Marxist view of religion

One sentence

The main function of religion is to help maintain the ruling classes power.

Marx

Point:

Marx argued that religion serves as a form of ideological control that helps maintain the power of the ruling class by distracting the oppressed.

Evidence: He famously referred to religion as the “opium of the masses,” meaning it acts as a sedative for the working class, dulling the pain of their exploitation under capitalism. For instance, religion promises rewards in the afterlife for suffering in this life, as seen in teachings of heavenly reward or the idea that suffering is a form of divine testing, which allows people to accept their harsh material conditions.

Explain: By providing comfort and explanations for their suffering, religion creates a false consciousness, preventing the working class from recognizing their exploitation and the need for social change. It makes the oppressed passive and resigned to their fate, rather than encouraging them to challenge the unjust system that keeps them in poverty. In this way, religion becomes a tool for social control, keeping the status quo intact and perpetuating inequality.

Link: Thus, Marx’s view suggests that religion is a key element in legitimizing capitalist exploitation, helping to stabilize the existing class structure and prevent uprisings or revolutionary movements that might challenge the dominance of the ruling class.

Evaluate: However, critics, such as neo-Marxists like Gramsci, argue that religion can also be used as a form of resistance. For example, Liberation Theology in Latin America used religious teachings to empower the poor and challenge political oppression, showing that religion can sometimes work in the opposite direction of Marx's argument.

3 ways religion acts as opium

1

Dulls the pain of exploitation rather than dealing with the cause of the exploitation just like opium dulls the pain of an injury rather than healing the injury itself.

2

Religion give a distorted world view, it can offer no solutions to earthly misery but can offer the promise of an afterlife. Just as Opium can create hallucinations and distort the takers perspectives.

3

The temporary high that the followers feeling whilst taking part in the rituals mimics the temporary high achieved by taking opium.

Ideology to justify inequality

Point:

Marxists argue that religion serves to justify social inequality by presenting suffering as natural and God-given, which helps to maintain class oppression.

Evidence:

Religious teachings often suggest that the poor will be rewarded in the afterlife for their suffering. For example, Christianity teaches that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter heaven, encouraging the poor to accept their position. Hymns like All Things Bright and Beautiful claim that “God made them high or lowly and ordered their estate,” implying that social class is divinely determined.

Explain:

These beliefs create a false consciousness by misleading the proletariat into thinking their suffering is virtuous or inevitable. According to Lenin, religion acts as a “spiritual gin” that is handed out by the ruling class to keep the working class passive and confused, preventing revolution by keeping them in a “mystical fog” that obscures the reality of exploitation.

Link:

This supports the Marxist view that religion is an ideological tool used by the ruling class to legitimate inequality and maintain control over the working class.

Evaluate:

However, critics argue that religion does not always support the status quo. In some cases, it has promoted social change and resistance, such as in the case of Liberation Theology in Latin America.

Product of alienation

Point:

Marxists argue that religion is a product of alienation—a feeling of powerlessness people experience under capitalism—and it helps people cope with their suffering. SUFFERING IS A TEST REWARDED IN HEAVEN

Evidence:

Religion makes a virtue out of suffering by teaching that the poor are more godly than the rich. For example, the Bible says, “It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven.” Religion also promises supernatural help and a better afterlife, making people accept their suffering rather than try to change their situation.

Explain:

Because people feel powerless and exploited, religion gives them hope and comfort. But this comfort is misleading—it stops them from trying to change their lives or challenge the system. It encourages people to focus on the next life instead of fixing problems in this one.

Link:

This supports Marx’s view that religion is created by the oppressed to cope with alienation, but in doing so, it helps keep the capitalist system going.

Evaluate:

However, not all people turn to religion when they suffer, and in secular societies, religion may no longer have this power.

Evaluations

1. ABERCROMBIE, HILL AND TURNER – Religion doesn’t necessarily function as an ideology to control the population. In pre-industrial society Christianity was a major element of the ruling class ideology but had very little impact on the peasantry.

2. ALTHUSSER rejects the idea of alienation as being unscientific and more of a romantic notion of people having a true self. This would make it an inadequate concept to base a theory of religion on.