Religion

[condor]

How is something with so little evidence so powerful?

[RedKobra]

Because it serves the material interests of the bourgeoisie and acts as consolation and pressure valve to the downtrodden. Its actually wonderfully well adapted to class society, which is exactly the point.

[Alet]

Because ideology does not need evidence, it is based on axioms.

[The Feral Underclass]

Religion predates the bourgeoisie.

[RedKobra]

Didn't say it didn't because thats not what he asked. He asked why is it so powerful.

[odysseus]

Religion is powerful because its used to communicate, through symbols and metaphors, faith. It is one of the strongest ways there are to create social connections between people and that is why its so powerful. Its literally another version of language. If I say I am washed in the blood of the lamb, a Hindu will think I am crazy. But another evangelical (which I am not), will understand me and share a connection with me, because I have shared something profound. What that metaphor means btw, and I had to Google it, is you are cleansed of your sins.

Just as English uses words, religion uses symbols and metaphors to communicate. Now it might be better to ask why is faith so powerful, and I don't know.


"Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of heartless conditions, the soul of a soulless world. It is the opiate of the people."

Perhaps I am wrong, but I would wager this is the meaning behind Marx's quote. It might not be how he would have said it or thought of it, but it communicates the same truth that Marx was trying to get across.

Over thousands of years, the ruling class has used religion, has perverted language, towards its own ends, and given these symbols and metaphors meanings that they did not have before, and further more applies these symbols and metaphors, in ways to promote its self and its ideology amongst the masses it oppresses, or rather to keep them from advocating for change. Thus you will find a tendency, might not be true everywhere, but that in more religious groups people are more exploited, alienated, and

[Vee]

I like the way marx explained it



“The foundation of irreligious criticism is: Man makes religion, religion does not make man. Religion is, indeed, the self-consciousness and self-esteem of man who has either not yet won through to himself, or has already lost himself again. But man is no abstract being squatting outside the world. Man is the world of man – state, society. This state and this society produce religion, which is an inverted consciousness of the world, because they are an inverted world...

Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. 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...."


To put it in simple terms marx believed that religion grew out of oppression. you could say that he considered it to be a form of escapism.

If we agree with his analysis then we can conclude that the reason religion is so powerful is because it gives the oppressed hope. the ruling class knows this and uses it to manipulate the oppressed.

[The Feral Underclass]

Didn't say it didn't because thats not what he asked. He asked why is it so powerful.

It's not powerful because the bourgeoisie exploits it though, especially when you consider that most Western societies are secular. Hardly any one attends Church in the UK nowadays. The power of religion is severely diminished compared to a couple of centuries ago. Even a hundred years ago. The potency of religion to be exploited doesn't really exist any more.

[Rafiq]

It's not powerful because the bourgeoisie exploits it though, especially when you consider that most Western societies are secular. Hardly any one attends Church in the UK nowadays. The power of religion is severely diminished compared for a couple of centuries ago. Even a hundred years ago. The potency of religion to be exploited doesn't really exist any more.

This depends on how one defines religion.

Religion, in juxtaposition to Communism, has always been the means that which the void of the social sphere was articulated in superstitious terms. Little separates many religious figures today from ordinary liberals, they simply use different words.

Today's society is more religious than ever. You will not find religion in Church's, Mosques and temples though: You find religion in the crevices of everyday life, you find religion where people say "Well, I'm against organized religion but I have my own thing". That is religion today.

[Sinister Cultural Marxist]

How is something with so little evidence so powerful?


It depends on what you consider "evidence" for the religion. Most religious systems make some claims that can be verified, and some that can't. Many of the claims don't really need to be supported, since they are myths that probably had some grounding in reality.

Also, religion informs people's basic epistemological assumptions, meaning that something mundane to an atheist can become proof for God's existence in the eyes of the believer (the complexity of the universe isn't intrinsically a problem for a materialist atheist, but in the mind of a creationist, is strong evidence for the presence of a creator).

Lastly, these things really depend on the religion in question. A lot of scientists are taking a hard look at the positive effects of meditation on the mind, but that is because the effects of the practice are much easier to test scientifically.