[lbo-talk] Class, Power, and Religion (was Last Supper, in a leather harness)

Yoshie Furuhashi critical.montages at gmail.com
Sun Sep 30 07:44:41 PDT 2007


On 9/28/07, ravi <ravi at platosbeard.org> wrote:
> On 28 Sep, 2007, at 15:33 PM, Doug Henwood wrote:
> > Since atheists are the most disparaged "religious" group in the U.S.
> > - polling well below Muslims and queers - I don't see why the
> > nonreligious are supposed to be so solicitous of the feelings of the
> > religious. At least in the U.S. They're the dominant group, and they
> > should be nice to us.
>
> Only if grouping by religious belief has some impact on social order,
> power relationships, ability to realise one's potential, etc, etc.

Some atheists claim that they are more oppressed than Muslims in the USA, citing polls like that. I'd ask them a question: are Guantanamo detainees largely Muslims or atheists? The answer is clear.

As for the question of income and religious belief, the Barna group says:

One of the intriguing findings from the research is

that education and income are negatively correlated

with belief in Heaven and Hell. In other words, the

more education a person gets or the more income

they earn, the less likely they are to believe that Heaven

or Hell exists. While most high-income households

and college graduates maintain belief in Heaven

and Hell, the finding reinforces the popular notion -

and, indeed, Jesus' teaching - that people of economic

means and those with considerable education struggle

to embrace biblical teachings on such matters.

("Americans Describe Their Views About Life After

Death," 21 October 2003, <http://www.barna.org/FlexPage.aspx?Page=BarnaUpdate&BarnaUpdateID=150>)

That's a fact. The dilemma for secular leftists in the USA as well as the global South, who come from various class backgrounds but are all well educated, through formal schooling or otherwise, is how to overcome the social and cultural gaps between themselves and the majority -- the working class, who are largely religious, one way or another -- with whom they wish to stand in solidarity. We can't overcome the gaps if we deny their material existence by burying our heads in the metaphysical sands. -- Yoshie



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