First Published: The Call, Vol. 8, No. 38, October 8, 1979.
Transcription, Editing and Markup: Paul Saba
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The visit of Pope John Paul II to the U.S. and his massive reception shows that religion still has a strong influence over millions of people. Many people have asked us, as Marxists what stand do we take towards religion? What role does religion play in our society and is there any positive aspect to it?
From what you read in the capitalist press, all you would be likely to know is that Marx once called religion “the opiate of the masses.” The only image of communists one would get is that of anti-religious people.
It is true that communism and religion are in many ways opposites. Marx’s comments equating religion with opium were intended to show the historic role religion has played in class society, how it has been used by the rich to keep the poor and oppressed people passive and “in their place” by drugging them with fears and hopes of the unknown.
As communists, we promote a belief in science as opposed to religion and idealism. We see humanity as its own liberator, rather than some supernatural being.
Actually, the original roots of religion go back to early, primitive society and the helplessness of primitive man in the face of the menacing phenomena of nature. Because people had not yet learned how to control nature and were totally at its mercy, they could only rely on prayers, incantations, sacrifices, ikons and other rituals to try to prevent sickness, fire, famine, storms and other catastrophies.
The fact that these terrible things continued was attributed to God’s wrath. Unable to ward off disaster, people were susceptible to the view that these were really good things or things ordered by God for reasons that we cannot understand.
Finally came the idea that this life on earth is only a preparation for our true life which lies in a world beyond. There, after death and resurrection, we are either rewarded for our virtue and suffering here, or condemned to eternal damnation for our wickedness.
With the development of modern society, many of the things formerly attributed to God’s will, such as the cause of disease or of war, have come to be explained scientifically. Because Marxism is an advanced ideology, representing the most advanced social and economic developments in the modern world, it is able to reveal the causes of oppression and suffering of man as being based on his position in class society. Such an understanding is opposed to the view that some were “destined” to be rich and others poor, that some were “ordained by God” to rule and others to be ruled.
But the complex nature of modern society and the worsening conditions for the majority of the people still present mysteries which they are unable to solve for a lack of science. Therefore they still turn to God to explain their misery here on earth.
As Lenin pointed out: “The roots of modern religion are deeply embedded in the social oppression of the working masses, and in their apparently complete helplessness before the blind forces of capitalism, which every day and every hour cause a thousand times more horrible suffering and torture for ordinary working folk than are caused by exceptional events such as war, earthquakes, etc.” (On Religion)
Marx and Lenin’s views on how the exploiting classes use religion have also been documented through the years by other philosophers and scientific thinkers. Plato, Aristotle, Plutarch and Polybius in the ancient world understood that religion was a potent factor for keeping the common people down.
Some modern-day examples of this use of religion are the way evangelists from the U.S. and Europe flocked to the colonies of Africa, Asia and Latin America in the service of colonialism, fostering racism and treading on the sacred customs and traditions of the people. Tyranny has been defended as the divine right of kings and shahs, with dozens of dictators proclaiming that they were sent by God to rule.
Finally, right here in the U.S. we have religious institutions which have amassed vast fortunes at the expense of people’s labor and suffering, fortunes which are used, along with sermons from the pulpit, to maintain the present system intact. Opposition to this use of organized religion has even come from broad forces within the church itself.
The differences between Marxism and religion do not mean that communists are the enemies of people who hold religious beliefs. Because our Party recognizes the historical roots of religion, we also recognize that it is a reality of present society. In other words, religion will be a part of the lives of the people as long as class society exists. It cannot be “smashed” as anti-religion fanatics or ultra-“leftists” would like to think, nor do communists attempt to do so. But communists do promote science as opposed to religious views and uphold dialectical and historical materialism in the face of idealism.
At present the great majority of the working people in the capitalist countries hold some religious beliefs or belong to some church. Our Party doesn’t condemn them for this. In fact, we staunchly defend the rights of all people to practice the religion of their choice.
Communists have always been the sworn enemies of religious persecution, whether from Hitler in his murder of Jews and Catholics, or from today’s so-called “socialists” in Moscow who persecute the many religious minorities in that country.
Furthermore, we see the positive as well as negative role that the Church can play and has played throughout certain periods in history, as a gathering place for the liberation struggle and in its opposition to persecution. Many religious people and religious leaders have joined in the struggle against imperialism, war, fascism and racial discrimination, especially from among the oppressed minorities and nationalities.
Particularly in the third world, Moslem, Catholic and many other religious representatives have come forward to play important and leading roles in the national liberation movements. Just as there are misleaders and reactionaries from among the clergy, there are also the freedom fighters.
We encourage all religious individuals to take part with us in the common struggle for freedom, and we never make it a prerequisite that they give up or change their religious convictions which we respect and take seriously. The CPML condemns the sectarianism and “leftism” of groups like the so-called Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP) who fail to subordinate the struggle between Marxism and religion to the struggle of the working class against oppression as a whole.
Socialism alone will destroy the material roots of human oppression and suffering upon which religion stands and grows. Even under socialism, religious freedom will be guaranteed by the government, and all violators of that freedom will be punished by law. Religion will continue to exist even under socialism for a long period of time.
In China today, for example, religion is treated as a personal matter and something against which administrative measures should not be invoked. Every citizen enjoys freedom to believe or not to believe in religion, while the Communist Party also has the right to promote science.
Our Party, therefore, teaches and affirms that the way to struggle against religion is to struggle for the kind of world in which people, through their own collective efforts, will shape their society and eliminate oppression and exploitation. In so doing they will have no need for supernatural beliefs or reliance on spiritual forces for their liberation.