Cardinal Reinhard Marx went total fanboy over Karl Marx, the author of the Communist Manifesto, saying that, “Without him, there would not be any Catholic social doctrine.” Funny, I thought Jesus was a little more integral to Catholic teaching but hey, I’m just a writer. But I’m willing to play along.
At first I thought this whole love fest between Cardinal Marx and the father of communism was a bit weird. And just in case you thought it was a slip of the tongue, LifeSiteNews has compiled a bunch of quotes including Cdl. Marx saying he was “quite impressed” by the Communist Manifesto. He also said Marx was “fascinating,” and complimented his “energy” and “great language.”
So let’s break it down with six or so easy to read bullet points. Let’s see what Karl Marx — who was not funnier than Harpo; I don’t care what you say — thought about religion.
I mean, hey, maybe Cardinal Marx is right. I mean, it’s not like Karl Marx said bad things about religion.
(6) Karl Marx said bad things about religion.
In fact, one of Marx’s most famous lines is that religion is “the opiate of the masses” which isn’t exactly a ringing endorsement of religion. But hey, that’s a personal thought. I mean it’s not like he called for the abolition of religion.
(5) Karl Marx called for the abolition of religion.
Yup. Marx once said, “The first requisite of the happiness of the people is the abolition of religion.” Oh. Ok. So I guess, it’s actually no surprise that Christians have been persecuted wherever Marxism has taken root. But hey, so many of the fascinating political theories have John Wick type body counts. And perhaps he was just talking off the cuff and didn’t really mean it.
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