A Lost Word

A Lost Word

One word in the English language above all others throughout the history has caused more controversy, both in terms of human fatalities and words written about it than religion. Religion has been a subject of major controversy long before there was an English language, long before there was a word for the concept. What follows however, is not a discussion of the controversy, or history for that matter. What follows is a discussion of the word and it’s meaning. “Religion” since it’s first minting has come to be an immensely broad term. So broad in fact that It defies a singular comprehensive definition. The word has come to refer to a loose and chaotically organized system of aspects and ideas, topics of you will. Many philosophers have attempted to define religion but only succeed in identifying a new topic. Overlap is always the case but this continual attempt to define the word has only resulted in the continuation broadening process.

One such philosopher who sought a comprehensive analysis of religion was Karl Marx. Marx explained religion is economic, social and psychological terms. For his purposes Marx succeeded admirably. Marx held that man creates religion for himself and that when he looks into religion he sees his hopes and desires that have realized themselves through fantasy. Key in Marx’s conception is that religion is a construct. Without man there is no religion, that is to say there is nothing behind religion except a reflection of ourselves. The hope that man puts in religion, god, and an afterlife are simple fantasy. This hope is a resignation of the hope that satisfaction can be gained in the immediate world. We believe in a happy afterlife because we have given up hope in this life. The hope is a total illusion. It is the opinion of Karl Marx that due to the nature of religion, specifically its dependence on the fantasized and projected hopes of oppressed people, that when oppression ended, that religion would cease to be a compelling issue to man.

Far from the radical and political atheism of Marx stands Rudolf Otto. Rudolf, rather than examining religion from a secular and economic perspective, Otto focuses on the mystical and personal experience of religion. In fact Otto defines religion as the experience of awe and mystery. Otto describes a feeling of awe in the grasp of what is not so much perceived so much as it is felt.