Jim Farmelant :
*** -clip-
Hogben admitted that in the nineteenth century materialism and secularism had flourished and had enjoyed support within the bourgeoisie.But in his view that was because that was a period of prosperity and expansion while "the period in which we live is one of ferment and disintegration." Therefore, the ruling class and its apologists within the scientific community had to abandon materialism along with its benevolent liberalism in order to stabilize their social order.
^^^^ CB: I wonder if the studies on percentages of the population with religious belief that Doug has posted break it down by class. I doubt that the ruling class itself has abandoned atheism for itself , in its own thinking.
Even in 2004, the bourgeoisie must maintain atheism among the controlling sections of political and economic executive ( Bush being a fake front in this regard). What is the percentage of true believers among financiers, central bankers, treasurers, CEO's,economists ? One advantage of the bourgeois class consciousness over working class consciousness has got to be substantial, relative atheism of the former. When the bourgeoisie become more religious than than the working class, comes the revolution.