Rizal’s Marxist Critique of Spanish Colonization and Religion
Authors: Bustamante Christian Bryan 
Published: October 2022

This paper analyzed the themes of Jose Rizal’s critique of the Spanish colonization and religion. It works on the propositions that Rizal’s writings were intended to emancipate the Filipinos from the fetters of the Spanish colonization; as such, he provides an analysis on the effects of the Spanish colonial strategies and policies to the Filipino psyche, and exposes the illnesses that these caused the Filipino nation. His analysis of the nineteen century Philippine society and its social, economic and political situations under the Spanish colonial rule is similar to the ideas of Karl Marx on religion and the human person. Though it was never acknowledge in his writings that he read Marx’s works, Rizal’s criticisms of religion, education, and government showed resemblances with Marx’s ideas.
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