Karl Marx's view of Religion as Oppression - A DVD/Discussion meetup!

In this DVD presentation, Prof. Charles Jones will discuss philosopher Karl Marx's ( 1818-83) hostility toward religion. Marx's great breakthrough was to realize that material reality comes before any other kind, whether mental or spiritual. In human life, this means that human beings must eat, drink, have clothing, and find shelter before they engage in any of the higher pursuits such as art, politics, or religion.
His view was that history is a struggle between workers and owners, a struggle that the worker must one day win, Marx analyzed religion as a tool in the hands of owners to keep workers docile and compliant, and he called for an assault, not on religion itself, but on a political economy that made religion necessary in the first place.
Later Marxists, however, broke with him and claimed historical precedents that showed how religion could actually help workers free themselves from exploitation.

The presenter is Charles B. Jones, Ph.D. field is in East Asian religions and has published several critical articles on Buddhism-Christian dialogues. His current research interest centers on the Pure Land School of Buddhism in the late imperial China. At one time he was a professor at Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota.

After viewing the DVD, there will be a discussion period, led by Scott Lohman.

There is usually a group that goes out afterward for lunch (lately we have been going to Merlin's Rest).