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?
Many people, including myself, reject Marxism because it’s a metanarritive just like Christianity.
Metanarritive just means one big story to explain history. Christians believe all of history is just a struggle between God and the Devil for souls, Marxism its a struggle for political power between haves and have nots. Metanarritive isn’t satisfied with explaining the past either, it also predicts the future. I can’t be the first to notice Marxists awaiting the revolution looks a lot like Christians awaiting rapture.
I feel like this is a misrepresentation of Marxs work either by misunderstanding his work or by not being familiar with his works. And not every Marxists waits for a revolution, it’s mostly orthodox Marxists (or Marxist-leninists) who are hoping for a revolution. Revisionist Marxists, such a democratic socialists, don’t necessarily believe in a revolution or even outright reject a revolution.
Being a Marxist doesn’t mean you need to agree with everything Marx wrote. I don’t agree with his revolutionary ideas, but I think his criticism of capitalism is accurate because I’ve yet to see any compelling counterarguments to his fundamental points. Me not agreeing with his inevitable revolution doesn’t mean I’m not a Marxist, it means I’m not an orthodox Marxist.
comments like this one is what i’m looking for