Is Communism A Religion?

There is no 'belief' in any moral or philosophical position. It's 100% pragmatic. It requires nothing more than commitment to work. It doesn't care whether you're a flaming conservative, liberal hippie, religionist, atheist, poet, scientist, or lunatic .. if you're willing to do the work, you're in. There is nothing more to it than:

All must work. Self-sufficiency. Common purse. Shared property.

 

to what end?

What if I didn't want to work?
What if I wanted to pay others to work in my stead?
What if I could afford to pay others because I had broke with Communism and attained personal property and wealth? In a Communist society, this would be heresy and a sin.

Why?
Surely, the people must believe in this, there's no other explanation unless we get into immoral violent suppression to tell people it's all shared.

What makes Communism different from religion?

 

The end is as described. Common Purse.

1) if you don't want to work, don't join a collective.
2) if you want to pay others to pick your crops, then don't join a collective.
3) you do you. communists do communism.

 

1) no idea what you're talking about. collectivism is entirely voluntary.

2) communism is an economic model. religion is 'feelings'.

 

HA!
I laughed so hard I think some milk came out of my nose!

Communism is 'feelings' too.

 

A member of the collective is like a member of a religion.
If someone doesn't want to worship God, then don't join a religion.
It's the same thing.

 

Are you actually aware of what communism is? It seems you may not be.

 

Who or what are they 'worshipping'? The crops? The manufacturing plant? The family home?

 

It's this belief in something greater from a doctrine written by some guy in exile in London. It has symbols and rules and hates 'other' religions too.

 

Clueless.

 

The collective.

 

In theory, no. In practice, yes.

Technically communism is just people working for eachother instead of themselves.

But in every case where it has been established, it has led to the eventual elimination of religions and their replacement with mandated worship of The State.

So its not just (as) a religion, but it is (as) pre-renaissance religions that enforced doctrine through force.

 

ISIS reminds me of the Soviet uprising.

Bloody law that aims to force its will over all others on to people to rule them 'make them better' in their eyes.

All who opposed, all who disobeyed - were dealt with.

 

No it isn't. It's ENTIRELY selfish. It's simply a different approach to economics. When you understand that there is strength and security in numbers (IOW, several people are always cheaper than one person .. per head), you understand why people choose it. It's the same reason families remain together - in practical terms.

 

What is 'the collective'? Is it the buildings? The acreage? The crops?

 

It's a society of people who believe in the concept of everything being municipal.
What of those who believed in the concept of private ownership?
Just cast them out of society?

It's why Communists happily go to work, it's something to believe in for their own salvation.

 

There is no 'municipal' in the state sense. A collective works outside of the state, independently of it.

There is only commonly owned property (and any proceeds arising from same). The family home is the best and most identifiable example.

 

I'd define any group that has a stated set of beliefs and valued faith in those beliefs over reason as being a religion. Also, when there is a larger focus on getting people to believe through non-rational and non-critical means then it is a religion.

 

Oh, atheists can't prove the supernatural does not exist, so atheism must be a religion.

 

The collective says your home you've made on land belonging to the collective has to go, it will go.
Communism isn't a religion because the house goes and people don't agree.
Communism is a religion because the house goes and people understand it's for the collective.
Both scenarios don't seem pleasant, regardless of if Communism acts like a religion in your eyes or not.

I still say, Communism acts like religion's ugly side.
ISIS, The Spanish Inquisition.
So Communism acts like a religion on a bad day when applied, but it isn't one, got it.

 

Well, technically, the reason why it is flawed is that is it a non-sequitur. You present a reasoning and a conclusion, but the reasoning doesn't actually support the conclusion (having followers or suppressing differing view does not make something into a religion, since things other than religions also do it).

I think that is the reason it is flawed, however, I think Jonsa's point is not a clear description of the flaw as much as a line of reasoning which might help you or others figure out the flaw themselves. Now, I am interpreting Jonsa's post, I reserve the right to have misinterpreted it, I'm presenting it as it makes sense to me.

He's saying that if it was enough to have followers and symbols to be a religion, then the political symbols and followers in his post would be a reason to call the American parties religions too. He's then implying that that would be unreasonable. Maybe you would agree, would you call the American political parties religions?

In doing the above, he's suggesting that if you don't believe the Republican or Democratic party are religions, then chances are that whatever objection you have to that logic would also apply to communism.

Keep the arguments apart. The "ism" argument came from MysticWolf, it is not the same argument as Jonsa made. It seems to me the ism argument doesn't really hold up, Hinduism is a religion and an ism, I don't see a problem with that. That being said, I'm not sure if MysticWolf is saying that it *cannot* be a religion because it is an ism, or if he's saying that being an ism explains the followers and symbols without *necessarily* being a religion.

Yes, there are rules that are important for this context. I think the relevant rule is that a word applies to a concept if and only if the concept fulfils the definition of that word. Comparing things, finding similarities is not enough (if it was, you might find similarities between dogs and cats and erroneously call a cat a type of dog).

 

Communism is the religion without a miracle.

 

You're talking about politics. I'm talking about collectivism.

 

You're talking about your God.

 

Communism is like a religion, and, the Soviets were like religious extremists.