Quote from: diane 2606 on January 14, 2016, 08:30:44 PM
"Marx viewed religion as a tool of social control used by the bourgeoisie to keep the proletariat content with an unequal status quo."(1) Can those of us who grew up with anti-communism ringing in our heads step back and analyze what Marx meant in light of modern times? Why do we let the "Elders" tell us, and those closest to us, what to think? How much pain and suffering have we as transpeople had to endure because of them?
Marx made two interesting remarks about religion that are slightly different.
The better known one is that religion is the "opiate of the masses." In other words, religion functions to cloud the thinking and dull the pain of the people caused by class oppression and injustice, and thereby prevent the people from mobilizing in their own interests. Marx emphasized this particularly in regard to the bourgeoisie, the ruling class under capitalism, because that was what he was chiefly interested in during his historical era. But his critique could certainly apply with equal force to other ruling classes of different times and different places (for instance, to slaveholders in the pre-Civil-War South, or to the aristocrats and bishops and absolute monarchs of old European society, or to the scribes and pharaohs of ancient Egypt.) All of these ruling classes mobilized religion to deaden the thinking of the people and thereby maintain their dominance over society.
The other, lesser known, observation Marx made was that religion serves as the "heart of a heartless world." In this aspect, religion serves to express the heartfelt aspirations of the people towards justice, charity, and kindness. People living in a harsh and unjust world long for a system that promises order, meaning, and improvement in their conditions. Lacking education and analytical tools to organize effective action towards these goals, people instead displace these goals into promises of peace, goodwill, and justice that will reign on earth at some remote time in the future, or in an imaginary afterlife.
What ties these two views together in Marx's thought is the fundamental proposition that religions are irrational, unscientific systems. Religions are invented by people. They are not revealed truths descending from gods. To understand religions, Marx would say, you should study how they came to be, and also whose interests they serve in society. Marx would say, don't look to irrational stories for guidance in improving your lives. Instead, use logic, science, and reason to solve your problems, whether personal, or political, or social.
It's no accident that reactionary politicians make common cause with Bible-thumping religious bigots. The bigots want to demonize unbelievers and "sinners," and the politicians want to divert the attention of the people from the real sources of their pain onto unpopular scapegoats, like Muslims, or immigrants, or racial minorities, or gays and lesbians, or (yes!) transgendered folks. Marx would tell us, don't turn to religion. Instead, turn to science, logic, reason, and organized action.
[April climbs down off her soapbox . . ]
