Karl Marx

Stanbury 1 While Karl Marx did not publish one specific document regarding religion, he did however have a large impact on the sociological significance of religion. Religion can be defined as “a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or school of thought” (Bramadat &Seljak, 2009, p. 23). As a founder and main advocator for his Marxist philosophy, Karl Marx has greatly influenced the creation of the modern world and was undoubtedly one of the first revolutionary communists of his time. Within this essay I will discuss the main points of Karl Marx’s theories and criticisms on religion, paying specific attention to aspects of conflict and inequality. I will also bring to attention some examples of past and current topics regarding religion promoting conflict and inequality. To conclude this paper I will state my personal opinion and beliefs on religion, and its relationship between conflict and inequality.
Karl Heinrich Marx was indeed a very interesting man. Marx was born in Trier, Germany, in the year 1818. His father, Heinrich Marx was born Jewish however was converted to Lutheranism before Karl’s birth. Karl’s mother, Henrietta Pressburg, who was also born Jewish, converted to Lutheranism as well as a result of the death of her parents. Karl Marx himself was baptized at the age of six years old. Even though Karl Marx was born into quite a religious family and attended a Lutheran elementary school, he later on in life formed his own theories of religion, conflict and social inequality. Karl examined religion from an objective, scientific perspective; however, the majority of people in today’s society who look back at Karl Marx’s take on religion do not fully understand what exactly Marx meant. Through the research and reading I have done, I have discovered that Marx wrote very little regarding religion directly. Within the majority of his writings he analyzed society in general and infrequently addressed