Religion

Most of the writing about Christianity in the Voice addressed the conflict between the selfish individualism that defined the new economic system, and the Christian ideals of benevolence and charity.

Many workers condemned the rise of a society that they saw as being founded on the sin of “avarice," and the “undue exercise of…selfish propensities.” The pursuit of wealth, wrote one worker, “make[s] a total wreck of everything noble, generous or philanthropic,” making “dollars…the only joyous sounds that strike upon the ear…the only objects of sincere worship.” The divorce of religious principles from industrial relations was, in the words of another, “a fatal wrong,” which allowed “professed Christians to practice injustice in their business, social and political capacities.” They were equally critical of fellow workers who “worshiped at the altar of mammon,” a Biblical reference to the demon of gluttony and riches.

References to Christian values are found in much of the material in the Voice. This section collects material more specifically about Christianity and Christian themes.