Between Moscow and London: Romanian Orthodoxy and National Communism, 1960–1965. It is the opium of the people. [citation needed], In contrast with the brutal repression of the sangha undertaken in Cambodia, the Communist government of Laos has not sought to oppose or suppress Buddhism in Laos to any great degree, rather since the early days of the Pathet Lao communist officials have sought to use the influence and respect afforded to Buddhist clergy to achieve political goals while discouraging religious practices seen as detrimental to Marxist aims. It was translated from the German original, "Die Religion... ist das Opium des Volkes" and is often rendered as " religion... is the opiate of the masses." 1844, mit 26 Jahren, verfasste er u.a. The owner of the factory did nothing to earn this, but exploits it nevertheless and keeps the difference as profit. His extraordinary, original vision of man’s helpless entrapment in religion … This, in turn, created the social conflict which drives society. religiösen Projektion untersuchen. His comments do hold for other religions with similar doctrines of a powerful god and happy afterlife, they do not apply to radically different religions. Weil Marx den Menschen nur als gegenständliches Gattungswesen kannte, nicht wie seit Aristoteles als Vernunftwesen, aber ähnlich wie Nietzsche später die Vernunft leiblich dachte, kann er keine „ewigen Wahrheiten, wie Freiheit, Gerechtigkeit“ denken. [8] Tristram Hunt attributes a religious persuasion to Engels.[9]. Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. Examples include Rabbi Yehuda Ashlag, an outspoken libertarian communist, Russian revolutionary and territorialist leader Isaac Steinberg and Rabbi Abraham Bik, an American communist activist. The Christian Idea of the Messiah. It is used by oppressors to make people feel better about the distress they experience due to being poor and exploited. According to Karl Marx, religion is like other social institutions in that it is dependent upon the material and economic realities in a given society. Karl Marx's religious views have been the subject of much interpretation. Has it not preached in place of these, charity and poverty, celibacy and mortification of the flesh, monastic life and Mother Church? Marx’s labor theory of value and concept of surplus value as driving exploitation in capitalism are the fundamental underpinning upon which all of the rest of his ideas are based. [47], Marxist political theorists and revolutionaries on religion, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels on religion, Nikolai Bukharin and Evgenii Preobrazhensky on religion, Religion in the Socialist People's Republic of Albania, Religion in the People's Republic of China, Religion in the Socialist Republic of Romania, McKinnon, AM. kommt nach berlin. Economics, then, are what constitute the base of all of human life and history—generating division of labor, class struggle, and all the social institutions which are supposed to maintain the status quo. 59, No. Advocates of Christian communism argue that it was taught by Jesus and practiced by the Apostles themselves. Marx’s opinion was that religion is an illusion that provides reasons and excuses to keep society functioning just as it is. On the other hand, Marxist philosophy is famously atheistic, although some Marxist scholars, both Christian and non-Christian, have insisted that Marxist philosophy and the philosophy of Marx and Engels are significantly different from one another and that this difference needs recognition. The communist Tudeh Party of Iran was allied with the Islamists in their ultimately successful rebellion against the Shah Pahlavi in 1979, although after the Shah was overthrown the Islamists turned on their one-time allies. Waren sind die Essenz des Reichtums in ka­pi­ta­lis­ti­schen Ge­sell­schaf­ten. Religion is not the disease, but merely a symptom. Das gesellschaftliche Sein, so glaubt er, bestimme das Bewusstsein des Menschen. Universität Graz. Denn jede Religion versucht auf seine Weise eine Grundlage für den Tot und ein „Danach“ zu finden. Religion is only the illusory Sun which revolves around man as long as he does not revolve around himself. Religion ist für ihn Symptom (als Teil des ideologischen Überbaus), nicht Ursache der menschlichen M isere. Für den Philosophen und Ökonomen Karl Marx ist die historische Entwicklung einer Gesellschaft immer eine Geschichte von Klassenkämpfen. The credulous crowd is extremely sensitive to anything which hurts its feelings. Marx’s analysis and critique of religion "Religion is the opium of the Masses" ("Die Religion ist das Opium des Volkesis") is perhaps one of the most famous and most quoted by theist and atheist alike. "[43], Because of the perceived atheistic nature of communism, some have accused communism of persecuting religion. Criticism has plucked the imaginary flowers on the chain not in order that man shall continue to bear that chain without fantasy or consolation, but so that he shall throw off the chain and pluck the living flower. Capitalism interrupts this ideal by introducing a profit motive—a desire to produce an uneven exchange of lesser value for greater value. Zusammenfassung. [14], The Soviet Union was an atheist state[15][16][17] in which religion was largely discouraged and at times heavily persecuted. But eventually, humans developed agriculture and the concept of private property. State atheism in the Soviet Union was known as gosateizm. [32], In the 1950s and the 1960s, liberation theology was the political praxis of Latin American theologians, such as Gustavo Gutiérrez of Peru, Leonardo Boff of Brazil, Juan Luis Segundo of Uruguay and Jon Sobrino of Spain, who made popular the phrase the "Preferential option for the poor". Fortunately, we are not entirely limited to Marx’s simplistic formulations. Diese Einleitung hat er 1844 in der zusammen mit Arnold Ruge herausgegebenen Zeitschrift Deutsch-Französische Jahrbücher veröffentlicht. In einem berühmten Ausspruch bezeichnet Marx die Religion deshalb als Opium des Volks. Hegel’s philosophy had a decisive influence upon Marx’s own thinking and later theories. geschichte der philosophie marx ws liessmann karl marx 1818 geboren. [28], In The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote: "Nothing is easier than to give Christian asceticism a Socialist tinge. It has no independent history but is instead the creature of productive forces. Karl Marx als Student 1836 -- Public Domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Second, the common experience is that the value of a produced object lies not with the labor put into it but in the subjective estimation of a potential purchaser. But they forget that the wonder of all wonders is that the Buddha established Communism so far as the Sangh was concerned without dictatorship. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. Grundlagen der Soziologie (319.000 ) Akademisches Jahr. (geändert am 21.12.2017) Bevor Karl Marx 1867 sein Hauptwerk „Das Kapital“ veröffentlichte, befasste er sich mit weitaus philosophischeren, und weniger ökonomischen Themen. Issue 123, Sabrina Petra Ramet, Ed., Religious Policy in the Soviet Union. To understand Marx’s critiques of religion and economic theories, it is important to understand a little bit about where he came from, his philosophical background, and how he arrived at some of his beliefs about culture and society. ", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Marxism_and_religion&oldid=995073778, Articles with dead external links from August 2017, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2020, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 19 December 2020, at 02:14. [44] In addition, another criticism is that communism is in itself a religion. This thesis will first explicate the precise nature of his atheism. [34], Communist philosopher Mir-Said (Mirza) Sultan-Galiev, Joseph Stalin's protégé at the People's Commissariat for Nationalities (Narkomnats), wrote in The Life of Nationalities, the Narkomnats' journal. Karl Marx was a German philosopher who attempted to examine religion from an objective, scientific perspective. Marx and Bruno Bauer were invited to be the chief contributors, and in October 1842 Marx became editor-in-chief and moved from Bonn to Cologne. Philosophy of Art, Beauty, Perception. The two were of like mind and worked exceptionally well together—Marx was the better philosopher while Engels was the better communicator. Because of his work, it has become impossible to study religion without also exploring its ties to various social and economic forces. The idea proposed that in place of the abolition of religion, there should be a meta-religious context in which religions were viewed primarily in terms of the psychological and social effect of ritual, myth and symbolism in an attempt to harness this force for pro-communist aims, both by creating new ritual and symbolism and by re-interpreting existing ritual and symbolism in a socialist context. By using Learn Religions, you accept our, Problems in Karl Marx’s Analysis of Religion, Karl Marx on Religion as the Opium of the People, The Relationship Between Technology and Religion, An Atheist's View of the Christian Right's Agenda and Beliefs, Catholic Liberation Theology in Latin-America, Social Conservatism vs. Economic Conservatism, Einstein Quotes and Views on Society and Government. It is a theological and political theory based upon the view that the teachings of Jesus Christ compel Christians to support communism as the ideal social system. For Marx, an ideal economic system would involve exchanges of equal value for equal value, where value is determined simply by the amount of work put into whatever is being produced. Jesus advocated helping the poor, but the Christian church merged with the oppressive Roman state, taking part in the enslavement of people for centuries. This emphasis on action rather than mere philosophical musings is a crucial point in Marx’s program. (2005). People’s spiritual lives can no longer be assumed to be independent of their material lives. Politics, National Symbols and the Romanian Orthodox Cathedral. First, it is irrational—religion is a delusion and worship of appearances that avoids recognizing underlying reality. No number of pamphlets and no amount of preaching can enlighten the proletariat, if it is not enlightened by its own struggle against the dark forces of capitalism. Im „Kapital“ Von Marx gehört Religion in die Logik der verkehrten kapitalistischen Welt. (Karl Marx) 4 Marx' Religionskritik ist explizit fast ausschließlich in seinem Fruhwerk auffindbar, und auch dort wird sie nirgends in einem größeren Zusammenhang entfaltet. In contrast to the atheism of Lenin, the God-Builders took an official position of agnosticism. [26] Starting in the 1960s, the state used religious officials of the Orthodox Church as ambassadors to the West, engaging in dialogue with religious organizations in the United Kingdom. [40] Regardless, Buddhists have still been persecuted in some Communist states,[41] notably China, Mongolia and Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge. Unterdrücker und Unterdrückte stehen stets in einem Gegensatz zueinander, der (mal offen, mal versteckt) in einem Klassenkampf ausgetragen wird. It would be stupid to think that, in a society based on the endless oppression and coarsening of the worker masses, religious prejudices could be dispelled by purely propaganda methods. Houses of worship, including temples, mosques and churches, were converted into non-religious buildings for secular use. This has two flaws. [citation needed], Many supporters of the Viet Cong were Buddhists, strongly believing in the unification of Vietnam, with many opposing South Vietnam due to former President Ngo Dinh Diem's persecution of Buddhism during the early 1960s. [35], During the Russian Civil War, Jews were seen as communist sympathizers and thousands were murdered in pogroms by the White Army. As interesting and insightful as Marx’s analysis and critiques are, they are not without their problems—both historical and economic. [25] Dissident priests were censured, arrested, deported, and/or defrocked, but the Orthodox Church as a whole acquiesced to the government's demands and received support from it. Unfortunately, most of those doing the quoting don’t really understand exactly what Marx meant, probably due to an incomplete understanding of Marx’s general theories on economics and society. Christians belonged to various churches: Orthodox, which had the largest number of followers; Catholic; and Baptist and other Protestant denominations. Marx’s most famous statement about religion comes from a critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Law: This is often misunderstood, perhaps because the full passage is rarely used: the boldface in the above show what is usually quoted. Marx studied philosophy at Bonn and then later Berlin, where he came under the sway of Georg Wilhelm Friedrich von Hegel. Sie dient den Menschen nur noch als Trost- und Rechtfertigungsfunktion13. Learn Religions uses cookies to provide you with a great user experience. Karl Marx "Die Unvereinbarkeit der Religion mit den Menschenrechten liegt so wenig im Begriff der Menschenrechte, daß das Recht, religiös zu sein, auf beliebige Weise religiös zu sein, den Kultus seiner besonderen Religion auszuüben, vielmehr ausdrücklich unter die Menschenrechte gezählt wird. Karl Marx war entgegen oft verbreiteter Meinung zwar nicht der Erfinder des Kommunismus, aber Begründer des Marxismus der wohl bekanntesten Form des Kommunismus. This nationalism was also used to justify the communist stance of state atheism between 1967 and 1991. Marx kritisiert alle Formen einer idealistischen Philosophie und insbesondere alle Formen der Religion. Thus, problems in religion are ultimately problems in society. All of the institutions which are prominent in our daily lives—marriage, church, government, arts, etc.—can only be truly understood when examined in relation to economic forces. Nonetheless, Lenin allowed Christians and other religious people in the Bolshevik Party. Das prägte Marx und sein späteres Werk. [33], From the 1940s through the 1960s, communists, socialists and Islamists sometimes joined forces in opposing colonialism and seeking national independence. Karl Marx: Die deutsche Ideologie - Philosophie / Philosophie des 20. Religion kann von den einzelnen gebraucht werden als Beruhigung, Opium, als Flucht aus der Wirklichkeit. By the same token, religion can, in turn, have an influence on society’s economic system. 8 (Dec., 2000), pp. Sie sind Dinge, die Bedürfnisse befriedigen können, entweder direkt (z. Karl Heinrich Marx wurde am 5. Der Geschichtsverlauf - ist eine Abfolge von Klassengesellschaften und Klassenkämpfen - denn eine Klasse war immer im Besitz der Produktivkräfte So kann Marx weiter daraus folgern, daß es der Staat ist, die Sozietät welche Religion als ein verkehrtes Weltbewußtsein etabliert. Im „Kommunistis… Early in 1842, radicals in the Rhineland (Cologne), who were in touch with the Left Hegelians, founded a paper in opposition to the Prussian government, called the Rheinische Zeitung. [21] This policy was mainly applied and felt within the borders of the present Albanian state, producing a nonreligious majority in the population. The criticism of religion disillusions man, so that he will think, act, and fashion his reality like a man who has discarded his illusions and regained his senses, so that he will move around himself as his own true Sun. Knappe Übersicht von Marx' Kerngedanken zur Kritik der Religion als Tafelbild In seiner Schrift “Zur Kritik der Hegel’schen Rechts-Philosophie”, Paris 1844, diffamiert Karl Marx die Religion als Opium des Volkes.In Anknüpfung an Feuerbach kritisiert er die Religion als Werk des (durch die verkehrte Gesellschaft) entfremdeten Menschen. They are reflections of an underlying need to maintain the status quo and preserve current economic realities. Karl Marx and Religion: 1841-1846 Kathleen L. Clarkson Dr. L. I. Greenspan vi, 120 A recurrent theme throughout the writings of Karl Marx from 1841 through 1846 is his attack on religion. Marx wrote and studied constantly, but ill-health prevented him from completing the last two volumes of Capital (which Engels subsequently put together from Marx’s notes). Has not Christianity declaimed against private property, against marriage, against the State? "[29] In Socialism: Utopian and Scientific, Engels drew a certain analogy between the sort of utopian communalism of some of the early Christian communities and the modern-day communist movement, the scientific communist movement representing the proletariat in this era and its world historic transformation of society. [18] According to various Soviet and Western sources, over one-third of the country's people still professed religious belief (Christianity and Islam had the most believers). Martin Luther preached the ability of each individual to interpret the Bible but sided with aristocratic rulers and against peasants who fought against economic and social oppression. The problem is that opiates fail to fix a physical injury—you only forget your pain and suffering for a while. For this reason among others, Marx rejected religion early on in his youth and made it absolutely clear that he was an atheist. Thus, his analysis of religion becomes difficult to defend or apply, at least in the simplistic form he describes. Die Religionskritik von Karl Marx eine kritische Auseinandersetzung Ludwig Feuerbach geboren: 28. One of the most circulated hearsays about Marx is what he said about religion. This is the origin of his comment that religion is the “opium of the masses”—but as shall see, his thoughts are much more complex than commonly portrayed. [7] Furthermore, Thomas Müntzer led a large Anabaptist communist movement during the German Peasants' War which Friedrich Engels analysed in The Peasant War in Germany. Dass Marx Religion nur in Zusammenhängen von Machtverhältnissen denken konnte, zeigt auch sein „Kommunistisches Manifest“ (1848). All of this is made worse by capitalism which only increases the disparity between the wealthy classes and the labor classes. It should be noted that through most of his life, Marx did not work alone—he had the help of Friedrich Engels who had, on his own, developed a very similar theory of economic determinism. Marx zählt zusammen mit Ludwig Feuerbach, Friedrich Nietzsche und Sigmund Freud zu den bedeutendsten deutschsprachigen Religions… Those social institutions are a superstructure built upon the base of economics, totally dependent upon material and economic realities but nothing else. [36] On the other hand, some orthodox Jews, including a number of prominent religious figures, actively supported either anarchist or Marxist versions of communism. The Roman Catholic cathedral of Phnom Penh was razed. [38] A book by the Association for Baháʼí Studies was written as a dialogue between the two schools of thought. Inspired by Ludwig Feuerbach's "religion of humanity", it had some precedent in the French Revolution with the "cult of reason". Constructing Communism in the Romanian People's Republic. Hegel was what is known as an “idealist”—according to him, mental things (ideas, concepts) are fundamental to the world, not matter. Material things are merely expressions of ideas—in particular, of an underlying “Universal Spirit” or “Absolute Idea.”. Although it might profess valuable principles, it sides with the oppressors. Those social institutions are a superstructure built upon the base of economics, totally dependent upon material and economic realities but nothing else. According to Marx, religion can only be understood in relation to other social systems and the economic structures of society. A second problem is his claim that religion is wholly determined by material and economic realities. In the beginning, people worked together in unity, and it wasn’t so bad. [7][31], Contemporary communism, including contemporary Christian communism, owes much to Marxist thought—particularly Marxian economics. Economic realities prevent them from finding true happiness in this life, so religion tells them this is OK because they will find true happiness in the next life. The italics are in the original. Karl Marx (1818-83) entwickelt in seinem berühmten Text nicht nur die These von der Religion als Opium des Volkes.Für ihn ist die Religion Ausdruck des gesellschaftlichen Elends und zugleich auch Protest gegen dieses Elend. Marx und Engels Zusammenfassung. 491-521, Lucian N. Leustean. In their influential book The ABC of Communism, Nikolai Bukharin and Evgenii Preobrazhensky spoke out strongly against religion, writing that "Communism is incompatible with religious faith". — can only be truly understood when examined in relation to economic forces. Journalism was to become a chief occupation of Marx for much of his life. Lernziele der Stunde. Religion: Opium des Volkes (Karl Marx) Religionen haben etwas Gemeinsames: Ihre Entstehung verdanken Sie dem Ende. For this reason I still think of myself as half-Marxist, half-Buddhist". In the "Wages of Labour" of the Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844, Marx wrote: "To develop in greater spiritual freedom, a people must break their bondage to their bodily needs—they must cease to be the slaves of the body. The Marxist ethos that aims for unity reflects the Christian universalist teaching that humankind is one and that there is only one god who does not discriminate among people. In fact, religion is only dependent upon economics, nothing else—so much so that the actual religious doctrines are almost irrelevant. [citation needed], Pol Pot, leader of the Khmer Rouge regime, suppressed Cambodia’s Buddhist religion as monks were defrocked; temples and artifacts, including statues of the Buddha, were destroyed; and people praying or expressing other religious sentiments were often killed. [24] Though resisted by the Royal Lao Government, these efforts were fairly successful and resulted in increased support for the Pathet Lao, particularly in rural communities. Häufig wird das Zitat verfälscht in der Version Religion ist Opium für das Volk benutzt. For Karl Marx, the basic determining factor of human history is economics. Whatever one’s conclusion about the accuracy or validity of Marx’s ideas on religion, we should recognize that he provided an invaluable service by forcing people to take a hard look at the social web in which religion always occurs. er um die richtige [citation needed], The role of religion in the daily lives of Soviet citizens varied greatly, but two-thirds of the Soviet population were irreligious. 2 (Mar., 2007), pp. [7] This link was highlighted in one of Marx's early writings which stated that "[a]s Christ is the intermediary unto whom man unburdens all his divinity, all his religious bonds, so the state is the mediator unto which he transfers all his Godlessness, all his human liberty". "Religion is the opium of the people " is one of the most frequently paraphrased statements of German sociologist and economic theorist Karl Marx. Although he certainly has some important things to say about the nature of religion, he can’t be accepted as the last word on the subject. As Marx wrote, “The religious world is but the reflex of the real world.”. ", "Bolsheviks and Islam Part 3: Islamic communism", "The Seforim Blog – All about Seforim – New and Old, and Jewish Bibliography", "Dalai Lama Answers Questions on Various Topics", https://www.mea.gov.in/Images/attach/amb/Volume_03.pdf, "Constructing "Godless Communism": Religion, Politics, and Popular Culture, 1954-1960. Critical Sociology, vol 31, no. Not only is nothing else fundamental enough to influence religion, but influence cannot run in the other direction, from religion to material and economic realities. Marx ist der Überzeugung, dass die Wirklichkeit des Menschen durch wirtschaftliche und soziale Faktoren geprägt ist. Marx abandoned the idea of an academic career. He died of respiratory problems in London in 1883. In 1841 the government similarly forbade the young Professor Bruno Bauer to lecture at Bonn. Atheist propaganda returned to a lesser extent during the Khrushchev government and continued in a less strict way during the Brezhnev years. Marx came from a Jewish background, but his father converted to Lutheranism to avoid losing his work as a lawyer in anti-Semitic Prussia. Before the 18th century, most answers were framed in purely theological and religious terms, assuming the truth of Christian revelations and proceeding from there. Similarly, religion does not fix the underlying causes of people’s pain and suffering—instead, it helps them forget why they are suffering and causes them to look forward to an imaginary future when the pain ceases instead of working to change circumstances now. Überall erschienen nun Sch… Jahrhunderts - Referat 2006 - ebook 2,99 € - GRIN B. Nahrung gegen den Hunger oder Kleidung gegen die Kälte) oder indirekt (etwa eine Maschine zur Herstellung von warmen Jacken). After the failure of various revolutionary movements on the continent, Marx was forced to go to London in 1849. Geplanter Unterrichtsverlauf; Tafelanschrift; Arbeitsblatt: Die Religionskritik von Karl Marx (*.txt-Version) Arbeitsblatt für die vorbereitende Hausaufgabe (*.txt-Version) This is not true. Mai 1818 geboren und wuchs gemeinsam mit fünf Geschwistern bei seinen Eltern und in Trier auf. 15-38, Roland Boer in International Socialism. The Romanian Orthodox Church and Post-Communist Democratisation. This caused Max Weber to theorize that religious institutions end up creating new economic realities. Zum theoretischen Hintergrund der MARX´schen Lehre: 1. Kritik an Marx. All of the institutions which are prominent in our daily lives — marriage, church, government, arts, etc. At the same time, Marx saw religion as a form of protest by the working classes against their … Even worse, this “drug” is being administered by the oppressors who are responsible for the pain and suffering. 1-2, pp. Kurze Zusammenfassung über im Kurs besprochene Punkte. Die industrielle Revolution griff bald auf das europäische Festland über und verwandelte auch dort Gesellschaft und Lebensverhältnisse total: Die wenigen Fabrikbesitzer wurden immer reicher die große Masse der Arbeiter wurde immer ärmer und verelendete immer mehr. Marx places his emphasis on the concept of value, which can only be created by human labor, not machines. Das Zitat stammt aus der um die Jahreswende 1843/44 verfassten Einleitung zu seiner Schrift Zur Kritik der Hegelschen Rechtsphilosophie. Marx is saying that religion is meant to create illusory fantasies for the poor. Instead, we can recognize that there are a variety of social influences upon religion, including economic and material realities of society. Perhaps he was influenced in this matter by Hegel, who thought that Christianity was the highest form of religion and that whatever was said about that also automatically applied to “lesser” religions—but that isn’t true. It may be that it was a communism on a very small scale but it was communism without dictatorship a miracle which Lenin failed to do. This isn’t surprising—those in power have always wished to justify and maintain that power. Marx had a special word for all of the work that goes into developing those institutions: ideology. The Khmer Rouge forced Muslims to eat pork, which they regard as an abomination. [...] The failure of the regime in the former Soviet Union was, for me, not the failure of Marxism but the failure of totalitarianism. Karl Marx was born and raised in Trier, a city that was then in the Kingdom of Prussia but now occupies southwestern Germany on the French border. Europe-Asia Studies, Vol. Marx’s wife died on December 2, 1881, and on March 14, 1883, Marx passed away peacefully in his armchair. Two important ideas which developed bear mentioning here: First, that economic realities are the determining factor for all human behavior; and second, that all of human history is that of class struggle between those who own things and those who do not own things but must instead work to survive. The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo.