Sinead O'Connor, the popular singer with a trendy shaven head created history. At the end of singing her version of Bob Marley's "War" she announced,"Let's fight the real enemy " and went on to shred a photogragh of the Pope to pieces.The studio people were caught unawares since the programme was coming on in The Saturday Night Live on US Television.
Vatican was silent on the issue, but a spokesman for The Bishop of Brooklyn seriously suggested that she may be in need of professional therapy and maybe spiritual too !! To Roman Catholics around the world,the Pope is the religious head and Sinnead's act amounted to iconoclasm ; The sensibilities of many have been hurt.
Marxism contains a scientific exposure of Religion as part of the Social structure that influences the masses. The bastions of Marxism have crumbled all around us. Marx's famous statement "Religion is the opiate of masses " is an important cornerstone on which the Marxian analysis of the social superstructure was based. Marx was making a profound statement on the exploitative value of religion.It throws many questions. Does rligion exploit ? Does it Kill ? Does it divert attention of the masses from the real issues facing societies and nations ?
Does Sinnead O'Connor need help ?
The track record of religion is rather dubious.The Pope's own religion ,Roman Catholicism, has a tainted record .There was time in history when Inquisitions were misused by religious and
political authorities (comfortable bedfellows as elsewhere in the world ) and caused untold sufferings to masses and especially, proclaimed enemies of the order. The Inquisition was a Papal judicial institution to combat heresy,alchemy,witchcraft, sorcery etc later on deteriorated to the status of a convenient political weapon to victimise alien religions.The Roman Inquisition was used to fight Protestantism and under Paul IV , it was so severe, that all parties were alienated.The more infamous Spanish Inquisition was sanctioned in 1478 by Sixtus IV to combat apostate Jews,Muslims and heretics such as Alumbrados. The Spanish Crown used it as a weapon ; Burnings at stake,torture and confiscation were used to eliminate enemies.Violence reached new heights under the first grand inquisitor the Dominican, Tomas de Torquemada. If nothing else,it was for the sin of being born into Judaism, that Hitler deemed it necessary to unleash genocide on a people.It appears almost impossible that a good German Soldier who loved children and dogs and was a strict vegetarian could be capable of such violence.Is Hitler at fault ? Or is it his perception of a religion and his social conditioning which teaches him that the Jew is the real enemy ? The " Greek Passion ", a classic work by the famous Greek Novelist Nikos Kazantzakis,is a subtle social satire on how the Church turns into the real enemy.If Jesus was persecuted years ago, the modern day Christs are persecuted by the Church, which stands to protect and propagate the teachings of Christ. The innuendo was not missed on any of the readers of "Greek Passion".Yet another work by Kazantzakis "The Last Temptation of Christ " stirred up a controversy over Martin Scorcese'film based on it.Analogies are not far to seek. We are a nation steeped in the pangs of development.Many a village exist without drinking water.Basic universal education has not been achieved after years of developmental effort.The population growth threatens to overtake our capability to solve burgeoning unemployment and poverty.The partition resulted in the death of many in the subcontinent.Partition was essentially a geographical and demographic divide based on religious denominations. This was thrust on a subcontinent plagued by poverty and illiteracy.Even in modern days reams and reams of newsprint and energy of the nation is wasted on where temples stood in the forgotten strands of history.For the starving millions in this country this could be the culmination of a comic opera and the joke is on them.It goes to show that religion still remains a potent force and is still very much capable of distracting society from the real problems facing it.History abounds with examples to that effect.People are killed,exploited, nations plundered, land and money grabbed, elections and wars fought in the name of religion.And the future too doesn't promise to be very different from the past.
Marxism has lost its' enthusiastic practitioners. But Marxian analysis on religion,society and other institutions remain relevant as ever . Marx was right.So is Sinnead O'Connor.
The contrast in their persona couldn't be more striking.An impoverished academic Jew with long flowing hair and beard and a modern day egg head pop singer.Yet they made the same simple but profound statement from different platforms, at different points of time in History.
Let's fight the real enemy !!!
Vatican was silent on the issue, but a spokesman for The Bishop of Brooklyn seriously suggested that she may be in need of professional therapy and maybe spiritual too !! To Roman Catholics around the world,the Pope is the religious head and Sinnead's act amounted to iconoclasm ; The sensibilities of many have been hurt.
Marxism contains a scientific exposure of Religion as part of the Social structure that influences the masses. The bastions of Marxism have crumbled all around us. Marx's famous statement "Religion is the opiate of masses " is an important cornerstone on which the Marxian analysis of the social superstructure was based. Marx was making a profound statement on the exploitative value of religion.It throws many questions. Does rligion exploit ? Does it Kill ? Does it divert attention of the masses from the real issues facing societies and nations ?
Does Sinnead O'Connor need help ?
The track record of religion is rather dubious.The Pope's own religion ,Roman Catholicism, has a tainted record .There was time in history when Inquisitions were misused by religious and
political authorities (comfortable bedfellows as elsewhere in the world ) and caused untold sufferings to masses and especially, proclaimed enemies of the order. The Inquisition was a Papal judicial institution to combat heresy,alchemy,witchcraft, sorcery etc later on deteriorated to the status of a convenient political weapon to victimise alien religions.The Roman Inquisition was used to fight Protestantism and under Paul IV , it was so severe, that all parties were alienated.The more infamous Spanish Inquisition was sanctioned in 1478 by Sixtus IV to combat apostate Jews,Muslims and heretics such as Alumbrados. The Spanish Crown used it as a weapon ; Burnings at stake,torture and confiscation were used to eliminate enemies.Violence reached new heights under the first grand inquisitor the Dominican, Tomas de Torquemada. If nothing else,it was for the sin of being born into Judaism, that Hitler deemed it necessary to unleash genocide on a people.It appears almost impossible that a good German Soldier who loved children and dogs and was a strict vegetarian could be capable of such violence.Is Hitler at fault ? Or is it his perception of a religion and his social conditioning which teaches him that the Jew is the real enemy ? The " Greek Passion ", a classic work by the famous Greek Novelist Nikos Kazantzakis,is a subtle social satire on how the Church turns into the real enemy.If Jesus was persecuted years ago, the modern day Christs are persecuted by the Church, which stands to protect and propagate the teachings of Christ. The innuendo was not missed on any of the readers of "Greek Passion".Yet another work by Kazantzakis "The Last Temptation of Christ " stirred up a controversy over Martin Scorcese'film based on it.Analogies are not far to seek. We are a nation steeped in the pangs of development.Many a village exist without drinking water.Basic universal education has not been achieved after years of developmental effort.The population growth threatens to overtake our capability to solve burgeoning unemployment and poverty.The partition resulted in the death of many in the subcontinent.Partition was essentially a geographical and demographic divide based on religious denominations. This was thrust on a subcontinent plagued by poverty and illiteracy.Even in modern days reams and reams of newsprint and energy of the nation is wasted on where temples stood in the forgotten strands of history.For the starving millions in this country this could be the culmination of a comic opera and the joke is on them.It goes to show that religion still remains a potent force and is still very much capable of distracting society from the real problems facing it.History abounds with examples to that effect.People are killed,exploited, nations plundered, land and money grabbed, elections and wars fought in the name of religion.And the future too doesn't promise to be very different from the past.
Marxism has lost its' enthusiastic practitioners. But Marxian analysis on religion,society and other institutions remain relevant as ever . Marx was right.So is Sinnead O'Connor.
The contrast in their persona couldn't be more striking.An impoverished academic Jew with long flowing hair and beard and a modern day egg head pop singer.Yet they made the same simple but profound statement from different platforms, at different points of time in History.
Let's fight the real enemy !!!
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