Marxism Flashcards
Marx
Argues religion is an opium, dulling the pain of oppression. Religion legitimates and justifies social class positions, e.g. the divine right of kings
Lenin
Religion is a spiritual gin, distorting the reality of capitalism to dull the pain of alienation and oppression
Engels
Religion can be revolutionary and create social change, it has a dual character, meaning it has the possibility to be both a force for good and a force for bad, e.g. when Christian sects opposed Roman rule and when the Catholic Church supported Mussolini
Billings
Shows how religion has a dual character because the same religion (evangelical Protestantism) played two different roles for textile workers who were encouraged to be passive and the coal miners whose leaders encouraged them to challenge the status quo
Gramsci
Religion has helped share a dominant ideology (hegemony), but it could help to create a counter-hegemony - an alternative vision of how society could be
Bloch
Religion has the possibility to create social change through its teachings of Heaven and it’s utopian qualities, i.e. Heaven is a fair, perfect place which may inspire working classes to want this on Earth. Religion has “the principle of hope”
Maduro
The clergy have revolutionary potential, as they can voice the troubles of the oppressed and encourage action. He demonstrates this through Liberation Theology in Latin America
Turner
Religion doesn’t always maintain the economy, it can be used to achieve other aims i.e. to control sexuality, as seen through religion in medieval times during the feudal system