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MARX & RELIGION.
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Examines idea of religion as social opiate distracting people from materialistic reality.... More...

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Paper Abstract:
Examines idea of religion as social opiate distracting people from materialistic reality.

Paper Introduction:
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS This essay examines Karl Marx and his conception of religion as a social narcotic. In his Critique of Religion and Philosophy, Walter Kaufmann states: "In all religions, aspiration and demands have been countered to some extent by a quietistic tendency which has earned them Marx's contemptuous epigram contemptuous epigram 'Religion is the opiate of the people ....'" (Kaufmann 427). As a dialectical materialist, Marx had the view that ultimate reality is material. Religion, then, is established on divine revelation and deductive logic. There is no empirical the theological doctrines of various religions way to know that the theological doctrines of various religions are really true. The most that a particular religion can base its claims on is faith,

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Literature and Modern Man (New York: Harper & Brothers, 196 ).----------------------- 7 Since exchange value is a definite social manner ofexpressing the amount of labor bestowed upon an object, Nature has no moreto do with it than it has in fixing the course of exchange .... Actually it is the sun of ignorance thatreally blinds--not the sun of truth. Ifsocial changes are to manifest themselves, thought Marx, mankind mustawaken from its comatose condition because this is the only way to knowreality and establish a new classless society. . If peopleare to know and understand the real world, they must give up superstitiousbeliefs because they have a narcotic effect on the mind. Religion, then, is established on divine revelation anddeductive logic. Knowledge, for Marx, can only be attained through the scientificmethod and inductive logic. . Thus, if the truth of God's existence is to be known by humanbeings, He must show Himself in some manner by way of their experience. In such a society, the'religious reflection of the real world' will vanish. According to dialectical materialism or any othermaterialistic philosophy, deductive logic and intuitive reasoning alone arenot sufficient to prove or demonstrate any concerns of fact and reality--these can only be attained from experience. One way is the method advocated by Marx: empiricism; whilethe other way is: rationalism and deductive logic. In his Critique of Religion and Philosophy, WalterKaufmann states: "In all religions, aspiration and demands have beencountered to some extent by a quietistic tendency which has earned themMarx's contemptuous epigram contemptuous epigram 'Religion is the opiate ofthe people ....'" (Kaufmann 427). Critique of Religion and Philosophy (New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1972).Kung, Hans (Edward Quinn, Translator). What they didultimately, without being aware of it themselves, was to achieve asubstitute religious basis and framework for society" (Priestley 2 2).Searching for reality is not easy. In contrast, in modern bourgeois society, the self-consciousperson has become completely removed from natural communities, and thedirect relationships of dominion and servitude have been eliminated by thecreation of contractual freedom or general equality before the law. Earlier in this essay, a quotation from Marx stated that"Christianity with its cult of the abstract man, in particular in itsbourgeois development of Protestantism, Deism, etc., is the most importantform of religion." The individualism of Protestant piety seems here to be'corresponding' to the individual mode of production and to the isolationof producers who are connected only by the market. . Progress cannotbe made in society until mankind has discarded the drug-like effectsbrought on by the superstition of religion--so Marx is saying. Mankind will live in ignorance and superstitious fear untilsomething better comes along. The weakness ofthe rationalist position is that the only truths which have the capabilityof being proven under laboratory conditions are not in the twilight zone ofmetaphysics. As the Church becomesinvisible, society also undergoes the same process and then controls andmanages people through the market. This thoroughly materialistic view does not evenaccept the possibility of God. Marx and Marxism (New York: Herder and Herder, 1971).Kaufmann, Walter. However, this comfort is actually an illusion. According to Marx, the disappearance of religion should come aboutfrom a transformation of the mode of production. Thereligious reflex of the real world can, in any case, only then finallyvanish, when the practical relations of everyday life offer to man none butperfectly intelligible and reasonable relations with regard to hisfellowman and to nature" (Marx 91-92). Religion is a social narcotic that holds people back andis actually like a stranglehold put on mankind by an inadequate economicsystem: capitalism. The humane society of social men has replaced God and thenotion of divine perfection" (Fetscher 266-267). In other words, people willcontinue to follow superstitious beliefs until they learn that moreempirical and practical values can truly improve society more than anythingelse. Although no direct quotationswere taken from this modern theologian, Hans Kung, some of his ideaswere used in this essay. . And so, for Marx, this is astrue concerning religion as it is for other areas of learning. Priestley makes this observation: "Marx and Engels succeededwhere other and perhaps sounder theorists failed, chiefly because theycreated a new myth when a new myth was urgently needed. When a trulyhumane society exists, religious inspiration will be unnecessary. In this book, there is an entire chapter onKarl Marx and theology.Marx, Karl (Samuel Moore and Edward Aveling, Translators). However, philosophy has historicallyacknowledged two ways with which people may come to know whatever there isto be known. This brings us back toone of the reasons Marx disliked the rational approach. Iring Fetscher points out: "As long as the social relationshipsbetween men appear to them as the relationships between alien things(commodities), so that their own society confronts them as a complex ofobjective relationships with their own immutable laws, they will not ceaseto posit a transcendental, divine being beyond this society, just as theyrequire a political power (the state) to control and regulate it. As a dialectical materialist, Marx had the view that ultimate realityis material. And for a society based upon theproduction of commodities, in which the producers in general enter intosocial relations with one another by treating their products as commoditiesand values, whereby they reduce their individual private labor to thestandard of homogeneous human labor--for such a society, Christianity withits cultus of abstract man, more especially in its bourgeois developments,Protestantism, Deism, etc., is the most fitting form of religion . If Godexists, He is not a mere idea, but a definite reality outside of us (Kung226). The social order will be such thatrelationships between individuals and between people and nature areobviously intelligible and acceptable as rational. The action necessaryis not to battle against religion, but to generate a society that willpermit any form of religious consciousness to fade away. There is no empirical the theological doctrines ofvarious religions way to know that the theological doctrines of variousreligions are really true. If,however, the specific opacity of the manufacturing society is the cause ofthe religious alienation of contemporary man, the question must then ariseas to how religious consciousness came about at much earlier stages ofdevelopment . And moderneconomy, which looks down with such disdain on the monetary system, doesnot its superstition come out as clear as noon-day, whenever it treats ofcapital?" (Marx 94-95). Marx believes that both situations are ultimately conditioned by thelow level of development of human abilities with regard to tools, machines,and the like. The most that a particular religion can baseits claims on is faith, which really amounts to superstition. As an opiate,religion drugs people into thinking they have found a form of security andsalvation. This change will causerelationships between people to be both transparent and reasonable; or inother words, free relationships will be determined completely by technicaltasks and individual awareness. An Answer forToday (New York: Vintage Books, 1981). Works CitedFetscher, Iring. The truth involves many improvementsand changes for society. Marx was aware that certain links existbetween Protestantism and the 'spirit of capitalism.' The Protestant workethic might be a good example. Marx, then, is advocating a scientific approach tothe problems of society, which in the long run will have to eliminatereligion if it is to progress and evolve into something better than it is.A society that is in a stupor brought on by the narcotic effects ofreligion cannot possibly improve. Individuals would then no longer require aspecial mediator to form a bond with the species (or with God, thecorresponding reflection of the species into another world); to one anotherthey are both ends and mediators (and not simply 'means' to be used forselfish ends). GENERAL OBSERVATIONS This essay examines Karl Marx and his conception of religion as asocial narcotic. J.B. When a person stares right into the sunof what they think is truth, it is possible to go blind.KARL MARX AND RELIGION In the first chapter of Capital, Marx states: "The religious reflexis but the reflex of the real world. Capital: ACritique of Political Economy (New York: The Modern Library, 19 6).Priestley, J.B. Thus, Marx goes on to say: "To what extent some economists are misledby the Fetishism inherent in commodities, or by the objective appearance ofthe social characteristics of labor, is shown, amongst other ways by thedull and tedious quarrel over the part played by Nature in the formation ofexchange value. And soFetscher goes on to say: "The conviction of Karl Marx that humanity wasalways to be interpreted as the 'creator of itself' becomes fully consciousand clear for the first time for the members of a perfect human societyrelated together by love. We can see how in Marx'snew society, there would be no room for religion or even a necessity forthe metaphysical. Here, then, the religious consciousness is based on thefact that individuals are either still one with the natural community andhave not yet developed an individual consciousness, or else live in directrelationships of domination and servitude (slavery or serfdom)" (Fetscher264). Does God Exist?

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