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,

Friday, 15 April 2022 09:03

Culture for All: Why Religion Matters

Written by Culture Matters

in Religion

As part of the Culture for All series, supported by the Communication Workers Union, we're proud to present a short film about religion, written by James Crossley. Why Religion Matters by James Crossley Religious ideas have been central to human culture and society for thousands of years. They have been…

Karl Marx John Ball william morris Liberation Theology

Thursday, 28 May 2020 13:11

Apocalypticism Now

Written by James Crossley

in Religion

James Crossley reflects on the dangers and possibilities of the Covid-19 crisis. Image: Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, Albrecht Durer, 1497-8 Towards the end of March, it was reported that an English hiker returned from a five-day trek in the New Zealand wilds and was surprised to see “three hooded…

John Ball william morris Bob Crow

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Monday, 25 May 2020 10:05

Class struggle in the New Testament

in Religion

Written by Robert Myles

Robert Myles shows how historical materialism explains the origins of Christianity “The history of the world is but the biography of great men,” wrote nineteenth-century historian Thomas Carlyle. Great Men might be out of fashion, but you wouldn’t know it from reading some recent popular studies on the history of…

Jesus

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Monday, 24 December 2018 16:41

Jeremy Corbyn’s Good Samaritan

in Religion

Written by James Crossley

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…

K2_PUBLISHED_ON Thursday, 20 December 2018 21:43

Capitalism, Communism, Christianity - and Christmas

in Religion

Written by Roland Boer

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…

Tuesday, 19 June 2018 19:56

Christopher Hill, Marxism and the Revolutionary Bible after 1968

Written by James Crossley

in Religion

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…

Saturday, 28 April 2018 09:44

Marxism, Buddhism and socialism

Written by Richard King

in Religion

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

Tuesday, 27 March 2018 08:20

Why Christianity matters to socialism

Written by James Crossley

in Religion

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

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