[lbo-talk] Rationality of the Masses

[Jim Devine]

One way of saying this is to go back to Karl Marx's rejection of the
hard-core atheism of the "Young Hegelians." The latter thought that
getting rid of religion would lead to a clear improvement for society
(beyond that of getting rid of offensive ideas). Marx, on the other
hand, saw the material basis of religion in the craziness (alienation)
of society. It's the opiate of the masses, but given capitalism and
all that, even rational people need opiates. Instead of opposing
religion _per se_, therefore, he pushed to improve society, abolish
alienation.

It seems to me that there's more of a material basis to religion than
just capitalism and other alienated social relations. As long as
people die, people are going to need the consolation that religions
offer. There are also other elements of the "human condition" that are
hard to deal with with a purely scientific approach, so religions step
in.

On 6/8/05, Jeffrey Fisher <jeff.jfisher at gmail.com> wrote:
> i think there's a lot of sense in carrol's post, here, and i wish
> people would consider cross-applying it in principle to the issue of
> religion. it shouldn't surprise us a bit that people on the whole (not
> individually, necessarily) have an aversion to letting go of religion,
> teenage rebellions aside.
> 
> or am i completely misunderstanding what's going on, here?

-- 
Jim Devine
"Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way
and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante