This edited volume is divided into three parts. The first two articles, by
Andrew McKinnon and Will Roberts, look at Marx’s views on religion. The
second set of articles, by Rudolf Siebert, Michael Ott, Christopher Brittain
and Kenneth MacKendrick, all examine aspects of critical theory in relation-
ship to religion. The final set of articles, by Warren Goldstein, George Lundskow,
Bonnie Wright and Anne Rawls, Lauren Langman, and David Gay, Warren
Goldstein and Anna Campbell Buck are attempts to take the critical theory
of religion and apply it to religion.
The first two articles (McKinnon and Roberts) are a reexamination of some
of Marx’s writings, which are relevant to religion. Andrew McKinnon exam-
ines Marx’s well known and misinterpreted quotation that, “religion is the
opium of the people.” McKinnon discusses it in the historical context of the
mid 19th century, when it was written. Whereas today the text is read liter-
ally and opium is perceived as an illicit narcotic, McKinnon argues that the
passage needs to be understood in its historical context with all its complexity.
At the end of his essay, McKinnon argues that Marxism needs to move away
from its reified conception of religion as exemplified by the misinterpretation
of the opium quotation. He attempts to set the direction for a Marxist soci-
ology of religion arguing that religion needs to be understood dialectically.
The second article, by William Clare Roberts, focuses on Marx’s use of
Dante’sDivine Comedyin his critique of political economy. Roberts focuses
on the parallels between Marx’s critique of political economy and Dante’s
trip through purgatory and hell. He draws our attention to Marx’s 1859 Preface
to the Critique of Political Economy in which Marx quotes from Dante’s Divine
Comedythe inscription on the gates of hell, “Abandon all hope, ye who enter
here.” Roberts raises the question of why Marx, at the beginning of his cri-
tique of capitalism, posts the warning sign that you are now about to enter
hell. Is Marx’s critique of capitalism a trip through purgatory and hell? Roberts
also points out that this sign is misleading, that Dante, with Virgil as his
guide, was able to escape hell. So, must we abandon all hope or is capital-
ism also something, which we, with Marx as our guide, can escape?
The second set of articles (Siebert, Ott, Brittain, MacKendrick) are theoret-
ical articles which fit into the framework of a critical theory of religion. These
articles are concerned with those writings by theorists associated with the
Frankfurt School in which issues pertaining to religion play a role.
We are honored to have Rudolf J. Siebert contribute to this edited volume.
Rudi Siebert is the founder of a critical theory of religion and coined this
Introduction • 3