Karl Marx’s views on religion are very negative. He finds that religion is used to suppress the way people really feel about the state of society and the world. Religion acts as a mask to hide and subtly express what the people of a society as a whole are truly thinking. On some accounts Marx seems to make valid points about what religion represents in a society, but he takes these theories to a negative extreme while omitting the beneficial impacts religion may have on a society.
In some cases religion can reflect what the masses are truly thinking. Marx states that “man is the world of man--state, society. This state and this society produce religion, which is an inverted consciousness of the world”. However, in Introduction to A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right, Marx only acknowledges the negative aspects of this theory. If religion is going to truly show what the entire state feels it will not only show the true suffering of the people but also the true happiness as well as any other emotion.
Religion can be used as a tool to suppress members of a community, but it doesn't have to be used as such. For the time and place Marx was writing, religion most likely was being used to control the lower classes. This could also be said of medieval times when the lower class strictly followed what was said by the clergy. In the present day people tend to be more aware of when others are attempting to manipulate them, and social class lines are not drawn as sharply as they were in past times. Also, more religions seem to be acceptable to practice instead of one religion that everyone in the country follows. Because people have access now to so many different religions it is more difficult to manipulate an entire country through one faith.
While the very basics of Marx's thoughts on religion could be accurate, many of his theories one sided and outdated. He does not acknowledge the benefits religion could bring to a society or the hope it brings to many people.
1 comment:
Helen I think your response couldn't be stated more accurately! My thoughts were exactly the same as yours. I do believe that Marx was one-sided and awfully pessimistic, but I also agree with the fact that based upon the period in which he was living, his argument made sense. Religion was a tool of corruption, and Marx recognized this and tried to convince the people to be in touch with reality instead of being completely consumed by religion. I think that Marx should have worded many of his phrases differently, and rather than claimed religion as the "opiate" of the people, he should have said that religion is okay as long as one also keeps in touch with his/her true reality and circumstances.
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