marxism

• Marx and Engles saw religion as a conservative force which prevented social change by creating false consciousness.
• Marx said "religion is the opium of the people"
• 3 functions of religion according to Marx:

  • religion is the opium of the people
  • its a tool of social control
  • it creates false consciousness
• Religion is the opium of the people by:

  1. Promising an afterlife to give people something to look forward to; therefore it is easier to put up with misery now to enjoy the blissful afterlife.
  2. Religion makes a virtue out of suffering-  making it appear as if the poor are more ‘Godly’ than the rich. 
  3. Religion offers hope of supernatural intervention to solve problems on earth: makes it pointless for humans to try improve their conditions
  4. Religion can justify the social order and people’s position within that order e.g. The Great Chain of Being
• religion as a means for social control:

  1. the bourgeoisie and church support one another, and the church legitimated social inequality, thus maintaining the established social order.
  2. religion is only necessary under exploitative systems and is unnecessary under communism
  3. It keeps people in their place
• the relationship between church and the state:

  1. The church and the state were seen as one in former times, as today it is in certain countries (Iran)
  2. Although modern British monarchs no longer claim divine right, Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953 was similar to Henry IV- she was crowned by and blessed by archbishops.
  3. work together to maintain the status quo
• In support of Marxism:

  1. the Methodist Church played a key role in preventing working class revolution in 19th century Britain.
  2. Slave owners in southern states in America converted slaves to Christianity- seen as controlling gentle influence
  3. In America, religion is used to support dominant groups.
  4. Modern protestant fundamentalist religions in the USA support right wing and conservative values.
  5. In Britain, the royal family serve to legitimatise the state as the King is the symbolic Head of all institutions of the state.
• Against Marxism:

  1. Fails to consider secularisation- less than 10% of people attend church
  2. Martin Luther King was a Baptist minister
  3. Fidel Castro- a staunch communist- acknowledged the continuing appeal of religion in Cuba despite having being discouraged by the communist state.
  4. Many church goers are middle class. According to Marxists, middle classes have no reason to go to chruch.