Bourgeois Atheism
From 2007:
"Imagine, sang John Lennon, a world with no religion. Imagine no suicide bombers, no 9/11, no 7/7, no Crusades, no witch-hunts, no Gunpowder Plot, no Kashmir dispute, no Indo/Pakistan partition, no Israel/Palestine wars, no Serb/Croat/Muslim massacres, no Northern Ireland 'troubles'. Imagine no Taliban blowing up ancient statues, lashing women for showing an inch of skin, or publicly beheading blasphemers and apostates."
-Richard Dawkins
I believe this quote aptly illustrates the problems posed by the phenomenon of bourgeois atheism, which we must be careful to distance ourselves from as Marxists and materialists. Bourgeois atheism has thoroughly permeated the modern Leftist movement in advanced capitalist countries.
What bourgeois atheism proposes is that the evils perpetrated by religious historical actors can be solely reduced to religious origins without regard for materialist analysis; bourgeois atheism, in and of itself, is a product of the conflicts between the emerging bourgeois and the clerical institutions in the Enlightenment era.
Bourgeois atheism denies material conditions in its obsessive need to invalidate religion. Bourgeois atheists, for example, deny that the attack on the World Trade Center had a material basis in indirect Western imperialism in the region through support for Israel, various military dictatorships, and corrupt capitalist democracies.
Bourgeois atheists deny that the Crusades had a material basis in the desire of the European ruling class to seize land and eliminate trade rivals. They deny that the Israel-Palestine conflict has a basis in Zionist colonialism in the 19th century. They deny the role of British imperialism in the Irish troubles.
What bourgeois atheists propose is that these destructive events can be wholly eliminated through the abolition of religion, completely denying the role of conditions in engendering conflict.
As Marxists, we should know better. It's time to abandon the irrational, bourgeois obsession with assaulting religion at all levels that has become such an obstacle to facilitating progress in Western society, and replace it with legitimate materialist analysis.
"Imagine, sang John Lennon, a world with no religion. Imagine no suicide bombers, no 9/11, no 7/7, no Crusades, no witch-hunts, no Gunpowder Plot, no Kashmir dispute, no Indo/Pakistan partition, no Israel/Palestine wars, no Serb/Croat/Muslim massacres, no Northern Ireland 'troubles'. Imagine no Taliban blowing up ancient statues, lashing women for showing an inch of skin, or publicly beheading blasphemers and apostates."
-Richard Dawkins
I believe this quote aptly illustrates the problems posed by the phenomenon of bourgeois atheism, which we must be careful to distance ourselves from as Marxists and materialists. Bourgeois atheism has thoroughly permeated the modern Leftist movement in advanced capitalist countries.
What bourgeois atheism proposes is that the evils perpetrated by religious historical actors can be solely reduced to religious origins without regard for materialist analysis; bourgeois atheism, in and of itself, is a product of the conflicts between the emerging bourgeois and the clerical institutions in the Enlightenment era.
Bourgeois atheism denies material conditions in its obsessive need to invalidate religion. Bourgeois atheists, for example, deny that the attack on the World Trade Center had a material basis in indirect Western imperialism in the region through support for Israel, various military dictatorships, and corrupt capitalist democracies.
Bourgeois atheists deny that the Crusades had a material basis in the desire of the European ruling class to seize land and eliminate trade rivals. They deny that the Israel-Palestine conflict has a basis in Zionist colonialism in the 19th century. They deny the role of British imperialism in the Irish troubles.
What bourgeois atheists propose is that these destructive events can be wholly eliminated through the abolition of religion, completely denying the role of conditions in engendering conflict.
As Marxists, we should know better. It's time to abandon the irrational, bourgeois obsession with assaulting religion at all levels that has become such an obstacle to facilitating progress in Western society, and replace it with legitimate materialist analysis.
Total Comments 6
Comments
-
Though, Richard Dawkins isn't a Capitalist. He's actually spoken very much against the system within his documentaries on how the bureaucrats misplace the social ideal of Darwinism & use it to reek profit as an economical system.Posted 8th June 2010 at 20:50 by The Vegan Marxist 
-
Regardless of his economic views, his analysis of religion (and hence his entire claim to fame) carries the strong stench of bourgeois idealism.Quote:Originally Posted by The Vegan Marxist
Though, Richard Dawkins isn't a Capitalist. He's actually spoken very much against the system within his documentaries on how the bureaucrats misplace the social ideal of Darwinism & use it to reek profit as an economical system.Posted 9th June 2010 at 04:30 by synthesis
-
Although Dawkins has used religion as a reason for such actions, he also pointed out how such acts are by imperialist dominance as well, in which to seek profit that is hidden by the false idea that "God supports the war". He not only attacks religion, but he attacks capitalism as well.Quote:Bourgeois atheists, for example, deny that the attack on the World Trade Center had a material basis in indirect Western imperialism in the region through support for Israel, various military dictatorships, and corrupt capitalist democracies.
Posted 9th June 2010 at 04:44 by The Vegan Marxist
-
Dawkins does not attack capitalism. From what I recall, he was at most a reformist.
Posted 9th June 2010 at 15:29 by ZeroNowhere
-
He's a very radical reformist then, especially when he goes to a Wall Street employee & tells him how dead wrong he is with his economics lol.
Posted 10th June 2010 at 01:34 by The Vegan Marxist
-
In any case, Dawkins wasn't really the primary target of this essay, which is apparent in the context of the original thread.
The real target would be actually be typified by the likes of Christopher Hitchens, a quintessential example of the bourgeois atheist.
Born to a bourgeois background, he was a Trot until, apparently, he became convinced that Islam was a greater threat than capitalism and eventually came to support Western imperialism in the Middle East as a result of his newfound convictions.
I argue that this is the danger of the various (unwitting) expressions of bourgeois atheism, on RevLeft and elsewhere, the mindset which is so strongly opposed to religion that when many of its adherents take it to its logical conclusion, they come to support agendas that are, on their face, expressions of anti-theism, but in fact are strongly rooted in reactionary intentions.Posted 10th June 2010 at 07:28 by synthesis
Updated 10th June 2010 at 09:48 by synthesis
Total Trackbacks 0
