QGood morning,
I am a religious believer, and I also believe in the ideals of socialism. However, I know that Marx famously described religion as “the opium of the people.”
I would therefore like to ask: Is communism inherently opposed to religion, or can a person be both religious and communist?
AA very important question. The relationship between communism and religion is too often misunderstood and misrepresented, especially by those who reduce Marxism to a crude, mechanical dogma. Our philosophical foundation is dialectical and historical materialism, which understands the material world as the basis of all development, including the development of ideas. Religious consciousness, like all forms of consciousness, arises from specific historical and social conditions. It is a product of humanity’s attempt to understand and cope with a world not under our control.
Lenin upheld the Marxist position that religion functions as “opium of the people” but he did so not in the sense of a mere illusion to be mocked, but as a treatment for a symptom of real suffering and a protest against it. Under capitalism and class society, religions function simultaneously as a tool for the workers and oppressed peoples while also being used ideologically by the ruling classes to justify their exploitation. The communist struggle is not a struggle against religious people, it is a struggle to abolish the material conditions of poverty, exploitation, ignorance, and powerlessness that produce and sustain social alienation.
Can a person be both religious and communist? Yes, absolutely, in the sense that a worker who holds religious beliefs can still participate to the fullest extent in the revolutionary movement for socialism. The Communist Party USA does not require a pledge of atheism as a condition of membership, it requires a commitment to the working-class struggle and the Party program. Personal faith is not incompatible with either requirement, however, any attempt to use religion as a weapon against the Party, the working class movement, or construction of socialism certainly is incompatible. A religious Party member who fights for land reforms, democratic worker power, and against imperialism is objectively acting as a Communist, regardless of their particular subjective worldview.
We must also be clear that the Party is ideologically founded on the scientific worldview of Marxism-Leninism, which does not accommodate supernatural or idealist explanations for material social development. The Party educates and propagates a scientific, materialist understanding of nature and human society, but it does so through patient, voluntary cooperation, not coercion. The revolutionary unity of believers and non-believers is both a tactical and strategic necessity in the fight against the class enemy, but it does not mean that we Marxists are abandoning our philosophical worldview.
In conclusion, communism is not inherently opposed to the religious person.
To some, it may be described as opposed to capitalism, the economic system and ideological underpinnings that support the misery of the working class and oppressed people, and uses religious consciousness as a control mechanism. The dialectical process of history will see the withering away of idealist, subjective ways of thinking only when human beings have established a society of abundance, equality, and genuinely complete freedom. We remain united in the struggle against imperialism and capitalism, and principled, respectful ideological struggle among the masses.
Lenin upheld the Marxist position that religion functions as “opium of the people” but he did so not in the sense of a mere illusion to be mocked, but as a treatment for a symptom of real suffering and a protest against it. Under capitalism and class society, religions function simultaneously as a tool for the workers and oppressed peoples while also being used ideologically by the ruling classes to justify their exploitation. The communist struggle is not a struggle against religious people, it is a struggle to abolish the material conditions of poverty, exploitation, ignorance, and powerlessness that produce and sustain social alienation.
Can a person be both religious and communist? Yes, absolutely, in the sense that a worker who holds religious beliefs can still participate to the fullest extent in the revolutionary movement for socialism. The Communist Party USA does not require a pledge of atheism as a condition of membership, it requires a commitment to the working-class struggle and the Party program. Personal faith is not incompatible with either requirement, however, any attempt to use religion as a weapon against the Party, the working class movement, or construction of socialism certainly is incompatible. A religious Party member who fights for land reforms, democratic worker power, and against imperialism is objectively acting as a Communist, regardless of their particular subjective worldview.
We must also be clear that the Party is ideologically founded on the scientific worldview of Marxism-Leninism, which does not accommodate supernatural or idealist explanations for material social development. The Party educates and propagates a scientific, materialist understanding of nature and human society, but it does so through patient, voluntary cooperation, not coercion. The revolutionary unity of believers and non-believers is both a tactical and strategic necessity in the fight against the class enemy, but it does not mean that we Marxists are abandoning our philosophical worldview.
In conclusion, communism is not inherently opposed to the religious person.
To some, it may be described as opposed to capitalism, the economic system and ideological underpinnings that support the misery of the working class and oppressed people, and uses religious consciousness as a control mechanism. The dialectical process of history will see the withering away of idealist, subjective ways of thinking only when human beings have established a society of abundance, equality, and genuinely complete freedom. We remain united in the struggle against imperialism and capitalism, and principled, respectful ideological struggle among the masses.
Author
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The Communist Party USA is a revolutionary working-class political party founded in 1919 in Chicago, IL.
The Communist Party stands for the interests of the American working class and the American people. It stands for our interests in both the present and the future. Solidarity with workers of other countries is also part of our work. We work in coalition with the labor movement, the peace movement, the student movement, organizations fighting for equality and social justice, the environmental movement, immigrants rights groups and the health care for all campaign.
But to win a better life for working families, we believe that we must go further. We believe that the American people can replace capitalism with a system that puts people before profit — socialism.
We are rooted in our country's revolutionary history and its struggles for democracy. We call for "Bill of Rights" socialism, guaranteeing full individual freedoms.
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