The Rejection of Materialism

As I've said before, Dennis Prager is one of my favorite thinkers. In this article he contrasts the Judeo-Christian philosophy with the leftist worldview, which is descendant from Marxism.

Because religious people have values that transcend the material, Marx called religion the opiate of the masses: It keeps the masses from making social revolution by keeping them happy with non-material concerns and non-material rewards. The further left one goes, the more significant social revolution becomes. It does for two reasons:

First, devoid of religious meaning in their lives, for many on the Left, social change -- or as it is known today, "social justice," the term for left-wing social change -- has become their substitute religion and provider of meaning.

Second, given that the only reality is material, any denial of materialism's supremacy disturbs the Left. The true leftist objects to the notion of poorer people leading happy lives.

Although Judeo-Christian values also care about material progress, it is not the primary concern. Non-material concerns, such as charity, freedom, and spirituality--values that elevate the soul--are held in higher regard. However,

To a materialist, the notion that poor people would place non-material concerns over material ones is absurd, if not perverse.

Read the whole article. Dennis does a wonderful job of clarifying the distinctions.