ABSTRACT:
it is not to be found in Marx’s thought a systematic elaboration concerning religion, although there is indeed a critical appraisal of it as a result from his social critique of material conditions of human existence which is its foundation. In Marx’s perception, religion is understood specifically as superstition, idolatry, “opiate”, something that pushes man to accommodation and twists his conscience, and as such should be dismissed, this act being not, however, a mere refusal, prohibition or persecution, or a wide negation of it, considering that it is a private issue and as such should be respected, but as an effort to cast off the religious veil covering society and its political ordainment commanded by the State, and hides exploitation and oppression of human beings. Critique of religion as an evaluation of social reality, from which religion derives, is an ideal proposition that to a certain extension contributes to the social emancipation of men.
KEYWORDS:
Marx’s critique of religion; Marx’s critique of religion as a social critique; Marx and religion