Comments on: The Lie of Sadness http://mattwiebe.com/2008/02/the-lie-of-sadness/ Matt Wiebe's blog about faith and life. Sun, 25 Jul 2010 07:34:21 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1-beta By: Matt http://mattwiebe.com/2008/02/the-lie-of-sadness/comment-page-1/#comment-7429 Matt Sat, 09 Feb 2008 18:19:42 +0000 http://mattwiebe.com/2008/02/the-lie-of-sadness/#comment-7429 <strong>Ryan:</strong> I'm actually not sure of how it relates, except that I do use a somewhat Marxian analysis (i.e. a hermeneutics of suspicion) to question the function of the elevation of sadness within our society. But I know that that's not what you're getting at. You want, I believe, to object to my faith-outlook on the world and to challenge it with Marx's "opiate of the masses" objection. Definitely one of the better objections to faith out there. Religion can, but does not necessarily function in Marx's sense. Indeed, there is a kind of faith that can have quite the opposite effect from what Marx (rightly) put his finger on. There is a holy dissatisfaction with "the powers that be" that grows out of people like William Wilberforce, Dorothy Day and Martin Luther King Jr. To paraphrase Marx, people like this would say that "the point of religion is to change the world." Ryan: I’m actually not sure of how it relates, except that I do use a somewhat Marxian analysis (i.e. a hermeneutics of suspicion) to question the function of the elevation of sadness within our society.

But I know that that’s not what you’re getting at. You want, I believe, to object to my faith-outlook on the world and to challenge it with Marx’s “opiate of the masses” objection. Definitely one of the better objections to faith out there.

Religion can, but does not necessarily function in Marx’s sense. Indeed, there is a kind of faith that can have quite the opposite effect from what Marx (rightly) put his finger on. There is a holy dissatisfaction with “the powers that be” that grows out of people like William Wilberforce, Dorothy Day and Martin Luther King Jr. To paraphrase Marx, people like this would say that “the point of religion is to change the world.”

]]> By: Ryan http://mattwiebe.com/2008/02/the-lie-of-sadness/comment-page-1/#comment-7419 Ryan Sat, 09 Feb 2008 09:56:46 +0000 http://mattwiebe.com/2008/02/the-lie-of-sadness/#comment-7419 Yes, and what a marvelous gift God has given us. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformation http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inquisition http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_I_of_England http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_crusade Consider for a moment, that religion is a drug. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_marx It serves only to pacify people's rampant emotions. How do you think this relates to this blog entry? Yes, and what a marvelous gift God has given us.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reformation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inquisition

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_I_of_England

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_crusade

Consider for a moment, that religion is a drug.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karl_marx

It serves only to pacify people’s rampant emotions.
How do you think this relates to this blog entry?

]]>