[Marxism] The criticism of religion [was: RE:Vnzla:reasonstobeoptimistic]

[Haines Brown]

> Haines Brown wrote:
> > But is the issue at hand is whether to boycott the Democratic
> > Party, or instead to engage in Democratic Party politics if there
> > are no better options available. I'm trying to argue against
> > abstentionism, the attitude of "stop the world, I want to get
> > off"!
> 
> I think that comrades should allow Haines to have the last word on
> this.  Support of the Democratic Party is not exactly a position
> that will ever gain much traction here.
> 
> Let's move on...

OK, I'm agreed. To some extent debate has been over differences in
emphasis or viewpoint, and there's only so far we can go with it. It
eventually becomes tedious.

However, I really _would_ like to "have the last word" in that I can
take the opportunity to draw some broader conclusions from the debate,
which is always useful to do.

First, I wouldn't want to leave the impression that I give unqualified
recommendation that we engage in Democratic Party politics. I get as
upset as anyone by the Party, and these days I have to enter the
voting booth holding my nose. That is, I do understand peoples'
feelings and arguments on the matter. But it's important to
distinguish differences in emphasis from that of principle.

Second, I hope that my position was more solidly Marxist than some
other positions aired in this thread, and so I believe there remain
unresolved issues that are important in terms of Marxism. In
particular was my point that we can only approach an understanding of
political institutions by first placing them in relation to the
capitalist mode of production. In the thread the only point that
really disturbed me was that either folks did not understand this or
for some reason were unwilling to adopt the methodology. However, I'll
leave this issue for someone else to raise under a different subject
line if they are so inclined.

Finally, in the quotation above I am troubled by the phrase, "...is
not exactly a position that will ever gain much traction here". I
would have understood it if someone had said, "enough of this endless
and pointless debate, let's move on to something more..." However, the
quote appears to suggest that there's a consensus on this list, and as
a result a particular line of argument can be represented as being
alien to it. Well, I suppose that's true, for the list is explicitly
about Marxism, so that a discussion of the current price of eggs would
be inappropriate. However, I made clear I was approaching the subject
from a Marxist perspective, and indeed this very issue is often
discussed within a Marxist framework. For example, I my position on
the matter approximates that of the CPUSA.
 
Given all this, I can only wonder if this list does indeed represent a
particular ideological line within the Marxist framework. I doubt that
there's an explicit official line here, but would like to know if
there's an implicit line based on an outlook shared by those who
founded the list or who most consistently participate in it.

-- 
 
       Haines Brown, KB1GRM