marxism and religion Flashcards
a modern-day example of religion supporting the economic elites in society
the USA’s new Christian right group have endorsed politicians such as Ronald Reagan. 2/3 of people who voted for Regan attended church 1 time a week. Regan introduced new right policies which negatively affected the working classes.
religion legitimises class inequality
Marx argues that through compensatory promises in religion the working class lower place in society is a brief sacrifice that the poor make in order to get into heaven
ex ‘it is more likely to pass a camel through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter heaven’
this makes the WC believe that by enduring being poor they will be rewarded by getting into heaven whilst the rich and oppressive in society get to not suffer now but then don’t get into heaven
religion legitmises power and privilege of dominant classes which makes their position religiously ordained
ex. the Hindu caste system
counter for religion legitimising class ineqaulity
feminists such as de beauvoir argue that instead of compensatory promises legitmising capitalism adn the ruling classes they actually legitimise the patriarchy
for example encouraging women to be meek and mild and endure power from men will lead to prosperous afterlife
religion creates a fog so the WC cant see their exploit
Lenin argues that religion acts as a ‘spiritual gin’ a mystical fog that is rolled out by the ruling classes in order to confuse and distract them from realizing their exploitation
for example, the WC will be too busy interpreting religious texts and making sure they continue to keep to the teaching of the bible that they won’t have time or understanding to realize their reality
Althusser agrees that religion is part of the ISA which clouds the WC from their exploitation through religious practice being distracting which is essentially ideologically conditioning
conter to religion creating a fog
functionalists would argue that his ignores the many positives of religion such as creating a collective conscious, bringing people together to make them feel as though they are part of something bigger which in turn creates social harmony
religion is a product of working class alimenation
Marx argues that capitalism creates WC alimentation by exploiting them for profit and making them do the same tasks over and over again which makes the working class feel serepare to the ruling classes
therefore the working classes turn to religion as an ‘opiate of the masses’ the dull the pain of exploitation as it makes the working class feel as though they are part of something bigger than them which makes them not feel as betrayed by the ruling classes as they are not alone
counter of religon being a product of alienation
it is argued that in societies where the exploitation from the ruling classes is removed such as soviet russia religion still grew stronger than the west, they makes the argument that religion is only present in society due to exploitation of the working class is false
it also doesn’t explain why the middle classes can be very religious
neo marxism on religion
maduro- religion can be key for social change against the ruling classes
liberation theology- in Latin America priests began to speak up on behalf of the poor against the ruling classes which was the military dictatorship. in doing so a new theology was created that interpreted Christianity as siding with poor, developoig the idea that wealth and power should be distibuted equally
gramsci- agrues that archbishop remoeros courage to do so led to a counter hegamony being produced that helped build portest and rebellion against traditional religion
counter to neo marxism and religion
lehman- pentecostalism challenges liberation theology as it helos the poor to get employment and out of exploitation, whereas liberation theology doesnt help the lower classes out but just argues on their behlaf
