Religion

“When I give food to the poor, they call me a saint. When I ask why the poor have no food, they call me a communist.”

Hélder Câmara; Archbishop, Archbishop of Olinda and Recife,

Monday, 24 December 2018 16:41

Jeremy Corbyn’s Good Samaritan

Written by James Crossley

in Religion

James Crossley writes about Jeremy Corbyn's Christmas message. Christmas is a rare time when politicians can, without too much embarrassment, openly talk about issues relating to popular understandings of religion. As I’ve argued in detail elsewhere, Christmas functions as a soft authority for various political ideologies and a particularly good…

Thursday, 20 December 2018 21:43

Capitalism, Communism, Christianity - and Christmas

Written by Roland Boer

in Religion

Roland Boer answers questions about religion, capitalism, Christian communism – and Christmas. Culture Matters is also giving away a downloadable PDF of Professor Boer's new ebook on Christian communism, with best wishes to all our readers for the midwinter celebrations. Let's hope we have a culturally and politically progressive 2019........…

Christian communism Acts of the Apostles Muntzer Levellers and Diggers Pantisocracy Keir Hardie Pope Francis Wu Yaozong Engels Marx Kautsky Lunacharsky Cultural democracy

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Monday, 20 August 2018 13:33

Radical Sacrifice

in Religion

Written by Sean Ledwith

Other articles in this section of Culture Matters have dealt with the revolutionary strands and meanings, often deeply buried, in various religions. Here, Sean Ledwith reviews Terry Eagleton's latest book, which focuses on radical strands in the Catholic religion. The image above is Marc Chagall's White Crucifixion, 1938, in which…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Tuesday, 19 June 2018 19:56

Christopher Hill, Marxism and the Revolutionary Bible after 1968

in Religion

Written by James Crossley

James Crossley traces the links between Christopher Hill's Marxist analysis of the English Revolution, the importance of the Bible in promoting revolutionary thought, and the student revolts of 1968. We should not underestimate the importance of the Bible in the work of the Marxist historian Christopher Hill (1912–2003). Yet this…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Saturday, 28 April 2018 09:44

Marxism, Buddhism and socialism

in Religion

Written by Richard King

Richard King teases out the links between Marxism, Buddhism and socialism. The Dalai Lama and Marxism Dhammic Socialism according to Buddhist principles holds that Nature created beings which must live in groups. Both plants and animals live together in groups or communities. This system we will call ‘socialism’ … in…

Dalai Lama Ambedkar Jesus Buddhadāsa Bhikkhu

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Tuesday, 27 March 2018 08:20

Why Christianity matters to socialism

in Religion

Written by James Crossley

James Crossley argues for the importance of the radical Christian tradition as an important resource for the revolutionary transformation of the world. On becoming leader of the Labour Party in September 2015, Jeremy Corbyn envisaged living a society “where we don’t pass by on the other side of those people…

jeremy corbyn the Gospels Greenham Common Occupy London

Thursday, 15 March 2018 17:28

Marxism and religion

Written by Richard Clarke

in Religion

Richard Clarke outlines how religion, like any other cultural activity, is capable of both promoting political and social liberation, and being manipulated and controlled by ruling classes who attempt – and very often succeed – in turning it into a force for conservatism. Most Marxists would say that it is…

Karl Marx Keir Hardie Pope Francis Alpha Course

Tuesday, 27 February 2018 12:22

Towards a mindful cultural commons

Written by Peter Doran

in Religion

Peter Doran points to the way buddhist concepts are being corrupted by the commodifying pressures of capitalist culture, and outlines the ways in which true mindfulness practices can help us resist the growing demands of the 'attention economy'. Neoliberal capitalism is an advanced form of symbolic and material power. We…

buddhism mindfulness commoning neoliberal capitalism attention economy cultural commons Cultural democracy

Monday, 19 February 2018 20:32

Religion and capitalism

Written by Roland Boer

in Religion

In the second essay in the series, Roland Boer discusses the relationship between religion and capitalism. The essay is also available as an ebook, and is part of the Culture Matters mission to reclaim and liberate all aspects of our human culture. Our aim with religious and spiritual life is the same…

Karl Marx Walter Benjamin Adam Smith Friedman Capital

Tuesday, 12 December 2017 22:16

Religion: opium of the people?

Written by Roland Boer

in Religion

In the first of a series of essays on Marxism and religion, Roland Boer discusses Marx's description of religion as 'the opium of the people'. It is also available as a free ebook here. Marx’s most well-known observation concerning religion is that it is ‘the opium of the people’. The…