I was wondering, since religions are fundamentally social structures built to set hierarchies and justify inequality, and all religious dogma and theology has failed to disprove the null hypothesis of atheism, does it hamper a comrade’s integrity if she is conflicted in shedding off her circumstantial religion?
What do you guys think?
religions are fundamentally social structures built to set hierarchies and justify inequality
Incorrect, they are subsumed by the existing powers in much the same way that criticism of capitalism today is used to reinforce it. It does not mean that to point out flaws in capitalism is somehow bad or anti-communist.
Religious communes have been the closest thing to communism humanity has created before the industrial revolution, even if they were idealists. The heart of religion is revolutionary, the sigh for a future we can’t imagine on earth. Don’t confuse your understanding of Christianity in Europe during medieval times as a standard formula for religion everywhere.
The clergy’s endorsement of the Divine Right of Kings has its counterparts in all advanced religions and cultures of the world - be it South Asian (Hindu & Buddhist), Middle-Eastern (Islam) or Western (Christianity).
It is not just limited to the European Middle Ages, religious institutions have been defining class status and roles since time immemorial.
The clergy’s endorsement of the Divine Right of Kings has its counterparts in all advanced religions and cultures of the world - be it South Asian (Hindu & Buddhist), Middle-Eastern (Islam) or Western (Christianity).
See “they are subsumed by the existing powers in much the same way that criticism of capitalism today is used to reinforce it. It does not mean that to point out flaws in capitalism is somehow bad or anti-communist.”
It is not just limited to the European Middle Ages, religious institutions have been defining class status and roles since time immemorial.
They have also been breaking class status and roles them since time immemorial. The first Christian communities were literal communes that formed autonomous zones in the Roman Empire which was partly the reason they were so violently suppressed. Even in countries where the “official” stance of the church was pro-state, there were hundreds of rebellions against this idea based on those same scriptures.
I don’t think relinquishing faith is strictly necessary - The Liberation Theology crowd seem pretty nice - but I suspect it would make things easier.
As for myself, A fundamental part of my alienation involves the venality of American Christianity and the ostracizing of homosexuals (as well as any other significant outlier), so bucking that particular yoke was on the to-do list well before I fell in with the socialist crowd. I kinda figured socialists would be my best shot at gaining system-level protection from the Falwells, Faye-Bakers, Robersons, and Duggers out there. These institutions struck - and continue to strike - a fear into my heart so deep it cannot be extracted.
since religions are fundamentally social structures built to set hierarchies and justify inequality
Source?
I wouldn’t put it as a blanket statement because I admittedly do not know how a lot of modern organized religion does it (organized of course being key), but organized religion does often involve a clerical class that stands aside from and often above the average person. You’ve got the three Abrahamics of course, but also (weird reach but thinking off the top of the head) things like paganism in the ancient world: Egypt, Greece, Rome, etc
Yes.
Interpreting “essential” in the philosophical sense, that it is impossible to find a genuine communist who is not misotheist: no
(btw misotheism is the hatred of God, and hating God requires you to believe in God. I assume you mean aggressively atheist or anti-religion)
You can be a communist and believe in God. You will probably come across inconsistencies somewhere, but that doesn’t really disqualify you from being a communist. I’m pulling out that quote:
We call communism the real movement which abolishes the present state of things. The conditions of this movement result from the premises now in existence.
Being a communist is more about what we do materially. Our actions are informed by our previous and current conditions. These conditions might include religion. This doesn’t disqualify us from communism. In fact it might require it in some cases.
Also, our actions are informed by conditions, but that doesn’t always mean well-informed. Part of the communist attitude involves improving this so we do become well-informed. This might involve becoming more familiar with religion (eg. if we need to work with a religious community), or rejecting it (eg. we are recovering from leaving a toxic religious community).
