviews in the MIR. With the exception of the book about Oscar Wilde the books under review are always, firstly, expensive, and secondly, obscure. Reviewers should break from their habit of reviewing dusty academic tomes and instead point out the wealth of existing useful and interesting books, both There is a treasure-trove of 19th and 20th century literature written by authors who reject capitalism and hypocritical bourgeois culture. In general, the more opposed an artist has been to the status quo the more significant the work he or she has produced.
This is proved in reverse by the absolute drivel that flows from the pen of Mr Jeffrey Archer, the mouthwash served up by the likes of Barbara artland and the premasticate pap we are forcefed every d by the television Our MIR must be first in the line to combat this and inspire us with the knowledge that there is an immense untapped wealth of artistic conditions.
Max Neil, Preston Dear Comrades, The last MIR was one of the best to date, especially the debate between Peter Hadden and Clare Short. It clearly showed the difference between a Marxist and a reformist approach to Northern Ireland, especially regarding the state. I hope that the MIR will include more debates like these in the future.
How about a debate about the poll tax with someone putting the Labour leaders' alternative and someone putting the Marxist position? Debates like this are useful because it not only raises our level of understanding but also the opponents of Marxism can see their mistakes.
Chris Fernandez, Youth Officer, Derby North Labour Party Militant EVOLU ITION Special Subscription Offer Why not guarantee your future copies of the MIR and take advantage of our special subscripsion left posted to you currently costs $1.28. But it you take out a subscription for the next four issues, you can get all four sent to your address for just $4.50 UK/Ireland $5 overseas. Just fill in the form below and send a cheque or postal order payable to World Socialist Books to: WSB, 3/13 Hepscott Road, London E9 5HB.
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STALINISM