Marxism as a Cure for Religious Fundamentalism| Radical Thoughts

[@symbolicmegaphone9841]

Apologies if I use some strange terms here, I'm not read-up on the vocabulary. I think the consensus in the comments is pretty clear that we're talking about fundamentalism as opposed to religiosity, but I worry the video itself doesn't make this distinction clear enough. As you've said, liberation theology has a powerful interplay with Marxism and leftism, and Marxism itself can become dogmatic. There are dogmatic, "non-active" atheists who don't connect to a wider social conflict, while there are deeply religious people who are both open-minded and committed to the social conflict. While "religious fundamentalism" is a very good term for describing the practicality of what exists (namely, that there are people who are engaging in fundamentalism, which is of a religious character), we can't confuse the adjective and the noun here. The root issue is "fundamentalism," and "religious" is a modifier describing the flavor of the fundamentalism. While I'm an atheist, I have a good friend who is a Christian socialist (a big fan of the English Diggers), who's made what I think is a fairly reasonable argument for both his embrace of socialism as a Christian, and for his embrace of Christianity as a socialist. He believes that Jesuism (as in, reading the Bible with a predominant interest in the actual words and deeds of Jesus, as opposed to giving equal weight to, say, Paul's letters) pretty explicitly leads someone towards an egalitarian and socialist mindset. BUT, he notes, there is a conflict between what he calls the "mission centered church" and the "church centered mission" (ecclesiasticism). Focusing on "the flock" requires going out into the world and connecting with people, and to understand their spiritual ailments, which requires understanding their psychological ailments, which are necessarily built on their material conditions, which leads to looking at class inequalities and injustices. Meanwhile, the church-centric model builds up a hierarchy, an institutional structure, and expects that parishioners will come... but on the priests' terms more than their own. Now, I also think there are some inherent issues with religious texts that do build this spirit of what we might call "dogmatic hierarchy" (or perhaps hierarchical dogmatism, or whichever you'd like to put as the adjective.) The emphasis in many traditions that salvation belongs to only a select few, that the majority are at best ignorant and at worst sinful, and that, as you directly pointed out, they all rely on a dogmatic religious text as opposed to material conditions. You could even argue that the explicitly theistic/god-having religions are inherently hierarchical, because of how they create a relationship between a divine master and a mortal slave. But I think it serves us to be more explicit about our exact problem with what lives INSIDE of religious fundamentalism, precisely because it will allow us to recognize those flaws in ideologies which we would initially be much more favorable to. That is, the dangerous assumption would be "The problem is religious fundamentalism, and because Marxism is usually atheist, there can be no religious fundamentalism within it, and therefore there can be no fundamentalism within it." That is how we create the dogmatism you talked about (what Bertrand Russell called "the spirit of the sect, that narrow, bitter orthodoxy.") If we could call, say, Wahabbism or Mormonism "dogmatism of a religious character," then we could likewise call Stalinism or Maoism "dogmatism of a Marxist character." It isn't the presence of a "mythological" explanation for the world, because all systems of understanding the world must step foot into mythology. You could, if you were fairly cynical, call religion "an ideology with a cosmological emphasis." The rationalists of the Enlightenment took great pains to be 'scientific,' and then Marx lampooned the Young Hegelians for taking their idealized assumptions as truth, and now Marx himself has been critiqued for his own idealized assumptions. Myth is inescapable, and so is the uncritical treatment of myth as truth. This is not to say that you can make an equation between, say, believing in the literal Old Testament and believing in Marx's economic theories - the latter has far more practical evidence underpinning it - but that we need to be ever watchful of how the SEED of fundamentalism/dogmatism/hierarchy can weasel its way into any ideology. The depressing and bloody failures of Leninism and propaganda-of-the-deed-style Anarchism have shown the dangers of failing to be watchful of how we and our comrades think. (I hope that wasn't too wandering/egoistic >.> Thank you for a thought-provoking video as always, Masood!)

[@masoodraja]

Thank you so much. I agree the video could have been a bit more clear. I completely understand your points. I think what I was trying to say, and not very clearly, is that only Marxism can enable people, especially from my native Pakistan, to develop a more secular point of view, as it requires that materialistic view as a beginning point. I will probably revisit this theme again on another video:) I will pin your comment to the top so that others can benefit from it too. Thank you for taking the time to write this eloquent response.

[@linobenetti6578]

thank u very much u are an oasis of reason and inspiration my very best wishes to u kalimera from kalamata

[@masoodraja]

Thank you so much!!

[@cheri238]

Dr. Masood Raja, thank you for all your videos. I am going through them slowly, and some I have not left a comment for I have to read some more. May I also add, "What a beautiful place you live with all the sounds of birds and the rooster walking on the grounds." Do you know of the philosopher J. Krishnamurti? Thank you again, sir.

[@masoodraja]

You are most welcome and thank you. I know of Krishnamurti but have not read any of his works.

[@DecadentMystic]

Could The Egoism of Max Stirner also be used to undo religious fundamentalism?

[@masoodraja]

Could be but I am more focused on Marx, as only Marx’s work unleashes not only philosophical thoughts but also Marxist politics and political movements.

[@Catechumen_01]

How would you integrate Liberation Theology into your curative analysis? Is there a place for LT, or must it be abondonded as well?

[@masoodraja]

Good point. I am actually a fan of liberation theology. That is why I tried not to make this into anti-religion but rather anti fundamentalism. The problem with liberation theology is that while it works toward the care of the poor, it still is connected to one of the most enduring religious powers in the world. But good point!!

[@Calcoro]

My wife says the chickens are saying "I wanna be a Marxist, too!" Anyway, I think an important distinction here is the difference between religiosity and religious fundamentalism. I've met a surprising number of Muslim Marxists since I travel both spaces, and am myself a Marxist. To me the reconciliation of those beliefs is that religious views are personal, while political views are public as they are designed to affect everyone. As my experience is only with Christianity and Islam, I can say with some confidence that there is a heavy emphasis on community. Individualism is frowned upon, and the belief that the health of the community is paramount to healthy living. In my opinion the political expression of *actual* Islam or Christianity should be Marxism, because it's the only political system that works towards minimizing oppression and maximizing wellbeing. There's a great video about the province of Smangus in Taiwan, an indigenous Christian anarchist community. You can check it out here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bau1oH2ri9OhntU

[@masoodraja]

Thank you. All good ideas. My point is that Marxism is the only praxis that makes religion irrelevant. But then it had its own excesses too, but not being religious myself, I find Marxism a potent force in the world without reference to any divine or sacred systems.

[@synthetic_paul]

What about anarchist schools? Bakunin for example, has a great hatred of religion.

[@masoodraja]

Yes, but for me, based in my experience, Marxism is more effective, especially in deeply religious societies. In creating secular political groups and parties. And that there is a Marxist presence almost everywhere. The anarchists would certainly also have this effect.

[@Thewonderingminds]

Sir, religions have been highjacked, thus referencing and generalizing is worthless endeavor. Nonetheless man's primordial questions have to addressed somehow. And for that is only one religion which is using pre-religion/primordial ceremonies to ameliorate such self-shocking questions .

[@masoodraja]

Thank you. I have no idea what this means but thank you for sharing it.

[@LarzGustafsson]

I am a Christian fundamentalist and a communist.

[@masoodraja]

Cool.

[@linobenetti6578]

sorry to hear it but it cant be done ....its centaurian half horse half human