MARXIST VIEW ON RELIGION: AN AUXILIARY APPROACH TO POWER AND JUST SOCIETY

Abstract

This article explores Karl Marx’s view on religion through the framework of his developmental philosophy, situating it within the cultural and ideological landscape of Western Europe, where institutional Christianity exerted deep social influence. It contends that Marx’s critique targeted distorted and complicit forms of religion that, in his view, reinforced unjust power structures. Adopting an auxiliary approach, the study neither dismisses religion wholesale nor embraces it uncritically, but considers its potential as a resource for praxis and social transformation. The discussion traces Marx’s methodological transition from Hegelian idealism to a materialist, practice-oriented analysis, shaped by the political and economic realities of his era. Comparative reflections on Chinese ethical traditions and the broader discourse on alienation reveal how religious and secular currents can converge in the pursuit of justice. The paper concludes that Marx’s social analysis remains a vital instrument for exposing concentrations of power and forging pathways toward equity and a just society