Marxism and Religion
Religion as an ideology
- MARX saw religion as part of the dominant ideology
- Dominant ideology: the belief system of the ruling class which reproduces and reinforces
the false class consciousness among the working class
- In MARX’s view, religion operates as an ideological weapon used by the ruling class to
legitimate the suffering of the poor as something inevitable and God-given
- Religion misleads the poor into believing that their suffering is virtuous and that they will be
favoured in the afterlife
- Example: Christian beatitudes: “Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of God”
- Such ideas create a false class consciousness- a distorted view of reality that presents the
poor from acting to change their situation
- ALTHUSSER saw religion as an ideological state apparatus (institution which spreads
dominant ideology)
- GRAMSCI believed religion manufactured what he called hegemony- acceptance by people
that their situation is inevitable and unchangeable
- CA: Religion doesn’t necessarily function effectively as an ideology to control the
population- ABERCROMBIE and TURNER argue that in pre-capitalist society, while
Christianity was a major element of ruling class ideology, it had little impact on the
peasentry
- MARX thought religion did 2 main, interrelated things:
1. Acts as the ‘opium of the people’
2. Legitimates and maintains power of ruling class
Religion as the ‘opium of the people’
- MARX sees religion as the product of alienation
- Alienation exists in all societies but it is more extreme under capitalism
- Alienation reaches a peak with the detailed division of labour in the capitalist factory,
where the worker endlessly repeats the same minute task, devoid of all meaning and skill
- In these dehumanising conditions, the exploited turn to religion as a form of consolation
- MARX: Religion is, “the sight of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world and
the soul of soulless conditions”
- He also called it the “opium of the people”
- He saw religion as acting like a hallucinatory, pain-relieving drug creating illusions among
the oppressed which helped them to accept their position and thereby maintained the
power of the ruling class
- However, just as opium masks pain, religion masks the underlying problem of exploitation
- Because religion is a distorted view of the world, it can offer no solution to earthly misery
- Instead, its promises of the afterlife create an illusory happiness that distracts attention
from the true source of suffering (capitalism)
- Similarly, LENIN describes religion as “spiritual gin”
- In LENIN’s view, the ruling class use religion cynically to manipulate the masses and keep
them from attempting to overthrow the ruling class by creating a ‘mystical fog’ that
obscures reality
- The Marxist approach suggests that religion eases the pain of oppression and exploitation in
3 main ways:
1. Promises an eventual escape from suffering and oppression in this life with promises of an ecstatic future in
life after death
2. Religion sometimes offers hope of supernatural intervention to solve problems on earth
3. Religion provides a religious explanation and justification for inequality
Religion as an ideology
- MARX saw religion as part of the dominant ideology
- Dominant ideology: the belief system of the ruling class which reproduces and reinforces
the false class consciousness among the working class
- In MARX’s view, religion operates as an ideological weapon used by the ruling class to
legitimate the suffering of the poor as something inevitable and God-given
- Religion misleads the poor into believing that their suffering is virtuous and that they will be
favoured in the afterlife
- Example: Christian beatitudes: “Blessed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of God”
- Such ideas create a false class consciousness- a distorted view of reality that presents the
poor from acting to change their situation
- ALTHUSSER saw religion as an ideological state apparatus (institution which spreads
dominant ideology)
- GRAMSCI believed religion manufactured what he called hegemony- acceptance by people
that their situation is inevitable and unchangeable
- CA: Religion doesn’t necessarily function effectively as an ideology to control the
population- ABERCROMBIE and TURNER argue that in pre-capitalist society, while
Christianity was a major element of ruling class ideology, it had little impact on the
peasentry
- MARX thought religion did 2 main, interrelated things:
1. Acts as the ‘opium of the people’
2. Legitimates and maintains power of ruling class
Religion as the ‘opium of the people’
- MARX sees religion as the product of alienation
- Alienation exists in all societies but it is more extreme under capitalism
- Alienation reaches a peak with the detailed division of labour in the capitalist factory,
where the worker endlessly repeats the same minute task, devoid of all meaning and skill
- In these dehumanising conditions, the exploited turn to religion as a form of consolation
- MARX: Religion is, “the sight of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world and
the soul of soulless conditions”
- He also called it the “opium of the people”
- He saw religion as acting like a hallucinatory, pain-relieving drug creating illusions among
the oppressed which helped them to accept their position and thereby maintained the
power of the ruling class
- However, just as opium masks pain, religion masks the underlying problem of exploitation
- Because religion is a distorted view of the world, it can offer no solution to earthly misery
- Instead, its promises of the afterlife create an illusory happiness that distracts attention
from the true source of suffering (capitalism)
- Similarly, LENIN describes religion as “spiritual gin”
- In LENIN’s view, the ruling class use religion cynically to manipulate the masses and keep
them from attempting to overthrow the ruling class by creating a ‘mystical fog’ that
obscures reality
- The Marxist approach suggests that religion eases the pain of oppression and exploitation in
3 main ways:
1. Promises an eventual escape from suffering and oppression in this life with promises of an ecstatic future in
life after death
2. Religion sometimes offers hope of supernatural intervention to solve problems on earth
3. Religion provides a religious explanation and justification for inequality
