Re: Marxism, Religion, and Capitalism (was Felix Morrow on religion)

[Carrol Cox <cbcox@xxxxxxxxx>]

Yoshie Furuhashi wrote:
>
>
> Marxists are fond of saying that religion is compatible with
> capitalism, and so it is, in some hands, but the same can be very well
> said about Marxism.  As a matter of fact, it is probably easier to
> reconcile Marxism with capitalism than to reconcile religion with it.
> Religion, after all, was originally a pre-modern, pre-capitalist
> phenomenon, so, in order to adopt any variety of it to capitalist
> life, you have to twist it very seriously, almost beyond recognition.

Any belief system, _as a belief system_, is probably reconcilable with
any social structure. Contradiction lies in the realm of practice rather
than belief. (I didn't believe this at one time, but it really seems
possible to make any belief or verbal formula fit any practice. Milton
turned Christ's condemnation of divorce into an argument for divorce.)
When contradiction enters strongly into daily practice, then (and I
think only then) do people begin to notice contradictions within belief
or between belief and practice.

If my elbow heals before my brain decays I want to go more extensively
into ideological formations in the present u.s., but I do think we can't
get very far trying to make a direct connection between people's "world
views" and their relation to political activity in the u.s. at this
time.

Carrol