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Karl Weber, Karl Marx, And The Sociology Of Religion

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Sociology of Religion

The origins of Sociology in its self is considered a new practice which began in the early nineteenth century, and has only been around for approximately 200 years.
This is a very short time compared to other practices. “The renewed global importance of religion from North and South America to South and East Asia, from Europe to the
Middle East and Africa has had a profound impact on the sociology of religion,”
Hinnells, J. (2010). The populous was no longer separated by geographical location thanks to the innovations in travel, and technology. Therefore, this led to a population explosion where people migrated to urban areas. The modernization of the world had begun to transform our societies by exposing …show more content…

The birth of sociology began with French philosopher Aguste Comte who became one of the first to use and apply this new method of study in the analysis of society. Comte wanted to use scientific facts in his quest to study the world, and saw sociology playing a central role in guiding it in a time of social change. Our cities began to grow, and religion flourished causing a dramatic shift in our lives. The three individuals most responsible for the modernization of sociology was Emile Durkheim, Max Weber and Karl Marx, these were three of the major thinkers in the discipline of sociology of religion. Durkheim, Weber, and Marx also had extensive training and education in other fields of study. All three had intended for their contributions to enact social change, by focusing on social issues, such as religion.
Max Weber: Max Weber was born April 21,1864 in Prussia (Germany) and was a German

sociologist and economist. Weber has made many important theoretical contributions to

sociology and is regarded as one of the founders of this discipline. One of Weber’s …show more content…

Karl Marx:

Marx was born on May 5,1818 in Prussia (Germany) and held many titles like

economist, and political theorist, but he was best known for his discipline, as a

sociologist. Marx is held in high regards in today’s science of sociology like his counter

parts Durkheim and Weber. Marx was a well-known atheist and all his work clearly

showed that. Marx was eager to point out the flaws of capitalism and its association with

religion. He believed that if the class structure of capitalism was deconstructed then

religion would just disappear. Marx stated, “The abolition of religion as the illusory

happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give

up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that

requires illusions. The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that

vale of tears of which religion is the halo.” Karl Marx “Critique of Hagel’s Philosophy of

Right.” (1843). Marx was under the impression that religion is only an illusion, and

possible used as a crutch in our daily lives. Others beg to argue that Marx was

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”The great difference between our western Christian world and the atheistic Communist world is not political, gentlemen, it is moral. For instance, the Marxian idea of confiscating the land and factories and running the entire economy as a single enterprise is momentous. Likewise, Lenin’s invention of the one-party police state as a way to make Marx’s idea work is hardly less

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Marx and Nietzsche both agreed that religion is unnecessary. Marx viewed religion as a form of dissent from the working class. He believed that using religion was an expression of the individual`s personal suffering. Therefore, humans made religion to run away from their daily problems, in the end creating more problems with the concept of religion itself. Marx viewed religion as something made by humans to provide reasoning and answers for their questions and desires.

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Marx thought people’s life will become better unless abolishing religion through revolution. Freud also thought if people have no religious belief，will have better life. They were trying hard to uncover the ignorance of religious from a scientific point of view，but there are loopholes in both their point of views. The communistic society which Marx appreciated belongs to materialism，it is opposite with the religion which belongs with idealism. But in ancient times，the structure of the society is similar with the communistic society proposed by Marx.

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In conclusion, Marx argues that religion preserves inequality, because religion alienates one from one's self and from others, it also wastes their creative energies, eventually resulting in the loss of one's self. On the contrary, Tocqueville finds that, in democratic countries, religion is essential in protecting peoples' freedom. He also believes that religious authority should not try to "destroy" equality because it will risk being destroyed. Marx proposes significant insight into why extremely religious people give up on their undesirable circumstances or sacrifice their own lives for the sake of a supernatural being. Although Marx's argument seems to be plausible, yet it is contradictory, because he is only providing his beliefs on religion

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Andre Abi Haidar PSPA 210 INTRODUCTION It is always difficult to write about and discuss Karl Marx, or more importantly the applications of Marx’s theories, due to the fact that he inspired and gave rise to many movements and revolutionaries, not all of which follow his theories to the point. Although Marx tends to be equated with Communism, it might not seem righteous to blame him for whatever shortcomings occurred when his theories were put to the test; Marx passed away well before the revolution in Russia, and he played no role in the emergence of the totalitarian regime at the time. When discussing Marx, however, Vladimir Lenin is one of the biggest highlights when it comes to studying the outcomes of Marx’s theories.

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Overall, Marx believed that time itself was forged by the class struggle and believed that religion was used to bind the lower class. In his eyes religion was used to justify horrid acts such as slavery and oppression. Over time he viewed religion much differently. Marx once saw religion as a way for one to give themselves to a supernatural being, but than believed it became a way of controlling the poor. In the end, Marx believed

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But in your existing society, private property is already done away with for nine-tenths of the population” (Marx and Engels 1884, pp. 486). Marx believes the communistic push for an abolition of the current state of society should be feared by the bourgeois as it does in fact abolish individuality and freedom, but only “bourgeoisie individuality, bourgeoise independence and bourgeoisie freedom”, again insisting the proletariat has nothing to fear with communism (Marx and Engels 1884, pp. 485). Finally, Marx interrogates the fear that communism abolishes morality and “acts in contradiction to all past historical experiences” (Marx and Engels 1884 pp. 489). Marx argues, that there is a similar understanding of morality throughout history because there was always “the exploitation of one part of society by the other” and communism intends to completely vanish these class antagonisms and exploitations and with that rupture many traditional ideas (Engels and Marx 1884, pp.

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Although it may tell you about valuable principals it sides with the bad deeds. Marx isn't fully opposed on religion, he understands that people are in distress and that religion allows them to stay clam but it only lets you forget your pain and suffering for a certain period of time. This can be fine if people are also trying to solve their problems and working on their circumstances now instead of entirely leaving it up to god's

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Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx both had interesting theories about societies. Durkheim and Marx found it important to understand society integration. Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx have played profound roles in the understanding of Sociological theory. Sociological theory can be used to explain many things including how society is held together. Emile Durkheim and Karl Marx had different ideas on what held society together but in ways their ideas were also similar.

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Holly Kinsella 13528163 Q.2 Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim developed very different sociological theories of how society evolves over time. Marx brought around the conflict theory and became the head of the sociological discipline of Marxism. Durkheim was a French Functionalist, meaning he looked at society in a scientific way. Although Marx and Durkheim had different ways of thinking about society, both have contributed significantly to the way we study sociology today. Karl Marx was a German philosopher who became the head of the sociological discipline of Marxism.

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Anthropological or sociological approaches to religion and belief system was long influenced since the early 1800. Bruce and Yearley (2006) defined religion “as a social phenomenon that consists of beliefs, actions and institutions which assume the existence of supernatural entities with powers of action, or impersonal powers or processes possessed of moral purpose.” In The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology (2006), in the context meaning of religion “sacred things are believed to be so extraordinarily important, powerful, and different from mundane or profane affairs that they need to be protected by special rules and restrictions or taboos.” They also stated that belief system “denotes any complex of interrelated propositions. The ‘system’

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Marx believed that instead of integrating society, religion

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And not to forget, he also said one day that traditional religion will be gone in upcoming generations. What I can conlude about Marx theory on religion is he attack the religion that inverts the material world from being the primary reality. Continued with the second socioligist that is Emile Durkheim that also wrote a theory about religion after Karl Marx. He was a was a French sociologist, philosophers, and social psychologist. Durkheim also famous as the founder of functionalism and spent much of his academic career on studying about religion in that time being.

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Karl Marx (1818-1883) considered himself not to be a sociologist but a political activist. However, many would disagree and in the view of Hughes (1986), he was ‘both – and a philosopher, historian, economist, and a political scientist as well.’ Much of the work of Marx was political and economic but his main focus was on class conflict and how this led to the rise of capitalism. While nowadays, when people hear the word “communism”, they think of the dictatorial rule of Stalin and the horrific stories of life in a communist state such as the Soviet Union, it is important not to accuse Marx of the deeds carried out in his name.

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Every religion is characterized by certain features. They use certain symbols, ideas, rituals, ceremonies which aims to invoke the feeling of uniqueness, supremacy, awe and admiration. Religion has all the feature that qualifies it for social institution. It has a culture, certain ritualized practice, collective acceptance, normative behavior and a function and role to play. In fact religion as a social institution has a great impact on its member and is one of the powerful institutions of the society.

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