Critical Theory of Religion

The basic Marxist view and theory on the roots, essence and social role of religion.

Religion is an important content of Western culture that includes religious ideas, religious feelings and religious rituals. Religion is a means and instrument for the exploiting classes to maintain their rule. Marx and Engels’ critical thought of religion began in the early 1840s. Although the publication of Feuerbach’s book The Essence of Christianity in 1841 had a great impact on their intellectual transformation and the formation of their materialist conception of religion, it was their observations and reflections on the actual economic and social problems that prompted them to reflect profoundly on the religious question when they participated in social work after graduating from school. The critique of religion accompanied the formation of Marx and Engels’ new world outlook. In the introduction to On the Jewish Question and the Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right, Marx made a preliminary elaboration of the origin and essence of religion. Later, in The Holy Family, Theses on Feuerbach, The German Ideology, Anti-Dühring, Ludwig Feuerbach and the End of Classical German Philosophy and other works, Marx and Engels, perfected the thought of the critique of religion.

The main elements of the critical theory of religion include: (1) On the origin of religion. Religion arose in the primitive times when the productive forces were low and men lacked the understanding of natural phenomena, human body and dream imagery, etc., they produced the idea of the immortality of the soul and of the existence of spirit in all things, thus giving rise to the first gods and the primitive religions of the ancient times. After entering the class society, while being oppressed by the blind forces of nature, man is more predominantly subject to class exploitation and oppression, and the ruling class always used religion to numb and control the masses, and the social roots are the main roots of the emergence and long existence of religion. In terms of cognitive roots, idealism and metaphysics are the cognitive roots for the emergence of religion. Religion is the self-consciousness and self-esteem of people who have either not yet won through to themselves, or have already lost themselves again. It is an inverted consciousness of the world, and an inverted world. (2) On the essence of religion. All religion is nothing but the fantastic reflection in people’s minds of those external forces which control their daily life, a reflection in which the terrestrial forces assume the form of supernatural forces. Religion is a fantastic, inverted reflection in people’s minds of those external forces which control their daily life, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. All religion is nothing but the fantastic reflection in people’s minds of those external forces which control their daily life, a reflection in which the terrestrial forces assume the form of supra-natural forces. (3) On the social role of religion. Religion is a spiritual tool for the ruling class to maintain its ruling order. It is a kind of spiritual opium. “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.” (4) On the withering-away of religion. Religion is a social phenomenon at a certain stage of history, and the withering-away of religion is the inevitable fate of history. But the withering-away of religion is conditional and needs a process, which requires a certain social and material basis and a series of material conditions, which are themselves the natural product of a long and painful historical development. The religious reflections of the real world can, in any case, vanish only when, with the development of material production, the practical relations of everyday life of men with each other, and with nature, generally present themselves to him in a transparent form, and when men are able to freely manage social relations and bring them under their conscious control upon a definite plan. This shows that in order to eliminate religion, efforts should not be made on religion itself, but on the roots and external conditions for its rise. (5) On the significance of the criticism of religion. The criticism of religion and the abolition of religion as an illusory happiness of the people requires the realization of the real happiness of the people. Through the criticism of religion, people are able to establish their real happiness by not holding on to illusions, but by thinking rationally and acting positively.

The critical theory of religion is an important theory of Marxism. The new world outlook of Marxism was established in a profound criticism of religion. The critical theory of religion is a theoretical tool and weapon for us to understand and address the religious question.