ABSTRACT
Among the traits which characterize man and mark him off from all other creatures—speech, abstract thought, and so on—religion is conspicuous. From the dawn of his history man has been distinguished by what may be called a "religious sense", that is, a faith in some god. Christianity did not represent a clean break with the religious past. It was rooted in the antique doctrine and scriptures of Judaism, and for its developing organization and ritual it owed much to its Græco-Roman environment. Nationalism has warmth and a pietistic character which communism lacks. It has a spiritual quality; and, unlike communism, it appreciates the basic religious truth that man does not live by bread alone. Lenin, during his years of exile from his native Russia, earned the reputation of being a left-wing Marxian, with only minor concern for nationalism. He established the office of "Commissar of Nationalities" and entrusted it to his friend and colleague, Joseph Stalin.
