ABSTRACT
Explaining the freethinkers' concern for theology in terms of their background and perceptions of the Church is convincing, but hardly complete. It reflects merely the view from inside. From outside, it appears that "theologizing" tainted working class radicalism partly because it served a useful function. Atheists reject supernaturalism in toto, as a principle and a thing - holding deism to be just as much a rank superstition. The acquisition of Queenwood for the Socialists proved to have been easier than its disposal. Occasional references to its failure and its financial implication for the society suggest that it remained a topic of controversy throughout the first half of the 1840's. The Socialist/Freethought cause suffered a setback with the outcome of the Harmony Hall experience. In 1854, Robert Cooper began publishing the London Investigator with the declared commitment to precision in thought and purity in position. He denounced two errors that were supposedly creeping into the freethought movement - "trimming" and "accommodation".
