Marxism

• Marx was concerned with what he saw as the oppressive nature of capitalism, and claimed that religious ideas and practices are ideological
• Marx believed that society was made up of superstructure and infrastructure. Class inequalities originate in the infrastructure due it embodying the economy and workplace. The superstructure is composed of institutions such as religion, and spreads ideology
• The ideological role of the superstructure is threefold

  1. It hides or disguises inequality
  2. if this is impossible it propagates ideas that justify or legitimate inequality
  3. maintains and reproduces inequality over generations
• Marx saw religion as ideological in two ways:

  1. It promotes the idea that the existing socioeconomic hierarchy is natural and god given, and therefore unchangeable
  2. ideological power of religion convinces the proletariat that their socioeconomic position is gods will and they will be compensated for suffering by god in the afterlife
• Marx argued that the ideology of Protestant religion in the 18th century attracted the emerging capitalist class because it emphasised individualism and meritocracy. Material success was seen as gods favour and poverty as the outcome of sin. Therefore, socioeconomic positions were pre ordained by god
• The Marxist idea that religion promotes the idea that socioeconomic positions were pre ordained by god is seen in the hymn all things bright and beautiful- “the rich man in his castle, the poor man at his gate, god made them highly and lowly, and ordered their estate”
• some religions state that poverty is a virtue as it is a test of commitment to god. Those who suffer poverty without complaint as the chosen ones in a world of sinners. In the new testament- 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
• Religious belief systems offer compensation for poverty by promising rewards in an afterlife or a return to a promised land. Rastafarians believe they will return to the promised land, where Ras Tafari is resurrected
• Marx described religion as the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people
• Marx aligned religion with opium because the consolidation someone gets from drugs is only temporary and comes at the cost of blinding people to reality, creating a false class consciousness
• What did Lenin describe religion as?

  A spiritual gin
• Marx believed that religion provided no solution to problems of the poor and it inhibits social change by claiming to make suffering bearable. Religion convinces the poor that capitalism and class inequalities are pre ordained by god. They therefore become fatalistic about their socioeconomic position
• Marx believed that in a communist society, religion would no longer be necessary as there would only be one class. Without oppressing classes, there would be no need for religion as its purpose was to legitimate ruling class power
• Marx argued that religions are dangerous conservative forces as they help to prevent crucial, revolutionary social change in capitalist society
• Norris and inglehart argue that poorer societies are more affluent than richer societies, supporting Marx’s idea that religious belief is prevalent amongst the poor and powerless
• chesnut argues that the poor are attracted to prosperity theology, also known as the health and wealth gospel. it gives people hope that they can transcend their social class. people are told that with sufficient faith, peoples desires can be met
• Functionalists argued that Marx ignored the positive benefits of religion to society, including how religion promotes social stability and shared values necessary for social order. Eg the uk doesn’t have religious tensions despite being a pluralistic society
• Those who favour the secularisation thesis argue that religion can no longer act as an ideological force in favour of the ruling class as religion doesn’t hold the same value as it used to
• Feminists argue that religion acts to preserve male or

  patriarchal power as well as class inequality and that

  Marxists tend to neglect how religion helps maintain

  gender-based forms of inequality
• Marxism tends to focus on Christian traditions and

  neglect world religions. It has also failed to keep pace

  with the emergence of more individualised, new-age

  religions, whose followers often do not defer to an

  external divine authority and which are often totally

  uninterested in the economic world