Marxist on religion

How does religion legitimate and justify inequality according to a Marxist + real religious examples?

• Religion justifies the power of the dominant class by making it their 'God given right’. For example, in the 16th century the king was seen as God representative on Earth.

• It justifies suffering of the poor as something God given and that suffering is virtuous and will be favoured in the afterlife.

• Hindus caste system. A caste system is essentially a class system where people takle the caste of the parents and cannot marry outside their caste. In the Hindu religion they teach the idea of karma that if you behave and are obedient in your current life you will be reincarnated to a higher caste in your next life. - Marxist believe this idea is to only serve the needs of capitalism

Quote from Christianity that Marxist argue legitimates inequality + what does it create?

‘It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven’.

This creates false consciousness

Define false consciousness

A distorted view of reality that prevents the poor from acting to change their situation.

Lenin’s view on religion

He describes religion as a ‘spiritual gin’- religion is an intoxicant given to the poor by the ruling class to confuse them and keep them in their place.

The ruling class create a ‘mystical fog’ that distorts reality and keeps the working class in place.

According to Marxist how is religion a product of alienation + quote of religion from Marxist

Alienation involves being separated from or losing control over something that one had produced or created.

Under capitalism workers are alienated from the production of which they create. Due to these exploited conditions lower class would turn to religion as a form of consolation

quote ‘ Is the opium of the masses. It is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world’.

Evaluate Marxist perspective of religion

• Ignores positive functions of religion such as comfort to misfortune.

• Some Marxist such as Althusser reject the concept of alienation as it is unscientific and based on an idea that humans have a ‘true self’.

• Neo Marxist see certain forms of religion to assist class conciseness not hinder.