The Marxist View On Religion: The Feminist Theory Of Religion

The Marxist theory of religion is that of conflict structuralism; where Marxists believe there is class inequality in society, in which religion plays a role. According to Marxists, this collectively done through social control, the dominant ideology and false class consciousness.

For example, the dominant ideology is the idea that the ruling class use religion to re-enforce doctrines in order to maintain class inequality. Althusser in 1971 explains this by going into assessing that the Bourgeoisie use religion to maintain apparent class inequality through the Repressive State Apparatus (police force, military) and Ideological State Apparatus (views). In Althusser’s view, the bureaucratic state and the Bourgeoisie take samples from religion

There is some correlation to the Marxist argument of religion in this sense as religion acts as an institution that oppresses a group in society. Simone De Beauvoir mirrors the argument of Karl Marx in saying that religion helps women gain a second class status; as they are portrayed in religion to be tied to the maternal role which does not involve going out to work but instead completing chores in the home. De Beauvoir goes on to say how men claim their apparent authority from god because of this, as god has known to be portrayed as a male. Men see it in their divine right to be the authoritarian of the household, restricting women from revolt. This is similar to Marx’s argument on how a Proletariat revolution simply cannot happen due to the dominant ideology. El Saadwi supports De Beauvoir’s argument on how men claim authority and power, as gynaecologist El Saadwi explains how monotheism helps men claim power; males see themselves as the de facto leader because they take into consideration on their employment status and power. Armstrong further explains on how religion is patriarchal, as religious organisations mainly consist of males, leading for men to be portrayed via religion as almost ‘godly’ in the contrary to women, who because of religion are expected to stay at home. An example of men only having a major role in religion is the position of Catholicism’s Pope – no female has ever held this position, leading to Feminists saying this is the root of the problem as it promotes inequality and over-analysis of the gender script, as the gender script tells women that men are the authority. Feminists face some criticism in their theory however. Some Sociologists explain that how in contradictory fashion to the Feminist opinion on religion, females have actually allowed to have become ordained priests in the