Marxist view on religion
What is a 'false consciousness'?
A false consciousness is a distorted reality which prevents the underclass or proletariat from trying to change their situation.
What is the correlation between religion and alienation according to Marx?
Alienation is what happens when workers lose control over their products and thus, have no ability to express their true selves as creative beings. When workers have to perform the same minute task devoid of skill or meaning, the workers turn to religion as a form of consolation.
What does Karl Marx mean by religion being the 'opium of the people'?
It dulls the pain of exploitation but does not solve the cause of exploitation. Like opium, it offers consolation for suffering but does not deal with the origin of the suffering. It also legitimates the suffering of the poor and the privileges of the ruling class.
What does religion also do according to Marxists?
It legitimates the power and privilege of the ruling class by making their position appear to be divinely ordained. E.g.: the idea that the King is God's representative on earth.
According to Marx, how do these institutions achieve this?
Through manipulating the poor (the underclass and the proletariat) into thinking their suffering is 'god given'. It also gives them false hope by suggesting that their suffering is virtuous and thus, they will be rewarded in the afterlife.
Criticisms of the Marxist approach to religion
- Marx ignores the positive functions that religion performs, such as the psychological functions outlined by functionalists Durkheim and Bronislaw Malinowski. - Neo-Marxists see some forms of religion as assisting, not hindering the development of class consciousness. - Marxist Louis Althusser (1971) see the concept of alienation as being unscientific and too 'romantic'. For example, the idea that beings have a 'true self'. - Religion does not always function effectively as an ideology that controls the population. Abercrombie and Turner (1978) argue that in pre-capitalist society, while Christianity was a major factor of ruling class ideology, it didn't have as much impact on the peasantry.
What did Lenin (1870-1924) describe religion as?
Lenin (1870-1924) describes religion as 'spiritual gin'; an intoxicant given to the masses by the ruling class to keep them 'in their places'. In Lenin's view, the ruling class use religion to manipulate the underclass into not attempting to overthrow them by creating a 'mystical fog' that obscures reality.
Religion as an ideology: How does Marx view religion?
Marx sees ideology as a belief system that distorts people's perception of reality in ways that serve the interests of the ruling class. Those who control economic production (the bourgeoisie) also control the production of ideas in society through institutions such as the church, the education system and the media. The bourgeoisie uses these institutions as 'weapons' to legitimate inequality.
