And then， after Herr Dühring has once more tripped us up on those authors' rights of his which are always getting in the way， he assures us that in his world of the future there will be， "of course， an absolutely free Bar available to all"{279}.
"The free society， as it is conceived today" {304}， gets steadily more and more mixed. Architects， porters， professional writers， gendarmes， and now also barristers！ This "world of sober and critical thought" {D. C.
556-57} and the various heavenly kingdoms of the different religions， in which the believer always finds in transfigured form the things which have sweetened his earthly existence， are as like as two peas. And Herr Dühring is a citizen of the state where "everyone can be happy in his own way". [126] What more do we want？
But it does not matter what we want. What matters is what Herr Dühring wants. And he differs from Frederick II in this， that in the Dühringian future state certainly not everyone will be able to be happy in his own way. The constitution of this future state provides：
"In the free society there can be no religious worship； for every member of it has got beyond the primitive childish superstition that there are beings， behind nature or above it， who can be influenced by sacrifices or prayers" {D. Ph. 286}. A "socialitarian system， rightly conceived， has therefore ... to abolish all the paraphernalia of religious magic， and therewith all the essential elements of religious worship" {D. C. 345}.
Religion is being prohibited.
All religion， however， is nothing but the fantastic reflection in men's minds of those external forces which control their daily life， a reflection in which the terrestrial forces assume the form of supernatural forces. In the beginnings of history it was the forces of nature which were first so reflected， and which in the course of further evolution underwent the most manifold and varied personifications among the various peoples.
This early process has been traced back by comparative mythology， at least in the case of the Indo-European peoples， to its origin in the Indian Vedas， and in its further evolution it has been demonstrated in detail among the Indians， Persians， Greeks， Romans， Germans and， so far as material is available， also among the Celts， Lithuanians and Slavs. But it is not long before， side by side with the forces of nature， social forces begin to be active -- forces which confront man as equally alien and at first equally inexplicable， dominating him with the same apparent natural necessity as the forces of nature themselves. The fantastic figures， which at first only reflected the mysterious forces of nature， at this point acquire social attributes， become representatives of the forces of history. *16 At a still further stage of evolution， all the natural and social attributes of the numerous gods are transferred to one almighty god， who is but a reflection of the abstract man. Such was the origin of monotheism， which was historically the last product of the vulgarised philosophy of the later Greeks and found its incarnation in the exclusively national god of the Jews， Jehovah. In this convenient， handy and universally adaptable form， religion can continue to exist as the immediate， that is， the sentimental form of men's relation to the alien， natural and social， forces which dominate them， so long as men remain under the control of these forces. However， we have seen repeatedly that in existing bourgeois society men are dominated by the economic conditions created by themselves， by the means of production which they themselves have produced， as if by an alien force. The actual basis of the religious reflective activity therefore continues to exist， and with it the religious reflection itself. And although bourgeois political economy has given a certain insight into the causal connection of this alien domination， this makes no essential difference. Bourgeois economics can neither prevent crises in general， nor protect the individual capitalists from losses， bad debts and bankruptcy， nor secure the individual workers against unemployment and destitution. It is still true that man proposes and God (that is， the alien domination of the capitalist mode of production)disposes. Mere knowledge， even if it went much further and deeper than that of bourgeois economic science， is not enough to bring social forces under the domination of society. What is above all necessary for this， is a social act . And when this act has been accomplished， when society， by taking possession of all means of production and using them on a planned basis， has freed itself and all its members from the bondage in which they are now held by these means of production which they themselves have produced but which confront them as an irresistible alien force， when therefore man no longer merely proposes， but also disposes -- only then will the last alien force which is still reflected in religion vanish； and with it will also vanish the religious reflection itself， for the ****** reason that then there will be nothing left to reflect.
Herr Dühring， however， cannot wait until religion dies this， its natural， death. He proceeds in more deep-rooted fashion. He out-Bismarcks Bismarck； he decrees sharper May laws [127] not merely against Catholicism， but against all religion whatsoever； he incites his gendarmes of the future against religion， and thereby helps it to martyrdom and a prolonged lease of life. Wherever we turn， we find specifically Prussian socialism.
After Herr Dühring has thus happily destroyed religion， "man， made to rely solely on himself and nature， and matured in the knowledge of his collective powers， can intrepidly enter on all the roads which the course of events and his own being open to him" {D. Ph. 407}.
Let us now consider for a change what "course of events" the man made to rely on himself can intrepidly enter on， led by Herr Dühring.
