can a communist be an idealist and/or believe in god?

Question

is realism or believing in dialecic materialism a necessary prerequisite ffor being a communist?

Cosmin, we can't be sure if communism is unrealisic and it doesn,t hve to be perfect either. it may be possible ie; hundreds of thousands of years from now .so it can't be branded as an idealistic philosophy!

Answer 1

A belief in a 'higher power' (or lack thereof) is not a prerequisite for being a communist, as communism is primarily an economic system. In fact, contrary to popular misconceptions, many prominent (or infamous) Communists were fervent believers. Religious beliefs were often persecuted not because of some established "atheism" but simply due to them being seen as a hinderance to accomplishing Communist goals.

Nowadays, communism is seen more as "idealist" rather than realistic, even though its basic tenets are rooted in realism. Human nature is the main reason why communism was never successful. Power corrupts, and communists end up succumbing to the social ills they once vowed to root out.

Answer 2

It depends on how you look at the word "communist." In the book of Acts it says that the believers had everything in common so they could be considered communists. I have asked pastors about that and they have told me that part of the Bible is not for us today, which kind of annoys me because....why not? Jesus told people to sell everything they have and give it to the poor...

Marxism is a type of communism that contains atheism as one of its doctrines so I would say you cannot be a Marxist and believe in God. Other than that I would say that to be a communist is to be an idealist but non Marxist communism doesn't necessarily have anything to do with belief in God.

Answer 3

Well, communism is not just a economic theory, it refers to the way society should be organized.

This political doctrine claims it is the only one fair to all human beings for it's purpose is to make all man equal.

But more to the point, a communist is (if he/she is a true communist) a idealist. He/she believe a perfect society can be build, but the base of the communist doctrine is atheism, for religion is one of the main factors that gives cultural and class diverences.

So a communist can be a idealist but never can a true communist believe in God.

Answer 4

I agree with whosis (Cosmin?), that communism is idealistic... and I can't see why you wouldn't.

Communism, like many another 'ism,' is loaded with wishes and desires... this I know because I studied Mao's little red book carefully when I was quite young and was pretending, at the very least, to be a communist myself.

I lived on a commune, shared every little thing, took karate lessons from a brown belt 'til he broke my rib in a free fight, worked, worked, worked then played then worked some more... always together and happy to be so.

At the same time privacy in our achievements was fiercely kept... no tourists were welcome at that place, and no please about it!

That was 'communism' in the old days for me...

Answer 5

Marxism is an inherently atheistic ideology. Because the concept of dialectical materialism requires belief, and represents the imposition of system of convictions upon reality, it is a form of idealism. The real question would be as to why anyone would ascribe to this ideology knowing that the proponents of this system were responsible for acts of terror and genocide that are without precedent in history.

Answer 6

I almost can’t answer this one, it’s too big. It really deserves 25 pages, or a book, even.
There are at least two “Communisms” The real one, and the US version of what it is.
The real one is what Karl Marx, the economist, said it was. To understand Marx, it’s good to understand Hegel and the dialectic, an epistemology the 'ology' of thought. Marx took his ideas and applied them to the field of HIS study, economics. Marx applied the dialectic to the material world, stood Hegel on his feet, so to speak, thus: dialectical materialism. Hegel defined a ‘dialectical contradiction’ to be where two conditions were required for an event, but in were in opposition (Hegel’s ‘thesis’ and ‘antithesis’). Marx applied it to economic history, for it made sense to him when applied there, seemingly offering a viable explanation for class differences. The history of Lords and serfs is a way to see it in play. The two need each other, but wish they were rid of the other. Without both, there is no economy. Lords need to tax the serfs, serfs need the lord’s castle for protection. The Lord has longer-term capital in the land and storage bldgs, etc., can out-last the peasants, can feed an army, etc, ie, holds more power. His power and privilege is illegitimate, so must be maintained by circumstance (economic situation, laws) or force. The surplus, the condition of disparity that exists between the two is based on the surplus labor taken in the form of taxes and food, etc. Like surplus, so it is with profit. It’s a form of theft, ultimately of another’s labor. It becomes more acute through the mercantilist phase, then into the pre-capitalist and into the capitalist phase of human economic history. Read Marx’s “Das Kapital” to get a clearer understanding. Marx figured that the industrial workers, as their material needs were fulfilled, as they had the benefit of reading and better education, would come to see that in the grand scheme of things, humans have always been divided thus, and the wealth of the nation is distributed quite unequally, favoring overall those who already have it. The people would see that this great wealth in a few hands was from their own exploitation. They were still not much better off than the peasants were. Worse, in fact, than slaves would be. A master does not ordinarily kill the slave babies or those too old to do heavy work anymore, though they don’t produce. But if your help is no longer needed as a wage-slave, good luck Betty. Pension? Forget it. Work hard your whole life and calamity strikes? Sorry buddy. Don’t you have any family? As Marx saw it, communism was inevitable, just as capitalism was inevitable. In other words, it was going to happen no matter what you did. It doesn’t matter whether you believe it or not, it will happen as the exploitative-ness of the mechanisms of capitalism devour and concentrate all the resources, and raises the standard of living for enough people that expansion ceases as production needs flatten. We see it happening in Western Europe already, just where Marx thought it would occur, because England and Germany were the most highly developed nations industrially in his time. It was there that the workers would realize their wage-slavery, and finally fulfill the dream of rule by consent, take ownership [nationalize] of the factory, and run it like a democracy instead of a corporate dictatorship. I know that many of you have lived in the US your whole lives, and know from what you’ve been learning all of your life that this is not only impossible, but it would never work. But, to a large extent, it does already. Just not in the US. Lenin thought that the world couldn’t wait for it to happen, so he advocated trying to make it happen by mechanizing and industrializing a peasant country in a directed way. The US and Germany never gave USSR a chance to really try it, and eventually succeeded in starving it to death, winning the war of attrition.
The other, the US religion of fear of communism serves as a catch-all justification for huge expenditures [public subsidy] for the Department of War’s investors in the business of weapons systems (none of which seemed to work of 9/11, by the way) in preparations for or the practice of aggressive war, protection of resources, maintenance of the class structure and disparity among the classes. The US imperialist, pro capitalist, pro business pro-military nationalist religion is the one with which we’re all too familiar, so I needn’t go into it.

Answer 7

a communist is an idealist,the only similar part of communism and believing in god is;they think people should be equal.and in both ideals, individualism doesn't exist.
i think that a communist is an idealist but doesn't believe in god.

Answer 8

Communism is an amazing Idea. If it actually worked out, everyone would be equal. And, isn't that what God says?

Answer 9

A person can be anything he or she chooses to be. One problem our moronic society has today is labeling yourself to one thing.

Check it out! No real individual has to be 1 thing. Conservative, Liberal for instance. I got some things I am conservative about, some things I'm liberal about.

Prostitution, Im Liberal.
Crime Im Conservative.
So that means a communist can believe in whatever else he/she wants. Communism is just a way that didnt work simply because ppl will never be happy if they all have the same of everything.

In order for one to feel better about themselves in todays society, something about him or her has to be better than one of her colleagues or one of her colleagues has to have less of something so that person has something to be happy/sad about.

Pathetic really.

:D

there I got writing a bunch of giberrish.

But yeah, figure it out for yourself.

Answer 10

Imagine a circle of people holding hands, who do not belioeve in god, but believe in kindeness, imagine a circle of people holding hands striving for their preservation, idealism. But you cannot step outside the circle, endure.