Marx and religion as an alienation

When Marx speaks about the alienation (related to religion) caused by the social conditions, he does not speak of “fundamental/rooted" alienation, but he speaks of the alienation which is by product of it. Meaning that, while he speaks about religion, he does not see the religion as the “environment” that created the disease, but contrary he sees it “one of the diseases” created by the “environment”. Thus, trying to fight against the “disease” rather than fighting to eliminate the “environment” that created the disease can not be anything but an adventure which will not reach to a solution. It is the practice of imperialists who always applied this tactics to distract the people from the main source of problem. They choose a fake concentration on the symptoms rather than the root cause of it by which they disseminate false hopes.

According to Marx, contrary to the views of Hegel and Feurbach, alienation ".. Is not an alienation rooted in thought .."or religion.., alienation means the loss of control, especially loss of control over the means of labor.”

The elimination of the root causes of "alienation" will already create the environment and the conditions in where all its byproduct ‘alienations” will be eliminated. That is; targeting the elimination of the environment and conditions of the diseases will create the necessary environment and conditions for the treatment of diseases.

To argue that by nature religious people would be against revolutionary democracy is either not to understand Marxism or to deny it. Marx has always opposed the understanding and the idea of stereotyped "human nature" concept isolated from the environment and the community of people living in. According to Marx the labor exerted on the nature in order to meet his needs has been the only permanent natural properties of all human societies, and this will be the only unending condition which the nature imposes on the existence of human beings.

So, whether he is religious or not "human nature" is related to labor and bread, his "nature" can not be considered isolated from the community where he lives and its developments. Workers by changing the nature, at the same time, either brings change to themselves or prepares themselves to the change. In the words of Marx in Capital “..human.. by changing the world, he (human-workers) at the same time also changes its own nature."

The alienation created by the system of exploitation brought about not only the alienation of worker to his labor and to the product of his labor, but to himself and to those like himself. For example, categorization and stamping of the individuals within the society have been associated with their relations to the means of production and their role or lack of role in production relations. While in relations between individuals who are independent from each other do not have an independent "identity" from this "stigmatization", the capital that becomes the "tool" in relations of production becomes an independent "identity" in itself. However, this alienation to his labor, to himself and those like himself, have made his tendency to the “changes” and “to change” inevitable.

In short, the rights of the workers can not be defended by excluding and labeling the alienated workers. To speak of a Revolutionary democracy without their active participation in the struggle and in to the organizations would be an illusion if not hypocrisy.

People are creatures of social structure. This character of people is a feature that provides the ability and power to act in accordance with the basic common interests as “society". In this sense, class struggle means that alienated workers, not seeing each other as individuals isolated from each other, but struggle collectively.

To create this collective struggle, especially in underdeveloped countries, Marxists criticize religion only when it is necessary and when it is required, yet they defend and respect for individuals right to freely exercise their religious beliefs. It is not the task of Marxists to attack religion and to those who believe in religion. That is the attitude of bourgeoisie taken in the direction of self-interest and is a manipulated attitude which will produce intending results for the bourgeoisie.

Marx has always been against those who think that attacking religion is the task of revolutionaries. “Religion is a product of social conditions .. and it will only disappear when the social conditions created that disappears ..” (Marx, Critique of Hegels Philosophy of Right)

" Religion must be of no concern to the state, and religious societies must have no connection with governmental authority. Everyone must be absolutely free to profess any religion he pleases, or no religion whatever, i.e., to be an atheist, which every socialist is, as a rule. Discrimination among citizens on account of their religious convictions is wholly intolerable. "(Lenin, On Religion," Socialism and Religion ")

Marxists try to unite all workers, peasants, and largest possible masses to struggle against imperialism regardless of their language, religion, race... In short, Marxists do not have the luxury of creating obstacles between themselves and working people. Marxists should try to reject and try to remove all artificial barriers and try every tactic to encourage them to join revolutionary struggle for Democracy.

" To preach atheism at such a moment and in such circumstances would only be playing into the hands of the priest and the priests, who desire nothing better than that the division of the workers according to their participation in the strike movement should be replaced by their division according to their belief in God." (Lenin, "the Labor Party against the religion of the Attitudes")

The task of Marxists is to integrate all oppressed and exploited people to one force against imperialism without any regard to their religious, national, ethnic, linguistic differences.

To be sensitive about religious beliefs of oppressed people is not only a requirement of Marxist morality but a requirement of the revolutionary struggle, an inevitable necessity for the success of struggle for democracy.

“”We must not only admit workers who preserve their belief in God …, but must deliberately set out to recruit them; we are absolutely opposed to giving the slightest offence to their religious convictions,.." (Lenin, "the Labor Party against the religion of the Attitudes")

"" " But under no circumstances ought we to fall into the error of posing the religious question in an abstract, idealistic fashion, as an “intellectual” question unconnected with the class struggle, as is not infrequently done by the radical-democrats from among the bourgeoisie. 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. It would be bourgeois narrow-mindedness to forget that the yoke of religion that weighs upon mankind is merely a product and reflection of the economic yoke within society"" "(Lenin, Socialism and Religion)

Religion in social conditions is not a reflection of men’s alienation to himself and to his environment, on the contrary, it is the reflection of his revolt against this alienation. In this sense, to approach to religion, namely to a revolt against alienation, with the same attitude of the bourgeoisie, an attitude of oppression and humiliation, will push the religious masses to become defensive and even more fanatical. This has been the present aim of the imperialists and of their puppets. Meaning, by attacking a given religion, forcing its believers and followers to be defensive and become fanatic, and thus preparing an environment, justification and ratification for "intervention".

In this sense, Marxists as secularists must be the most reliable protectors of the religious rights and freedoms of individuals to practice his religion.(Unless it restricts the rights and freedoms of others).

Bourgeois secularism!! can not eliminate hatred between the religions, on the contrary has to foster hatred and fanaticism ..

Only Marxists’ concept of secularism could eliminate this hatred.

Thus, Instead of bringing the alternative “secularism concept” of revolutionary democracy, blindly supporting and repeating the ideas and attitudes of Bourgeois secularism will, in practice, result in spreading the bourgeois concept and system as the “only” and” right" option to the masses. (the hypocrisy and tactics through which the Imperialists and their puppets already have declared themselves as the champions of, democracy, equality and human rights.)

Marxists fight not against religion of the oppressed people, but against their oppression and exploitation.

"" ". Engels called their vociferous proclamation of war on religion a piece of stupidity, and stated that such a declaration of war was the best way to revive interest in religion and to prevent it from really dying out........ ... to proclaim that war on religion was a political task of the workers' party was just anarchistic phrase-mongering. "" "(Lenin the Attitudes of the Proletariat Party Towards Religion)

The enemy of Marxists are not the individuals who believe in religion and practice their faith, but those who are in tactical practice of creating fanatics out of them by waging war against their religion and using the situation in line with their interests. The war untimely and unscientifically waged against religion and religious people will only serve the interests of imperialists.

"""""" An anarchist who preached war against God at all costs would in effect be helping the priests and the bourgeoisie (as the anarchists always do help the bourgeoisie in practice). "(Lenin the Attitudes of the Proletariat Party Towards Religion)

Brotherhood of oppressed peoples, mutual sympathy and support can not be based on their religious beliefs, but based only on their being oppressed and exploited.

In underdeveloped countries extensive existence of such social conditions that cause this "Alienation" manifests the fact of those workers and peasants being religious; workers and peasants who should be organized, and who will be the main force for the realization of revolutionary democracy. Revolution without revolutionary masses? This is why, Marxists and democrats should be sensitive, understanding, and as tolerant as possible to the religious beliefs of workers and peasants whom they want to organize.

"""""""..... Why does religion retain its hold on the backward sections of the town proletariat, on broad sections of the semi-proletariat, and on the mass of the peasantry? Because of the ignorance of the people, replies the bourgeois progressist, the radical or the bourgeois materialist. And so: "Down with religion and long live atheism; the dissemination of atheist views is our chief task!" The Marxist says that this is not true, that it is a superficial view, the view of narrow bourgeois up lifters. It does not explain the roots of religion profoundly enough; it explains them, not in a materialist but in an idealist way. In modern capitalist countries these roots are mainly social. The deepest root of religion today is the socially downtrodden condition of the working masses and their apparently complete helplessness in face of the blind forces of capitalism"""" ((Lenin the Attitudes of the Proletariat Party Towards Religion))

Marxists are not utopians but realists, as Marx puts it ,(which most so called left of left leaves out )

““The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. 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.” — “Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right

As Lenin pointed out "the yoke of religion that weighs upon mankind is merely a product and reflection of the economic yoke within society." That is to say that this alienation can only be eliminated by the destruction of the system of oppression and exploitation that creates it. So the current war should not be against the Alienation it self but the environment and conditions that created the alienation.

Note:

Since one requires force, other, as far as the individuals concern, requires education, especially during the transition period, it does not mean that Marxists stop combating and learning how to combat the “alienation” till it disappears. In other words it is more a tactical question of analyzing any given conditions and relations of forces in any given country for the interest of oppressed and exploited people’s struggle for democracy.

Erdogan A
September 25, 2009

in Turkish