Writing a response paper on Karl Marx. In this responses students must account for some biographical information about the theorist (if pertinent); next the student should identify core concepts and ideas of the thinker and argue for their relevance or whether they are outdated.

This assignment evaluates students both in their abilities to synthesize core ideas of texts and in the analysis of concepts.

Answer:

Marxist VS Religion

Marx was born on the 8th of May in Trier City, Germany. He was born into a Jewish family later turned Protestant in the year 1824. The conversion in religion attributed to the anti-semitic persecutions and laws.  This, among various other reasons, contributed to Marx's rejection of the idea of worship terming himself as an atheist. However, he had differing views and concepts regarding Christianity that made him popular among the different religions. The paper, therefore, will discuss the concepts and ideas of KarlMax as a thinker and elaborate on their relevance today.

Karl Marx describes religion as any other social institution that is highly dependent on the economic and materialistic realities of society. Religion came about as a result of productive forces and is therefore not independent of an institution of its own. This opinion of Karl Marx is to mean that the dependency of religion on economics is in such a way that there is an irrelevance in the actual doctrines.

Marx was of the opinion that religion creates an illusion, providing excuses and reasons that sustain the functioning of society as it is. He related to capitalism whereby as in capitalism where productive labor is taken from the society, religion is responsible for taking the ideals and aspirations of the society. Furthermore, religion is responsible for taking the societies goals and ideals and leading them to the unknown. Some of the unknown spectrum that religion takes the society’s aspirations is to the gods. Marx’s decry against religion is due to three reasons. The first of those reasons is irrationality. Religion is delusional, and references are made towards appearances that do not recognize the reality on the ground. Second, the imposing of religion in people portrays it in a negative way because it makes them accept the status quo and they have no choice. Third, there is hypocrisy in religion. Religion professes excellent values and principles, but its actions are contrary to that which it preaches, religion is pro-oppressors. Some of the examples cited by Marx to support his opinion were; Jesus campaigned for assisting the poor, the Christian church, however, joined hands with the Roman state to enslave and oppress people for centuries. The Catholic Church is documented to have acquired plenty of property and power while preaching about heaven.

Some popular sentiments from Marx on religion stem from a critique of the philosophy of law by Hegel (McLellan, 1987). In regards to the analysis, spiritual distress is the same as an expression of grief according to Marx. However, the expressions is against the same distress. "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people." Religion was not portrayed to be the biggest enemy to the works and communists according to Karl Max (McLellan, 1987). This is despite him being him disliking religion. Marx says that religion creates fantasies for the poor in society. Economic status prevents the poor from finding real and genuine happiness, and faith assures them that it alright as they will be happy in the afterlife.

Karl Marx's critiques, ideas, and opinions as far as religion is concerned do not fully illustrate the nature of worship. Marx focuses on that which he is familiar with, Christianity, and does not analyze religion in its fullness("Marxism and Modern Thought," 2011). His statements are not accessible across the board.  The claim that religion is dependent upon material and economic factors does not hold. Influence or dependencies cannot run in opposite directions, from religion onto material realities and those of the economy. If this statement were a fact, then capitalism would manifest in nations before Protestantism because Protestantism is the religious sect brought about by capitalism. This, however, is not the case.  Real capitalism manifests itself during the 19th century which provided a reason for Karl Marx to coin the theory that religious institutions lead to the springing up of new economic statuses.

The other problem with Marx's view on religious lies more on the economic scale(McLellan, 1987). Economics, however, formed the basis for Marx's arguments in such a way that any problems to do with an analysis of the economy will affect all other ideologies. Marx emphasizes on Value, which can only result from human labor. There are two major flaws with this fact. If Marx is right, a labor intensive institution will give surplus value and consequently more profit compared to an industry dependent on machines. The reality on the ground is however opposite of this statement. Machine produce more profits than human labor. The second flaw flows from the traditional knowledge that the value of a product does not lie within the energy input but in the purchasing power of its target market. Objects have the value of what people are willing to buy in the long run.

Karl Marx's theory of value and opinion on surplus value are the drivers of capitalism upon which the rest of his ideas are founded(Mojzes, Bociurkiw, & Strong, 1976. Their absence cancels the moral standing against capitalism and falters the other parts of his philosophy. His analysis on religion becomes just as outdated and hard to defend or put into practice. Placing a restriction on the opinion that religion is dependent fully upon economics and nothing else renders the religious doctrines irrelevant (Reynolds, 2000). We can, however, recognize that various social factors influence religion. Such institutions are economics and the material states of the societies among others. In the same spirit, the statement gives inferences to the fact that religion can influence the economic systems of the society and vice versa. Because of the works of Karl Marx, it is almost impossible to critique and study religion while alienating its ties to various economic and social influences. The spiritual or religious aspects of people's lives cannot be entirely separated from their real lives. 

References

Marx, Karl. (n.d.). Religion Past and Present. doi:10.1163/1877-5888_rpp_sim_13674

Marxism and Modern Thought. (2011). doi:10.4324/9780203806937

McGovern, A. F. (1989). Marxism and Religion. By David McLellan. New York: Harper & Row. 1987. 209 pp. $18.95. Journal of Church and State, 31(2), 323-324. doi:10.1093/jcs/31.2.323

McLellan, D. (1987). Conclusion: Marxism and Religion. Marxism and Religion, 157-172. doi:10.1007/978-1-349-18706-5_8

Modern Nationalism and Religion. By Salo Wittmayer Baron. (New York: Harper and Brothers. 1947. Pp. x, 363. $5.00.). (1948). The American Historical Review. doi:10.1086/ahr/53.4.788

Mojzes, P., Bociurkiw, B. R., & Strong, J. W. (1976). Religion and Atheism in the U.S.S.R. and Eastern Europe. Sociological Analysis, 37(4), 357. doi:10.2307/3710027

Reynolds, P. (2000). Post-Marxism: Radical Political Theory and Practice Beyond Marxism? Marxism, the Millennium and Beyond, 257-279. doi:10.1057/9780230518766_13

Strain, C. R. (1989). Marxism and Religion: A Description and Assessment of the Marxist Critique of Christianity by David McLellan. New York, Harper & Row, 1987. 209 pp. $18.95. Theology Today, 46(1), 83-86. doi:10.1177/004057368904600114