[lbo-talk] Marxism and Religion

[B.]

My rule of thumb is this: Religion may be an opiate of the masses, or not.
Oft-times, it is. Take the pill, be happy. Many go to
church/mosque/whatever -- or pray -- for the same reason a worker goes to a
tavern: to have a few and forget about life's real miseries -- to think
that in the end all's gonna be alright, in some after-world.

But my main objection isn't even that. My main objection is just that religion isn't true. Jesus was not impregnated by a deity, as both the Bible and Qur'an says. That isn't true, opiate or not. And Wojtek is right: neither was Paul Bunyan.

-B.

Wojtek Sokolowski wrote:

  Therefore, my "rule of thumb"
in treatment religions is as follows:

If someone believes in fairy tales, Santa Claus,
Invisible Hand and kindred figments of imagination -
its is the job of a literary critic to analyze and
critique it.

If someone acts on such beliefs - this becomes the job
of a shrink.

If someone insists that others act on such beliefs -
it is the job of a prosecutor or, if that fails, a
revolutionary.