Marxists struggle to agree on the role functions of religion Discuss
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Marxists struggle to agree on the role of religion because not all Marxists agree that religion is universally a barrier against social change, a conservative force in society.
For Karl Marx religion is an illusion, a creation of humanity. God did not create humanity: humanity created its Gods. For Karl Marx, People's religious beliefs reflect their alienation and the people do not recognise their own hand in their creation and assign to them powers that only they control or could control if only they did not assign them to superhuman beings that do not exist.
Whilst Marx agrees with Philosopher Ludwig Feuerbach that God was a projection of humanity's potentialities and desires "thought arises from being- being does not arise from thought".
Even religious beliefs and "sacred texts", require humanity to have existed and formulate the ideas of that religion. This is called "materialism" as opposed to "idealism".
Karl Marx wrote, "Religion is only the illusory sun which revolves round man as long as he does not revolve round himself".
It is capitalism and before that other exploitive systems of production, which have given birth to religions. Religion is the 'opium of the people'...