Liberate Religious Oppression
Tags: Religion, Politics, Marxism

by Mark Maxey

Marxism is not about atheism, Chairman Gus Hall was famous for saying, “Our quarrel is with capitalism, not God.” Karl Marx was absolute in opposing oppression and not religion. However, a true Marxist is about the worker and their rights. Religion should not necessarily be a focal point in our struggles, but to each to their own. But my focus is on the oppression. Oppression keeps us struggling for our rights/dignity which keeps us from working for a more loving peaceful existence.

Each culture has their own creation mythology. The Judeo-Christian beliefs are those of the tribe Israel. Yet the oldest known culture are the Sumerians which pre-dates Jewish cosmology by thousands of years. Within the Sumerian cosmology are a flood, savior born, death, and resurrection. The Jewish retelling of this mythos does not negate it’s possible truth but yet presents itself to their own cosmos.

Fr. Bede Griffiths, a Benedictine monk who spoke of the perennial wisdom. This perspective in modern spirituality which views each of the world’s religious traditions as sharing a single, metaphysical truth or origin from which all esoteric and exoteric knowledge and doctrine have grown. Fr. Bede lived amongst Hindus in India and developed a synergy of Catholic and Hindu rites and spirituality. His approach was a social paradox that embraced different cultures to live communally in peace and democratic manner. Which is to say, very Marxist.

The Basic Principles of Marxism — Critique Sociale Marxism is a way of thinking critically, but it is not a “system”: “I have never established a ‘Here are the basic principles of Marxism: socialist systemFor the transformation of society, Marxism considers that a revolutionary process that will lead to a society based on cooperation and the free distribution of goods and provision of services is necessary. ‘“, Karl Marx wrote in his “Notes on Adolph Wagner’s As a result, while they participate in the day-to-day class struggle of the workers, Marxists work on behalf of a reorganization of society that will put an end to this class division. Lehrbuch der politician ÖkonomieThese principles, or some of them, could very well be embraced by other political and social tendencies: if this is the case, then so much the better! Marxism does not attempt to isolate itself, quite the contrary: the goal is to contribute to the constitution of a movement of all of the society for the creation of “an association, in which the free development of each is the condition for the free development of all” (Karl Marx, Critique Sociale March 12, 2009 The Communist Manifesto). Consider the source of the idea that socialism can never work “ (1880). Marxism is the analysis of the development of the world as it is, a method that must forge an intimate connection between practice and theory.

“The emancipation of the workers must be the task of the workers themselves.” This is principle is inherent to real Marxism, which implies democracy and self-emancipation; it also means that democracy is the indispensable foundation for a new society (called socialism or communism). This society, liberated from the diverse forms of domination, will have to be freely constructed by its members.

Internationalism, which is simultaneously the recognition of the common interests of the workers of the entire world and of the need to struggle on a world scale, and of the goal of abolishing nations in the transition to a human world community.

The knowledge and analysis of History (the materialist conception of history).

The recognition of the existence of social classes that divide men and women into distinct segments of the population; the recognition of the profound inequalities and injustices that separate these classes; and the recognition that as long as society is divided into classes, there will be conflicts between these classes (the class struggle).

That said, let’s embrace this thought. For these ideals to be realized the Marxist communists need to join hand in hand with other like minded leftists grassroots organizations. The Marxist followers alone can’t realize these goals by themselves. The current progressive organizations (Occupy, Black Lives Matter, AIM, Our Revolution, Sen. Bernie Sanders, etc…) have so much more in common. Joining together helps all of the humankind to eventually live in these Marxists parameters.

Now, hear me out, the other organizations need to also do their part in weeding out from society the neoliberalism and religious fanaticism that leads to oppression. It was oppression that Marx was against, not God. If the true nature of spiritualism, as in the perennial vein, then this nature by the natural order is nonoppressive. What is oppressive in religion is legalistic rhetoric which is called ideology. Ideology is ideas, and true Marxism is not about ideas but rather realistic.

Opponents of socialism, who also go back through the ages, say it can’t work. Additionally, they say that socialism is unfair or undemocratic. It is neither, but you can see why a capitalist would say that.

Karl Marx and Frederick Engels did not waste a lot of words trying to describe the heavenly benefits of a future socialist society. They published a list of some likely features that included the idea that the main factories and instruments of production would be owned and run democratically by the people.

Any religious thought that is oppressive is not the true nature of God if one so believes in God. Using religion to disqualify Marxist goals nullifies Marx’s goals. Oppression at any level denies the true freedom that an individual inherently has. So in a sense, fundamentalism is an oppressive tool to rule over a person instead of bringing out the proletariat qualities in a person.

In Conclusion, part of the struggle we face is relieving the oppression before us. That is realistic. We must keep struggling together. We must speak out when we see oppression of any type. Religion is a choice, but oppression of any kind is not a choice. Our goal is in liberating the oppressed.