Podcast Summary:

Conspirituality

Brief: "Demonic Karl Marx ATTACKS Private Property and DESTROYS Religion"

Host: Matthew Remski
Date: December 13, 2025

Episode Overview

In this episode, Matthew Remski explores how Karl Marx's ideas have been villainized by religious and political conservatives—both historically and in today's culture wars—by casting Marx as "demonic" and Marxism as an existential threat to religion and property. Remski critically examines how New Age, wellness, and conspirituality movements borrow from old propaganda tropes, and he dives into the theological arguments invoked by both reactionary Catholics and modern Christian evangelicals. Drawing on the scholarship of liberation theologian Enrique Dussel, he unpacks the real meaning of Marx's critique of capitalism, especially the crucial distinction between "private" and "personal" property, and how this has been persistently misrepresented for ideological gain.

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. Foundation of the Red Scare: Religion and Anti-Marxism

• [02:29–06:29] Remski kicks off with a historic montage:
  • J. Edgar Hoover's 1962 speech framing communism as "godless tyranny."
  • Excerpts from the documentary The Truth About Communism (1962) calling Karl Marx "sick in body and spirit."
  • Ronald Reagan’s 1983 "Evil Empire" speech recounting evangelical fears that atheistic communism will corrupt children and families.
  • The continuity of anti-Marxist rhetoric through Catholic apparitions, McCarthyism, the Moral Majority, and present-day evangelical networks.
• Notable Quote:
  • "A number of years ago, I heard a young father...saying, 'I would rather see my little girls die now still believing in God than have them grow up under communism and one day die no longer believing in God.'" (Reagan quoting Pat Boone, 04:00)

2. Theological and Psychological Demonization of Marx

• [06:45–08:15, 14:13–19:17]
  • The podcast pivots to modern reactions: evangelicals like David Jeremiah and anonymous preachers stoking fears that Marxism is incompatible with Christianity and leads to violence (e.g., “a sea of blood”).
  • Remski introduces Paul Kengor, a Christian political science professor, and his book The Devil and Karl Marx, which (with Jordan Peterson's endorsement) claims Marx's youthful love poetry is evidence of satanic influence.
  • Kengor selectively quotes lines from Marx’s early poems as confessional evil, ignoring that they are dramatic monologues:
    • Quote from Kengor:
      "Thus heaven I forfeited. I know it full well. My heart once true to God is chosen for hell. 1837, straight Lucifer from Milton." (14:57)
    • Remski points out the bad faith reading, highlighting biographer Robert Paine’s melodramatic (and speculative) pronouncements:
      "There were times when Marx seemed to be possessed by demons...He had the devil’s view of the world and the devil’s malignity."
• Remski’s Analysis:
  • "Peterson and Kengor’s freshman-level academic malpractice serves a very important purpose: to show that Marx’s youthful engagement with Gothic imagery was proof of his literal alignment with demons. So the more they yammer about how demonic Marx was as a teenager, the less they have to talk about what the actual grown-up Marxist theory is that they say is destroying the world." (19:00)
  • The religious-demonic framing avoids wrestling with Marx’s real critique of capitalism—especially uncomfortable concepts like surplus value, commodity fetishism, and alienation.

3. Church Response and Misrepresentation: Private vs. Personal Property

• [22:30–33:40]
  • Historical roots: Pope Pius IX (1846) issues the encyclical Qui Pluribus, calling communism an “unspeakable doctrine” that would “destroy everyone’s laws, government, property” (23:45).
  • Marx and Engels already note this early "specter" of communism and the fear it engenders.
  • Reactionary misrepresentation is codified:
    • Conflation of “private property” (rents, capital) with “personal property” (what you own/use yourself).
    • The church claims Marxists want to take away everyone’s property, when Marx specifically calls for ending capital accumulation via exploitation.
  • Marx’s original clarification (as cited):
    "The distinguishing feature of communism is not the abolition of property generally, but the abolition of bourgeois property...Do you mean the property of petty artisan and of the small peasant, a form of property that preceded the bourgeois form? No, there’s no need to abolish that." (31:55)
  • Example: Baking bread for your family is not the same as factory bread owned for profit.
• Notable Irony (Remski):
  • "This is quite an accusation coming from the head of a church that promises eternal life to those who fulfill its sacraments and keep up with tithing." (29:00)

4. Capitalism, Commodity Fetishism, and Idolatry

• [33:40–37:00]
  • Remski brings in Enrique Dussel’s scholarship: Marx saw capitalist metaphysics as a form of idolatry—money and commodities become the sacred, replacing human relationships and religious meaning.
  • “Fetishism” is when relationships between people (e.g., baker and buyer) become relationships between things (items for exchange, money).
  • Alienation: Workers are cut off from the meaning of their labor, and capital becomes magical—“an image of itself.”
  • This understanding is consistently buried beneath ad hominem and theological attacks.

5. The Church as Early Modern Rent-Seeking Entity

• [37:20–40:00]
  • The Catholic Church’s economic structure relied on private property and rents, making it institutionally opposed to Marx’s critique.
  • Details of the Papal States’ wealth in the 17th and 19th centuries, and modern Vatican finances:
    • Today, most Vatican revenue comes from capital assets, real estate, and rent-seeking—not spiritual contributions alone.
  • For the Church (and other even spiritual institutions), truly embracing Marx’s critique would mean divesting their rent-generating wealth.
• Notable Quote from Marx:
  • "The English Established Church will more readily pardon an attack on 38 of its 39 articles than on 1 39th of its income." (39:20)
  • Remski:
    "Nowadays, atheism is culpa levis—a relatively slight sin as compared with criticism of existing property relations." (39:30)

6. Why the Demonization Persists

• Demonization of Marx (and Marxism) allows defenders of property and hierarchy to evade engagement with the real moral and political critique at the heart of Marxist thought.
• Liberation theology—especially in Latin America—tries to recover the authentic, anti-idolatrous thrust of Marx, but institutional interests still rule.
• Remski teases a deeper dive on the theology of Marx and Enrique Dussel for a Patreon bonus episode.

Memorable Quotes & Key Moments

• [04:00] Reagan (via Pat Boone):
  "I would rather see my little girls die now still believing in God than have them grow up under communism and one day die no longer believing in God."

• [14:57] Paul Kengor (on Marx’s poetry):
  "Thus heaven I forfeited. I know it full well. My heart once true to God is chosen for hell. 1837, straight Lucifer from Milton."

• [19:00] Remski (on demonizing Marx):
  "The more they yammer about how demonic Marx was as a teenager, the less they have to talk about what the actual grown-up Marxist theory is that they say is destroying the world."

• [31:55] Remski quoting Marx/Engels:
  "The distinguishing feature of communism is not the abolition of property generally, but the abolition of bourgeois property...Do you mean the property of petty artisan...No, there’s no need to abolish that."

• [39:30] Remski citing Marx:
  "Nowadays, atheism is culpa levis—a relatively slight sin as compared with criticism of existing property relations."

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 02:29 – Anti-communist rhetoric from Hoover, 1962
• 03:23 – Reagan’s "Evil Empire" speech, Christian martyrdom motif
• 06:38 – David Jeremiah: Marxism as "anti-God"
• 14:13–17:45 – Kengor & Peterson: Marx’s poetry as satanic confession
• 23:45 – Pius IX’s encyclical on communism and property
• 29:00 – Remski’s critique of church hypocrisy on property and salvation
• 31:55–33:40 – Marx’s own clarification on property abolition
• 37:20–39:30 – Papal and Vatican finances as institutional opposition to Marx

Tone and Style

Remski’s delivery is sardonic and sharp, highlighting logical inconsistencies, historical ironies, and the shallow engagement of anti-Marxist polemicists with actual Marxist theory. He frequently references historical documents and scholarship, grounding analysis in both theory and institutional history, while keeping a critical yet accessible tone.

Conclusion

Remski argues that the persistent demonization of Marx serves as a cover for powerful interests—both religious and secular—who benefit materially from the structures Marx critiqued. The mythology of “demonic Marx” replaces real analysis of capital, labor, and value, allowing reactionaries and conspiritualists alike to perpetuate the status quo under a veneer of moral and spiritual panic. The episode closes with a promise to explore the liberatory, nuanced, and even spiritual aspects of Marxist theory in future content.

For further detail, listeners are encouraged to check the episode notes and referenced citations at conspirituality.net.