Russian security forces have raided gay clubs and bars across Moscow less than 48 hours after the country’s top court banned what it called the “global LGBTQ+ movement” as an extremist organization.
Given the general trend, at least in the West, of increasing numbers of non-religious people, it’s kinda fascinatingly disturbing to see the opposite occurring. Really shows how these things are actually governed by measurable social and economic factors and can’t be explained by mere vibes-based explanations like “Well, as society is becoming more rational and scientific…” One wonders if we’ll see a resurgence in religiosity in the West as conditions deteriorate.
I could see it as lense people adopt to make sense of an awful world. As conditions deteriorate and revolutionary thought is suppressed, religion is the only thing people can grasp to as an explanation for why things are happening and death almost being something to look forward to because it’ll be better in the afterlife.
I don’t see it exactly the same as Hakim’s recent post about Islam and the people of Palestine, but I think it rhymes. People living in such awful conditions need something to grasp, especially when family and friends aren’t a certainty day to day
I think also in times of hardship joining a religion is an easy way to find community and mutual aid networks. Also a good way to avoid persecution and have an advantage if the state favours a certain religion.
Yep. There is a strong history of immigrant communities organizing around their shared religion or even physically inside their houses of worship like the Irish catholics in the 1900s.
Idk if you were referring to it but the first paragraph is essentially Marx’s intro to the critique of philosophy of right. The most thought provoking few paragraphs he ever wrote imo.
It’s here, just the first few paragraphs (ending with “the criticism of Heaven turns into the criticism of Earth, the criticism of religion into the criticism of law, and the criticism of theology into the criticism of politics.”), not the whole thing. It’s so interesting and many non-Marxists dont know about his non-economic writing. This was written when he was around 25 years old, before the Communist Manifesto, when he was still involved with left-Hegelian circles.
Marx was an atheist but he was critical of a particular brand of what he considered “vulgar materialists” at his time who advocated for the abolition of religion without understanding its material basis. Marx agreed religion is illusory but that it is a necessary means of coping for many people. So the philosophers shouldn’t be focused on taking away the coping mechanism but to resolve the conditions that require coping.
Reminds me of an old friend who, when Hillary lost, went into a death spiral of first joining team MAGA because if you cant beat em join em, and later moving to Utah, converting to Mormonism, and praying the gay away. His current politics are kinda like Jackson Hinkle’s
Ive seen a lot of “the nazis were gay and trans” going around twitter recently but I havent asked this friend and I dont think he knows who Hinkle is because when I mentioned him I got no reaction?
I’ll quote the PM where he described his current politics
"Oh no, not libertarian at all. I can’t stand libertarians. I’m an ultranationalist and a populist and an immigration-restrictionist. So we probably agree on issues such as Ukraine, single-payer health care, pro-labor unions…
But probably we disagree on social issues, which makes sense because we both want what would benefit our situations."
One wonders if we’ll see a resurgence in religiosity in the West as conditions deteriorate.
All of the soup kitchens, food banks, and homeless shelters in my area are still run by church or out of churches. This wouldn’t surprise me, especially in rural areas, especially with churches becoming more and more capitalist.
Given the general trend, at least in the West, of increasing numbers of non-religious people, it’s kinda fascinatingly disturbing to see the opposite occurring. Really shows how these things are actually governed by measurable social and economic factors and can’t be explained by mere vibes-based explanations like “Well, as society is becoming more rational and scientific…” One wonders if we’ll see a resurgence in religiosity in the West as conditions deteriorate.
I could see it as lense people adopt to make sense of an awful world. As conditions deteriorate and revolutionary thought is suppressed, religion is the only thing people can grasp to as an explanation for why things are happening and death almost being something to look forward to because it’ll be better in the afterlife.
I don’t see it exactly the same as Hakim’s recent post about Islam and the people of Palestine, but I think it rhymes. People living in such awful conditions need something to grasp, especially when family and friends aren’t a certainty day to day
I think also in times of hardship joining a religion is an easy way to find community and mutual aid networks. Also a good way to avoid persecution and have an advantage if the state favours a certain religion.
Yep. There is a strong history of immigrant communities organizing around their shared religion or even physically inside their houses of worship like the Irish catholics in the 1900s.
Idk if you were referring to it but the first paragraph is essentially Marx’s intro to the critique of philosophy of right. The most thought provoking few paragraphs he ever wrote imo.
Oh interesting, I wasn’t aware and will check it out.
My first
“This Marx guy is stealing my ideas”
Haha
It’s here, just the first few paragraphs (ending with “the criticism of Heaven turns into the criticism of Earth, the criticism of religion into the criticism of law, and the criticism of theology into the criticism of politics.”), not the whole thing. It’s so interesting and many non-Marxists dont know about his non-economic writing. This was written when he was around 25 years old, before the Communist Manifesto, when he was still involved with left-Hegelian circles.
Marx was an atheist but he was critical of a particular brand of what he considered “vulgar materialists” at his time who advocated for the abolition of religion without understanding its material basis. Marx agreed religion is illusory but that it is a necessary means of coping for many people. So the philosophers shouldn’t be focused on taking away the coping mechanism but to resolve the conditions that require coping.
Awesome, thanks! That’s pretty similar to the idea of religion I’ve had swirling around, will give it a read
Reminds me of an old friend who, when Hillary lost, went into a death spiral of first joining team MAGA because if you cant beat em join em, and later moving to Utah, converting to Mormonism, and praying the gay away. His current politics are kinda like Jackson Hinkle’s
Does he think the Nazi’s were secretly gay? Hinkle has said this before.
Ive seen a lot of “the nazis were gay and trans” going around twitter recently but I havent asked this friend and I dont think he knows who Hinkle is because when I mentioned him I got no reaction? I’ll quote the PM where he described his current politics
"Oh no, not libertarian at all. I can’t stand libertarians. I’m an ultranationalist and a populist and an immigration-restrictionist. So we probably agree on issues such as Ukraine, single-payer health care, pro-labor unions…
But probably we disagree on social issues, which makes sense because we both want what would benefit our situations."
All of the soup kitchens, food banks, and homeless shelters in my area are still run by church or out of churches. This wouldn’t surprise me, especially in rural areas, especially with churches becoming more and more capitalist.