DECEPTION THEORY-explanation of the causes of the origin and existence of religion consciousness. deception of the masses by professional servants of the cult. The role of deception in religion has already drawn attention to the materialists of antiquity. Recognizing the deception of the people by the priests as an important factor in the existence of religion, they used the exposure of this deception as a means of fighting against religion and the priesthood. Individual representatives of the materialism of antiquity (eg. charvaka in India, NEK-followers of Democritus in Greece) saw religion as a clever invention. In cf. in Europe and the Arab East, the theory of the “three deceivers” — Moses, Christ, and Muhammad — as having created Judaism, Christianity, and Islam by deception has been widely spread for centuries. Though neither thorough nor profound, this version nevertheless had a progressive significance for its time. As a rule, the theory of deception was followed by Franz. the atheists of the eighteenth century, who extended the O. T. and the question of the origin of the first Church. relig. beliefs’. They believed that religion was from the very beginning the main product of consciousness. deception, a fiction of a few, acting in their own interest; people will believe the liars because they were ignorant and overly trusting. In Marxist atheism. the doctrine recognizes that both deception and ignorance mean a lot for the existence and spread of religion. But these are secondary causes in the complex of conditions by which religion exists and is maintained in society (see the Roots of religion, the Origin of religion). The very ignorance of Nar. the masses and the deception based on their ignorance are the result of this. conditions of material life of society.

L. Feuerbach divided religions into 2 types: natural (in primitive society) and spiritual (man deifies himself). Religion gives the image of an ideal person and subconsciously inclines us to “Paradise on earth”: if everyone fulfills the covenants, there will be happiness for all. homo homini Deus est – His favorite phrase.

7.Sociological concepts of religion Here we are talking about Auguste Comte, who spoke about the integrative function of religion: it is the type that unites society. Karl Marx talked about the illusory-compensatory function of religion supersedes that which is not human. The atheistic concept of religion received its most consistent and complete development in Marxism. According to Marxism, religion has a social nature, because ” the essence of man is not an abstract inherent in the individual, in its reality it is the totality of all social relations.” Marxism looks for the origins of religion in socio-economic formations that generate people’s need for religion. According to Marxism, ” all religion is nothing more than a fantastic reflection in the minds of people of those external forces that dominate them in their daily life – a reflection in which earthly forces take the form of unearthly.” What external forces are meant?

First of all, these are the forces of nature, which man could not practically master and which have a destructive effect on his life. However, natural factors alone did not generate religion. It arose as a result of the inability of people to master the natural forces, which was due to the low level of development of material production. Consequently, the roots of religion have always been social.

According to Marxism, the main reason for the existence of religion is the spontaneity of social development, when people are not able to consciously manage social relations. Unknown and hostile to people laws of social development are personified and become “divine Providence”. Separate historical events are considered as predestinations of “divine Providence”.

In addition to the social roots of religion, Marxism considers its epistemological and psychological roots.

The epistemological roots of religion are the possibilities for the formation of religion related to the knowledge of the world.