Theroies Of Religion - Marxism (force For Change) Flashcards
What does Engels suggest about religion?
Religion can inspire a revolution
-He believes that religion has a dual character
-This means they can prevent change but it can also challenge to status caught and encourage change
-For example, religion sometimes preachers liberation from slavery and misery
-He argues that the rise in religion is a response to economic distress
-He makes a distinction between the revolutionary and reactionary stages of religion
-christianity was typical of any revolutionary movement to begin with as it was a resistance the Roman empire
-But when they couldn’t resist it anymore, religion began to promising afterlife
-Therefore religion is revolutionary as it ends to deliberate the oppressed but only later did it become reactionary
-This meant it became a conservative force as a result of society
-Angles evidence this with the book of revelations which he believed to be the first book of the new Testament.
Evaluation of Engels view
Most biblical scholar is now agreed that revelations was not the first book of the new Testament, therefore undermining his view that religion started out as a revolutionary movement.
What does Bloch argue about religion?
-he also sees religion as having a dual character
-like Marxist he recognises that religion often inhibits change but emphasise it can also inspire protest and rebellion
-Religion is an expression of the principle of hope and that life can be better as it contains images of utopia
-Although psychology usually support the status quo lower ranks within the church hierarchy often have supported or even inspired popular protests
-These dreams of heaven may to see people with a promise of an afterlife but they can also help people to see what has changed in the world
-Therefore religion helps to create an alternative vision of a better world which when combined with effective political organisations and leadership can bring about social change.
What does Gramsci argue about religion?
-he’s interested in how real class are able to maintain capitalism through the use of ideas
-He suggests they have rule successfully with ideas as hegemony
-When hegemony is achieved the working class can lie and consent to rule so there is less need for coercion or use of force
-For example, the Catholic Church used significant ideological power to win the consent for Mussolinis fascist regime
-However hegemony is never complete due to the alternative vision
-This is called counter hegemony — a fightback made up of alternative ideas
-Therefore religion has a dual character
-Members of the clergy actors organic intellectuals which means they are organises leaders of counter hegemony
-For example, Oscar Romera
Evaluation of Gramsci
Although it shows religion can inspire fightback against oppression, it hasn’t presented a serious threat to global capitalism as Marx wanted
