From: Paul Zarembka (zarembka@buffalo.edu)
Date: Tue Apr 15 2008 - 12:59:56 EDT
But I did like that Kristol quoted more of Marx's context than is usual: “Religious suffering is at the same time an expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the sentiment of a heartless world, and the soul of a soulless condition. It is the opium of the people.” Paul --On 4/14/2008 11:31 PM +0200 Jurriaan Bendien wrote: > > The Washington Neocon William Kristol, scraping around for some dirt, > tries out a bit of disingenious red-baiting in the New York Times (to its > credit usually on the side of free speech): > > "But it’s one thing for a German thinker to assert that “religion is the > sigh of the oppressed creature.” It’s another thing for an American > presidential candidate to claim that we “cling to ... religion” out of > economic frustration." > http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/14/opinion/14kristol.html?_r=1&ref=opinion> &oref=slogin > > On this issue I think I would rather side with Barack Obama. It is one > thing to "worship an awesome God" as the highest expression of a healthy > celebration of life, lived to the full, cherishing all its blessings. It > is another kind of spirituality altogether, if life is so horrible and > oppressive that the only thing you still have, is a faith in God to get > you through the day. > > And I think that this is what Mr Obama really meant: if you have > sufficient health and wealth, it's easy to celebrate life in terms of the > greatness of God's creation, but if that doesn't apply, then indeed > religion can be "the sigh of the oppressed creature", offering solace in > adversity when financial problems cannot be solved. > > That is just to say that what motivates particular spiritual beliefs may > differ a great deal depending on one's circumstances of life. Rather than > being a "Marxist devil in disguise", Mr Obama is just being objective, > distinguishing between different kinds of motivations people can have, > depending on the conditions they face. > > All this is lost on William Kristol, who after all is only trying to find > something to smear Mr Obama with. But Mr Obama remains by far the > superior candidate anyway, simply because he is the only one who can > claim to be a "man of the people", and is far more successful in battling > an ocean of negativity and discontent about political life. It is not > easy to be an American politician these days, even if you are a > plutocrat. > > As for Marx, what would he say? Among other things, I think he would say > that American pragmatism is an approach which makes everything flexible > and relativistic, and can find its absolutes or fixed principles > ultimately only in religion. Needless to say, such a philosophy of life > fits perfectly with the ever-changing requirements of capitalist trade > and accumulation, in which what matters most of all it not what is really > true, but what sells. The winner, defined in terms of successful sales, > has the truth on his side, in American culture. > > A truly pragmatic president would never have invaded Iraq and Afghanistan > (it did not even make much commercial sense) - it took a strongly > religious president, surrounded by a coterie of religious fanatics, to do > it. The outfall is totally poisonous, since it stirs up religious hatred > and intolerance around the globe, distracting attention from murderous > economic problems the world faces. My hunch is that Mr Obama has a very > good chance of becoming president, not necessarily because he has a > "better way" righ now, but even just because of his honest insistence > that there's "got to be a better way". If there isn't, all there is left > is the "the sigh of the oppressed creature". > > Jurriaan ************************************************************************ THE HIDDEN HISTORY OF 9-11, P. Zarembka, editor, Seven Stories, May 2008 $14 pre-sale at www.amazon.com/gp/product/158322825X/ref=cm_cr_asin_lnk ********************* http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/PZarembka _______________________________________________ ope mailing list ope@lists.csuchico.edu https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/ope
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