The Russian orthodox church within living memory (As in, within the last 10 years) ran an open political campaign to legalise domestic violence.

But sure. It’s just “Smelling our own dung” to find that bad.

there is a difference between knowing history and cherry-picking it to argue for a pre-conceived notion. i could use the exact same “methodology” and argue for the exact opposite point, bringing up how the holy synod’s role in tsarist repression was opposed by other sects (dukhobors, molokans and others), as well as even dissident orthodox clergy. i could mention how european colonisers repressed indigenous african, indian and middle eastern forms of christianity. i could point out how the cathars you mentioned, being massacred during the albigensian crusade, viewed themselves as a christian sect as well. i could also mention how liberation theology provided invaluable help to liberation movements in latin america, talk about hilarion capucci and vlada zečević, etc., etc…

also, would it in your eyes be just to condemn all of islam due to daesh? would you go so far as to denounce all of buddhism because of the rohingya genocide? how about declaring all of judaism to be equal with religious zionism, or using modi and the bjp as a reason to smear all 1.2 billion hindus as an irredeemable evil? so let’,s not argue against caricatures.

you mentioned the bourgeois french revolutionaries trying to abolish religion. did they succeed? condemning ordinary religious people is a needless own-goal. it’s a great way to make enemies of a sizeable majority of the global working class for no benefit.

(also, as a side note, do you have a source for that gabrielle quote? i’d like to read it in context.)

i’m sorry, but i’ll have to call into question whatever you call “learning and trying to understand”

your argument relies on moral outrage and abstract ethics rather than material analysis. marx’s critique of religion is often misused by superficial atheists. when he called religion “the opium of the people”, he was not simply condemning faith, but identifying it as a response to suffering in a world devoid of meaning and justice. religion, in this sense, is both a symptom of oppression and a coping mechanism for those experiencing it. misunderstand this reality and you end up with ethical idealism, ultimately undermining revolutionary efforts by alienating the masses.

from a materialist standpoint, religion persists because it fulfills real social and emotional needs under capitalism, just as it did under previous socio-economic systems. the task of revolutionaries is not to mock or suppress these beliefs, but to transform the conditions that give rise to them.

and if you would try to even once get out and actually look at the historical precedence of socialist projects, you would learn a lot:

in its early years, the ussr launched aggressive anti-religious campaigns, shuttering churches (and destroying century-old architectural monuments in the process), ridiculing faith, and persecuting religious leaders. these efforts, spearheaded by organizations like the league of the militant godless (sry for wikipecia-link, but i can’t really find good english-language sources rn), were driven by ideological zeal rather than mass-line engagement. they confused state atheism with revolutionary strategy and alienated millions of religious workers and peasants whose faith was deeply embedded in their communities and daily lives.

rather than focusing drawing believers into the socialist project through improvements in their material conditions and political education, the early state attempted to impose atheism from above. this approach was idealist, disconnected from the real consciousness of the masses, and politically self-defeating.

they thus unwillingly played into the hands of the reaction, since religious believers, especially in rural areas, came to view the new socialist state as an enemy of tradition, community, and morality. reactionary forces capitalized on this resentment, painting themselves as defenders of the common people.

recognizing this, the government later went on to ease anti-religious policies during the great patriotic war, in order to build unity, effectively admitting that earlier methods had been divisive and counter-productive.

leftists should understand that atheism, like any belief system, must be approached strategically. the goal is not to impose a worldview, but to unite the working class in the struggle against capitalism. religious people are not the enemy, capitalism is. mockery and cultural arrogance only serve to fracture potential alliances.

instead, one must engage religious workers respectfully, meet their material needs, and build class consciousness through shared struggle. religion will fade not through coercion, but as alienation and exploitation are overcome.