Religion

Religion is, indeed, the self-consciousness and self-esteem of man who has either not yet won through to himself, or has already lost himself again. But man is no abstract being squatting outside the world. Man is the world of man – state, society. This state and this society produce religion, which is an inverted consciousness of the world, because they are an inverted world. Religion is the general theory of this world, its encyclopaedic compendium, its logic in popular form, its spiritual point d’honneur, its enthusiasm, its moral sanction, its solemn complement, and its universal basis of consolation and justification. It is the fantastic realization of the human essence since the human essence has not acquired any true reality. The struggle against religion is, therefore, indirectly the struggle against that world whose spiritual aroma is religion.

— Karl Marx, A Contribution to the Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right

Religion (Latin: religiō "piety") refers to belief in the supernatural, often including a set of rituals or practices. Religion generally provides implications for the whole sphere of life, concerning people's customs, values, societal structure, etc.

History

Anti-religious sentiment

In the condition of the proletariat, those of old society at large are already virtually swamped. The proletarian is without property; his relation to his wife and children has no longer anything in common with the bourgeois family relations; modern industry labour, modern subjection to capital, the same in England as in France, in America as in Germany, has stripped him of every trace of national character. Law, morality, religion, are to him so many bourgeois prejudices, behind which lurk in ambush just as many bourgeois interests.

— Karl Marx, Communist Manifesto

Analysis

Religion and radicalism

See also: Christianity § Political significance

Religion, especially Christianity, often has quite large significance in capitalist countries, especially ones such as the United States. It is often used by the alt-right and fundamentalists to justify certain opinions. An example is using Leviticus 18 and 20 ('You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination' and 'If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.') to justify homophobic opinions. Religion has also been often used to control the public in different ways, for example to justify hierarchy or placate people into refusing change. As Marx said: "Religion is the opium of the masses."

This does not necessarily mean all religious people are liberal or right-wing; there are many religious socialists, such as Leo Tolstoy. There are leftist elements in many religions, as exemplified through Bible verses such as Matthew 6:24: “No one can serve two masters, Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.”; and in Luke 12:15, Jesus says, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.” Interestingly, the same religion can be used to justify both exploitation and liberation, as had happened with slavery in America.

List of notable religions

Christianity

Main article: Christianity

Satanism

Satanism is the inversion of the Christian worldview in which Satan holds positive aspects and is worthy of adoration. While real Satanists have existed historically, many modern adherents are irreligious humanists whose Satanism is an ironical form of opposition to Christianity or Christian influence in society rather than a strongly held belief.

Both leftist and rightist Satanists exist. The Church of Satan for one has had fascists in its leadership, while others like the Order of Nine Angles are explicitly fascist. There are also things like Anton LaVey having personally endorsed neo-Nazi manual Siege. Other works like the Satanic Bible are heavily borrowed from social Darwinistic thinking as well as the works of Ayn Rand — whom LaVey has also praised.

Connected to Satanism is "Luciferianism", based on the figure of Lucifer as interpreted widely, from various ancient cultures, as opposed to the Abrahamic notion of Satan. Rather than seeing Lucifer as the personification of evil, Luciferians see Lucifer as a revolutionary who attempted to overthrow the tyrannical dictatorship of God and in such he represents freedom, enlightenment, human progression, etc. As well as this, Luciferian principles typically highlight the protection of the natural world, worshiping one's inner self, the removal of traditional dogma, etc. There are many different branches of Luciferianism with each having differing emphasis on the level of theism involved however all agree on the basic principles of what Lucifer represents as well as the idea that Lucifer should not be worshiped, but rather seen as a guide, friend or merely an archetype. Due to the religion's nature it and the symbols of Lucifer have been used by certain left-wing revolutionary organizations and thinkers throughout history such as William Godwin, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Helena Blavatsky, Atterdag Wermelin, and The Satanic Temple.

Islam

Main article: Islam

Indo-European religion

Main article: Proto-Indo-Europeans

The poytheistic, or "pagan" traditions of prehistoric Europe, while poorly attested in Greek and Roman sources, show a striking resemblance to one another that likely reflects a common origin in Indo-European society. The ancient Celts, Balts, Slavs, and Germans, as well as the Persians and Iranians in Asia, all practiced polytheistic, patriarchical religions which contained similar elements like the presence of a "heavenly father" (Greek Zeus Patēr, Roman Jupiter, Vedic Dyáuṣ-pitā́) and a solar charioteer (cf. Greek Hēlios, Norse Sól, Hindu Sūrya and others); dozens of other connections exist. The term "paganism" is often used to encompass these pre-Christian traditions, but it technically refers to all non-monotheistic religions and can be viewed as religiously charged or outdated.

Animism

Animists believe that all objects, animate and inanimate, have spirits within them. All material objects make certain and unbounded choices and there is no distinction between the corporeal and incorporeal. Animism is considered to be one of the earliest religions, and abounds in primitive communist societies, especially the native American societies of North America. Other animist societies include the Japanese Ainu and Ryukyuan peoples.

Shamanism is a related belief revolving around shamans, who can interact with both the souls and the matter itself. The purpose of the shaman is to intermediate between the two and perform a balancing act between humans and the souls that they interact with. In practical terms, they are there to guide the tribe so they do not eat too much and go hungry, or eat too little and let the animals or objects overwhelm them.

Shintoism

Shintoism or Shintō (Jp: "way of the gods") is the traditional animistic and polytheistic folk religion of Japan, as well as a state cult which survives to this day. Shintoism was traditionally a strict religion based on class hierarchy in which the shogunate dictated which rituals and religious interpretation were acceptable. For example, the Tokugawa Shogunate required subordinates to be Buddhists. Other times the practices and religious rituals can be more lenient. Shinto shares many features with shamanism in that all things possess a certain essence, people can be considered kami (spirits), and so forth. The Shinto cult evolved after the Second World War, and in its current form serves as a reactionary organ of the Japanese state which reveres Japan's war dead.

Zoroastrianism

Zoroastrianism is one of the world's oldest monotheistic religions. Founded by the enigmatic Zarathuštra (known to the Greeks as Zoroaster), it professes a dualist worldview in which good and evil are controlled by opposing forces, ultimately controlled by the righteous Ahura Mazda and the wicked Angra Mainyu. It is generally accepted that Zoroastrianism influenced the duality present in Hellenistic Jewish thought as well as Christianity. After becoming the state cult of Achaemenid Persia in the 4th century BC, Zoroastrianism enjoyed a millenium of state support and widespread practice until the Muslim conquest of Persia in 654 AD. The persecution of Zoroastrians in Muslim Persia was thorough, and today there are less than 200,000 practitioners worldwide.

Confucianism

Main article: Confucianism

Taoism

Main article: Taoism

Judaism

Main article: Judaism

Hinduism

Main article: Hinduism

Buddhism

Main article: Buddhism

Obon festival

Obon is a Japanese festival celebrating the visitation of the dead to their loved ones. It occurs on the 13th to the 15th of August and is celebrated by hanging lanterns in front of your home and visiting burial sites. It has many similarities with the Mexican día de muertos. Near the end of the ritual it is customary to let the lanterns float into rivers and streams. It originated in India and has its origins in the story in which a subordinate of Buddha's mother that is deceased was in anguish. The Japanese obon may come from a Sanskrit word meaning "to hang upside down" referring to the pain and suffering of Buddhist purgatory. Obon is also practiced in India and China.

Religious tolerance

Origins

Genghis Khan was known among many titles, the "defender of religion". This was due to the actions that he had done against the Christian Khan Guchlung in which he took in Religious dissidents and waged war on the Khan annihilating him. It is known that the raided towns and assimilated cities were allowed to practice their own religion. There were internal conflicts within the Khanates after Genghis. One such example was Ghazan in which he persecuted the Buddhists after his conversion to Islam. Since then the Turkic-Slavic peoples held on to this concept and it pervades into literature and philosophy in the Eurasian sphere of influence.

In modern European history, the concept of religious tolerance is linked to the outcomes of the European wars of religion, including the 1555 Peace of Augsburg and the 1648 Peace of Westphalia. Religious tolerance replaced the early modern objective of standardizing and reforming religious worship with .

In the Muslim world, religious tolerance is linked to the concept of dhimma (Arabic: "protection; guardianship").

External links

Marxist works on religion

• On Religion (compilation of writings by Marx and Engels)
• On Religion (compilation of writings by Lenin)
• Socialism and Religion: An Essay (CPGB work, 1960)
• A Dictionary for Believers and Nonbelievers (1989 Soviet work, 600 pages)
• History of Religion (1989 Soviet work)
• The Origins of Christianity (by a British Marxist)
• Christian Ecumenism (1983 Soviet work)
• The Urgency of Marxist-Christian Dialogue (by an American Marxist)
• Marxism and the Renegade Garaudy (1974 Soviet work, Chapter V discusses the possibilities and limits of dialogue between Marxists and Christians)
• Theses Concerning Thomas Müntzer, 1489-1989

Religion in the Soviet Union

• Church and Religion in the USSR (1982 Soviet work)
• Freedom of Conscience in the USSR (1983 Soviet work)
• Jews in the USSR: Figures, Facts, Comment (1984 Soviet work)
• Christianity Today in the USSR (1987 work published by the CPUSA)