With its rampant consumerism and exaltation of a savior figure, Christmas is anathema for many on the left. Naturally, these feelings of disenchantment among secular and scientifically minded leftists extend to Christianity and religion more broadly.

However, left politics and Christianity have interacted and intersected in non-conflictual ways in spite of intense ideological misgivings. While Marxism is known for its strident critiques of religion, Marx described “religious distress” as the “expression of real distress and protest against real distress.” Engels saw the emergence of Christianity as a groundswell of resistance, writing that “Christianity, like every great revolutionary movement, was made by the masses.”

Working-class Christians have seized on the progressive elements in Christianity to challenge hierarchies and inequalities within churches; to advocate for labor, land, and housing rights; and to agitate against militarism, racism, and poverty. Among Protestants in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Social Gospel pointed the way toward not just individual but social salvation. The Catholic Worker movement continues to preach anti-militarism and service to the poor.