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Christian groups like the Quakers
were perceived as a threat to the
religious-political status quo. Opposed
to war and slavery, and refusing to
swear oaths to others, they rejected
the idea of hierarchies in the Church.
not offer the true solution to the
problem, but it did provide a “true
setting” whereby a man’s struggle
was now no longer against the
clergy outside but the “priestly
nature” inside himself.
Meanwhile, the social status
quo presented a further obstacle to
real human emancipation. Whereas
the landowners and capitalists
became richer in this world, the
reward for the working class for
toiling long hours for little pay was
a place in heaven; suffering is made
into a virtue. Marx is concerned
by the role of the Church as a
landowner and employer in the 19th
century and sees this as further
evidence that religion is one more
ideological tool used by the ruling
classes to control the workers.
An irreligious workforce
In Britain, the establishment feared
that working people were losing
touch with organized religion and
turning instead to other Christian
religious groups or working-class
political movements, such as
Chartism. For this reason, a Census
of Religious Worship was carried
out in 1851. This revealed working-
class apathy as well as a divide in
society between the conservative,
established Church of England and
the meeting houses and chapels
where followers of newer, popular
religions, such as Quakerism and
Unitarianism, gathered.
Methodism—a Protestant
denomination focused on helping
the poor—was extremely popular
in many working-class areas in the
manufacturing centers of Britain.
It also attracted the new factory
owners, who were both perturbed
by the apparently irreligious nature
of their workers and shocked by
their vices, such as drunkenness.
Offering Marxists further evidence
of religion being used as an
ideological tool by the ruling
classes, some owners coerced
workers into attending services,
Bible study classes, educational
talks, and hobbies in an attempt
to “educate” them into a “decent,”
sober, existence—one that
would enable them to work more
efficiently. Divesting them of energyTHE ROLE OF INSTITUTIONS
in this way also thwarted their
revolutionary potential and ensured
they became the compliant
workhorses of industry.
Western intellectuals such as
A.C. Grayling, the late Christopher
Hitchens, and Richard Dawkins,
sometimes branded the “New
Atheists,” share many of Marx’s
sentiments about religion. Namely
that, as arguably the first attempt
at philosophy, religion is interesting
but is a form of alienation, both
emotional and intellectual, and
a poor substitute for social justice
and happiness. However, Marx
himself—in his observations about
the Reformation—acknowledged
religion’s potential for radical
thought and social action. The part
that Nonconformist religions played
in Britain during more than a
century of progressive social reform
later demonstrated this. In seeking
an answer as to why religion has
not faded away by the 21st century,
Jürgen Habermas acknowledges
the important public role played
by religious communities in many
parts of the world. Today, in spite
of widespread secularization, no
one speaks of the extinction of
religions or the religious. ■The roots of modern religion
are deeply embedded in the
social oppression of the
working masses.
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin
Russian political theorist (1870 –1924)