Two Religions by Roque Dalton When revolution is outlined on the horizon the old cauldron of religions gets stirred up. In normal times religion meant going to Mass paying tithes for God's house baptizing children and confessing sins to keep one's account in order. When revolution is outlined on the horizon churches remember the masses and come down from the clouds and mysteries and Sunday tranquility. Fat pastors speak of the end of the world when what's approaching is the end of exploitation; hysteric prophets speak of deciding between Good and Evil when the people need to decide against oppression and hunger. When social revolution begins to unfurl its flags the heirs of those who crucified Christ tell us Christ is the only hope precisely because he waits for us there in his kingdom, that is not of this world. This is the religion pointed to by Marx as "the opium of the people" since in that form it's more a drug for confusing the heads of men and hindering them from finding their calling in the social struggle. But Camilo Torres, among others, has told us there is a positive religion too that surges from the soul of revolution by way of poems and songs, and that one risks one's life in this world and not after death. In this religion men who serve are (like true communists) the salt of the earth.