Re: carol and lou on religion

["Alan Maki" <alanmaki@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

I find it very difficult to understand how "marxists" can spend so much time
on some of these topics while Leonard Peltier languishes in prison and
workers in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada face one of the most difficult strikes
in North America..... did anyone ever read in marx anything about "action"?

Alan Maki


>From: " George Snedeker" <snedeker@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Reply-To: marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>To: <marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: carol and lou on religion
>Date: Tue, 26 Dec 2000 14:01:49 -0500
>
>I think it was Cornel West who argued that Marxism had nothing to say about
>the question of death. this is why he thought we still needed religion to
>answer human needs for metaphysical questions. carol's and Lou's posts
>bring
>this question to mind. personally, I don't think Marxism need answer all of
>the questions in the universe. I have always thought religion  was more of
>a
>problem than a solution to any human form of suffering. enter Freud
>replacing Durkheim. I mean what is it that leads us to run to the
>supernatural for help during hard times? is this need conditioned by modes
>of production, or is it a basic human weakness? there is a relationship
>here
>between the personal and the social. Marx might say that the personal is a
>moment of the social since you can not have a personal without a social.
>even Durkheim knew this quite well.
>
>I have a friend, a good atheist, who when her brother was under going open
>heart surgery prayed for him. she told me that this was because she might
>be
>wrong and why should he suffer?
>George Snedeker
>

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