In the current political climate wrought with polarisation and division. Far removed from the past primarily economically and historically driven perceptions of certain religious groups popular amongst many 19th century political theorists, current antisemitism and islamophobia is set about with the motives to further develop ultranationalist and neo-colonialist intentions to create a state built with a white supremacist western homogenate as its cultural and ideological basis. This thus acts as merely a means of further making fascism appear somewhat more palatable when overshadowed by the potential for future developmental and socioeconomic proposals, and the core aims of supposed freedom of expression and representation of religious values. It is, however, also important that one reflects upon historic dialect on labour movements and collective attempts to emancipate the people and mobilise in class struggle, considering the emphasis on the cultural and demographic characteristics that remain so heavily embedded in left-Hegelian and Marxist analysis of society, thus extending to religious principles. It is through this that we can in this post unpick and critically analyse historic narratives on this subject, and thus effectively assess their role in influencing present day attitudes and political discourse that have impacted on conflict and division within society brought about through religious intolerances.
In much of Hegel's critique of the rapidly industrialising capitalist society of the 19th century, the support for religious ideals, as was evident throughout this period, was not looked at in a particularly positive light. In fact, they even went so far to condemn and put the blame on religion for many issues, using this to substantiate claims that it was counterrevolutionary and would stop society from effectively moving forward in the future. While this was not specific to any specific religions and unlikely to be intended in a discriminatory manner, the establishment of these ideals can appear to have been an important turning point in the changing of attitudes towards religion, especially with regard to the rise in atheism.
This is reflected on through Marx's atheism having been set about as a dogmatic cornerstone in his theory, this proving fundamental in the understanding of social and political tensions that had been observed accelerated by violence committed by extreme atheists to eliminate potential threats of conflict amongst differing religious groups, this previously having been supposedly theorised in left Hegelian dialect. However, in spite of this, Marx favoured alternative more sustainable means of resolving religious conflicts as opposed to engaging in direct attacks against individually targeted religious groups. This was largely because he regarded religion as an implicit facet to a larger issue that could be attributed to the aims to further marginalise and exercise superiority as a power over victims supposedly to blame. One can clearly see this through his view that religious discrimination arises due to individual failures and personal struggles causing one to feel they have "not yet found himself or has already lost himself again", so arrive at the point by which they are poised to illicit the blame onto and target certain minority groups whose threat and vulnerability are not properly understood. It is through this that one can identify links to the origins of antisemitism, the rise of the Nazis, and the actions of the IDF in justifying the illegal settler colonial genocidal apartheid state of Israel, so as to thinly disguise fascistic sentiment and attempts to develop a western white colonial ethno-state (essentially fascism in its purest form) as an extreme form of religious fanaticism.
However, from an alternative lens, one can argue that Marx and Engels very much perpetuated antisemitic viewpoints, these largely having arisen from an economic standpoint, and in relation to the supposed socioeconomic and demographic characteristics associated with Jews, in the way that they have described the religion, clearly overlapping with those of the bourgeois and those who would fail and be of limited assistance in bringing about the proposed revolutionary efforts they had devised. This perspective is very well described by Nathan Reich who considers antisemitism as, with reference to Marxist economic theory, a natural response to economic collapse and a representation of the fears and angers of the proletariat. He thus describes these attitudes as being “the expression of envy felt by the poor Gentile population for "Jewish" wealth; as the reflection of competition for jobs between Jewish and non-Jewish applicants; as the expression of resentment against the "undue" Jewish concentration in certain well-paid professions and important branches of trade”. This, however, strongly appears to contrast with the general consensus of antisemitism is the fundamental principle that fascism flourishes through, which many are more familiar with. These largely come about through fear and manipulation through group mentality leading to a desire to illicit blame on and persecute minority groups, as well as a desire to make blatant discrimination and fascistic principles on has become further apparent. With fascism essentially being regarded as a form of ultranationalist racial supremacist global imperialism by which individuals on the far right use to preserve and gain influence by, antisemitism appears to be a very clearly fundamental aspect of fascistic narrative and one of its core principles.
When reflecting on the rising islamophobia prevalent during present times at the same time as antisemitism is on the rise, it is important that these are not looked at as two separate opposing issues affecting and representing conflict between both specific religious groups, but rather two forms of evidence for the significance of each other set about with alternate fascistic motives, which serve to further divide and polarise society. This mentality comes into place with the arguments adopted by some that supposed excessive attention being paid on islamophobia merely acting as a means by which to disguise and overshadow the ever present problem of antisemitism within society, an attitude which further breeds division and discrimination within society.
Equally, internal sectarianism and division within individual religions in relation to their differences in practise and their presence in society are also significant factors that should be observed when reflecting on the role of religion in society and the establishment of an alternative form of cultural identity. This was the case with Irish loyalism versus unionism with regard to the dissolution of the Protestant Church and the separation of Northern Ireland from the UK. This has come with much concern with regard to the ability for Northern Ireland to retain its political autonomy and sovereignty in conjunction with Ireland (which would geographically and politically be to their advantage and would give them greater freedom and core international connections, as well as important in preserving their individual high value cultural dimension). This example thus very effectively exemplifies the role of religion in evaluating present and future geopolitics, and in navigating agreements with close allied nations.
While a more moderate and liberal argument might regard the presence of religion within today's society as a minor purely cultural facet to a broader sociopolitical landscape, this facet rapidly diminishing in its presence as society continues to advance, it is clear that this is an overly simplistic perspective on the matter with a profound lack of nuance. With Marx and Engels' dialect in mind, the very causes of conflict and sociopolitical instability that abolishing religion, and thus subsequently refusing to support religious freedom, is the exact reasoning behind the rise of religious discrimination within society. The means of achieving revolutionary change is not through the abolition of sectarianism and the reversal of internal division amongst religious societies through developing a sense of homogeneity that would lead to greater tolerance within society, in the same way that this wouldn't be achieved purely through the abolition of religion itself. It is instead through diplomacy and preservation of democratic values to maintain social conscience that discrimination can be avoided, considering that, as observed in this article, this is mainly down to intrinsic corruption and exploitation of prejudiced groups by the individuals within core centralised power overall, as well as the use of these strategies instead of resorting to fear, anger and desire to blame minority groups, which is the foundation of much fascism.
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