Karl Marx's Ideas About Religion - Essay Example

Karl Marx’s ideas about religion The writings of Karl Marx are still recognized today as the foundation of socialist thought. In his 1948 Communist Manifesto, he decried the imbalance of the power between the people and the economic ‘powers that be’ which included the religious establishment. Marx’s views on religion emanated, as do most persons, from his experiences early on in life. This discussion presents an overview of Marx’s childhood and early adult influences which served to shape his religious ideology, describes then critiques this philosophy. Marx was born in Germany in 1818 to Jewish parents and raised in a middle-class environment. His father, though a devout Jew, was forced to either become baptized as a member of the Protestant religion or lose his job as a respected lawyer. German’s long-standing mistrust and hatred of the Jews began long before the Nazi regime took control in the 1930’s. In 1835, Marx entered the University of Bonn where he met his future wife, Jenny von Westphalen whose father, socialite Baron von Westphalen, piqued Marx’s interest in romantic literature. His second year of college, Marx transferred to the University of Berlin where his father had insisted he attend so as to gain a better education. During his four years at Berlin, he discarded his romanticist ideology for Hegelianism, a popular movement at that time in Berlin (Kreis, 2000). “As a student at the University of Berlin, young Marx was strongly influenced by the philosophy of G. W. F. Hegel and by a radical group called Young Hegelians, who attempted to apply Hegelian ideas to the movement against organized religion and the Prussian autocracy” (Poore, 2002). Prussia became a German state during the latter part of the 1800’s but during Marx’s time, this region was a ruled by a monarchy that imposed laws which were based predominantly on religious ideology. Upon graduation from Bonn, Marx became a journalist and quickly rose to prominence accepting the position of editor of a respected Cologne (Germany) newspaper in 1842. Marx was chosen because of his unique ability to articulate the socialist point of view and his radical and scathing articles condemned the status quo. His writings questioned the prevailing societal conception regarding the connections between the individual and the government, businesses and the church. His articles were responsible for growing the popularity of the newspaper and also for it to be closed by Prussian officials the next year. Frustrated by his loss of a job and more importantly, the loss of a public forum to voice his opinion, Marx departed Germany for Paris in 1843 where he continued as a journalist and continued to publish his thoughts on the faults within the societal structure (Kreis, 2000). Marx’s philosophy regarding class divisions was built upon Ludwig Feuerbach’s 1841 book ‘The Essence of Christianity’ which criticized religion. Feuerbach, himself among the ranks of the Young Hegelians, argued that the concept of ‘God’ was a human creation, not the other way around. According to Feuerbach, man had “alienated himself from himself” by inventing a perfect God that exemplified man’s ideals and ‘in his own image,’ “he had created another being in contrast to himself, reducing himself to a lowly, evil creature that needed both church and government to guide and control him” (Poore, 2002). Feuerbach believed that if religious establishments were eradicated, people would become personally empowered and would not possess feelings of segregation from a more perfect entity. Marx utilized Feuerbach’s concept of religious segregation to explain the evils of owning property which, as he said, “caused humans to work only for themselves, not for the good of their species” (Poore, 2002). As Marx was becoming increasingly well known through his revolutionary articles printed in liberal newspapers, he began to surround himself with other renowned philosophers and writers of the Hegelian viewpoint and spent much energy and time debating these intellectuals. Bruno Bauer was a Young Hegelian and a former professor of Marx’s at Bonn University who carried great influence with him. Bauer, along with other Young Hegelians condemned all religion, specifically citing Christianity along with the government as the invited warden of an individual’s autonomy. Instead of attempting to provoke a citizen’s revolution in Prussia such as the one a century earlier in France, Young Hegelians focused their demands for reform from a Prussian government that was close to collapsing on its own therefore a bloodletting was unnecessary. The group continually pressed for governmental representation which, given the current political climate, would result in a separation of church and state. Marx went further by demanding that laws that were discriminatory towards Jews be eliminated. However, not all of the Young Hegelians agreed with Marx on this issue. Bauer was firmly opposed to the emancipation of Jews and maintained that Judaism was an inferior religion to Christianity (Bhattacharyya, 2006). Marx had already begun distancing himself from the Young Hegelians when he wrote an 1844 essay ‘On the Jewish Question’ in response to the views of Bauer, his former mentor. The book’s title implies religious overtones but rather it is more of a criticism of Bauer and the liberal politics of the Young Hegelians. It does not address Bauer’s claims of ‘Jewish backwardness’ nor does it include appeals for religious and ethnic tolerance. Marx points out that though Bauer accused Jews of ‘egoism,’ that they isolate themselves from other parts of society and are obsessed with making money, Bauer himself is guilty of these very same offenses. Marx insisted that Bauer, and much of society at that time, were accusing Jews of egregious acts and were simply using them as an opportune scapegoat to explain their own economic and political misfortune. ‘On the Jewish Question’ was but one of the works where Marx lashed out against what he perceived as the politically timid views of the Young Hegelians. Following its publication, Marx was well on his way to becoming the world-renowned leading advocate for the working class which he is still recognized for to this day. In his writings, it is clear that Marx diverged with the Young Hegelians on many topics. For example, Marx did not draw distinctions between the worship of religion, capitalism and the concept of owning property. To Marx, one type of worship was no more or less important than another while the Young Hegelians did not draw similar parallels. In addition, Marx undoubtedly disagreed with fellow Hegelians who “used opposition to religion as an excuse to scapegoat religious minorities while simultaneously singing the praises of a capitalist system that leads to poverty, racism and war” (Bhattacharyya, 2006). Marx’s view of religion was most influenced by Feuerbach’s philosophy which reasoned that religious belief is the result of a confusion regarding man’s potential and that religious belief acts as a barrier to resolving man’s genuine problems. According to Feuerbach, religion is only an illusion that causes much more harm than good. Marx agrees with Feuerbach with one exception. He argues that religion does not cause social ills but is rather a high-profile symptom of social misconceptions. Religion, according to Marx is “the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, the spirit of an unspiritual situation. It is the opium of the people” (Hawkins, 2001). Religion, to Marx, focuses on man’s suffering and serves as would opium, temporarily alleviating the pain but still doing nothing to resolve the problem and usually exacerbating it instead. Religion offers excuses, reasons and threats to ensure that society remains tied to the status quo. This opiate is dispensed by oppressors such as the officials of the government and church who are responsible for causing much of man’s anguish and suffering. Religion is a figment of people’s imagination that no longer will be needed when the problems of society are resolved. “Much as capitalism takes our productive labor and alienates us from its value, religion takes our highest ideals and aspirations and alienates us from them, projecting them onto an alien and unknowable being called a god” (Cline, 2007). Religion, to Marx, is irrational. It teaches people to discount reality and denies human dignity by placing man as but a servant to an imaginary entity. Marx’s motto was taken from the words of the ancient Greek philosopher Prometheus, “I hate all gods. They do not recognize man’s self-consciousness as the highest divinity” (Cline, 2007). Marx correctly understood and bravely voiced the hypocrisy of religion. Jesus, as did Marx, spent much of his life as an advocate for the working-class poor. Unfortunately, the institution of Christianity, the church, while pretending to espouse the same message was and is concerned more about acquiring wealth and power. The writings of Karl Marx present a priceless benefit to humanity because it forces people to closely examine the reasons that religion is embedded in the construction of society. Marx’s works have awakened the masses to the concept that religion is not separate from but intrinsically tied to economic and social forces and those spiritual and material conceptions are not mutually exclusive, they are in fact tied together. Marx’s viewpoint on religion was cultivated by critical thought from philosophical seeds planted in his youth. His popularity allowed for this viewpoint to be spread throughout the world and contemplated by its societies. During the mid-1800’s, at about the same time as Marx published the ‘Communist Manifesto,’ and was gaining a large following, Charles Darwin shocked the religious world with his similarly well-known ‘Origin of the Species’ which used scientific facts to debunk the plausibility of creation and supported the concept of evolution. Both of these men’s works supported at least the questioning of religion; why we believe, what about it is true, what is exaggerated and what is false. The works supported each other as well in that together, they gave the societies of the world permission to think in critical terms, to question their deepest religious convictions. Marx provided the philosophical reasoning, Darwin the scientific evidence which initiated a shift forward in the collective societal thought. The shift is still in progress as many cling to the self imprisonment of religious ties thus creating much more harm than good as was evidenced in Marx’s time and today as well. Works Cited Bhattacharyya, Anindya. “Marx and Religion.” (March 4, 2006). Socialist Worker. March 19, 2007 Cline, Austin. “Why Does Religion Exist?” (2007). About Agnosticism/Atheism. March 19, 2007 Hawkins, Charles. “Is Religion a Sham?” (n.d.). Louisville, KY: St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. March 19, 2007 Kreis, Steven. “Karl Marx: 1818-1883.” Lectures on Modern European Intellectual History. (2000). The History Guide. March 19, 2007 Poore, Simon. “Karl Marx: A Brief Biography.” (May 27, 2002). Sociology at Hewitt. March 19, 2007 Read More