First, I don’t know where I have to put this kind of question on Lemmy so I’m asking it here. Marx viewed religion as a negative force, often referring to it as the ‘opiate of the masses.’ If someone is religious and also identifies as a Marxist, do you think that’s contradictory, or is it just a matter of mislabeling themselves? Would it be more accurate for them to call themselves a socialist instead of a Marxist?
There is quite a lot wrong with religion. It is inherently stultifying to follow it, regardless of flavor.
The purpose of a system is what it does. Religious systems make people easy to control and that control is used by charlatans, swindlers and perverts for personal enrichment.
They, all of them, use abusive child rearing techniques and punitive social controls to reduce the chances a person will break away later in life. There is nothing good about this. A few adherents may keep some independent moral judgment but that can be allowed as long as the mass is kept under control.
Not all religious people use abusive child rearing techniques and punitive social controls.
Even if you were more specific to say “all organized religion”, but even that would be purely speculative on your part, because it is literally impossible for you to know.
Definitively, your “all of them” statement is wrong. Evidence? My own upbringing where I was allowed to leave the church with basically no resistance.
Otherwise I agree with you. But don’t go tying weak speculation with strong arguments- you’re making your argument, and mine by extension, look less true.
All religions that do not use abusive child rearing and punitive social controls are dwindling in numbers of adherents.
A religion that does not use them will not last. Thus it is a feature of the phenomenon we call religion, it is as essential as reproduction to a biological species.
100% accurate!