Under Socialism, you get to keep your stuff.
Since this keeps coming up in other places, I thought I would post this relevant bit from the Manifesto here:
In this sense, the theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property.
We Communists have been reproached with the desire of abolishing the right of personally acquiring property as the fruit of a man’s own labour, which property is alleged to be the groundwork of all personal freedom, activity and independence.
Hard-won, self-acquired, self-earned property! Do you mean the property of petty artisan and of the small peasant, a form of property that preceded the bourgeois form? There is no need to abolish that; the development of industry has to a great extent already destroyed it, and is still destroying it daily.
Or do you mean the modern bourgeois private property?
Unless you own a mine, railroad, corporate mega-farm, or other monopoly of "commanding heights" of public resources that would probably be better off nationalized in the commons, you get to keep your stuff. This nonsense about the shoemaker, baker and candlestick maker having their little bit of earth appropriated is nonsense that has been smeared around for 150 years. The people who spread that kind of propaganda are usually billionaires like Pere Koch. <---link to actual Koch smears of Communism.
= new reply since forum marked as read
I had one kid pinch the sleeve of his shirt and say "In socialism, I would have to give you this shirt". Um, no. You get to keep your shirt.
It is so easy to debunk, but it is still an effective piece of brainwashing! 
Last edited Mon May 28, 2012, 09:31 PM - Edit history (1)
and got what they thought was "Marxism", but didn't go any further. I've seen a couple of other sites go like that too. I only go over to RevLeft when I feel like wanting a sensation like being stabbed in the eye. 
I think the only reason for Marxism to criticize a religion would be if they had lots of private property that would be better off nationalized. (I haven't done a lot of reading about this, but I have a hunch that's why the Catholic Church is foresquare against Marxism even though the social justice arm of the CC tends to be socialistic in nature. I don't know, I'm a former Catholic and find some of their stances puzzling.)
Lots of religious people are pro-worker and pro-union though. The Church plays a huge part in helping protect agricultural workers, and bashing religion would be totally counter-productive and offensive. The most important thing is that you do what is necessary to help your class, the workers.
And shortly afterwards the Bolsheviks did take a lot of church property, but they looked at it no differently than taking the property of the big landowners for the use by the peasantry. IOW, it wasn't because they were churches that the property was taken, it was because the peasants needed land and the land was tied up in "Ownership" by the feudal system AND the church. Bolsheviks, at least at first, pretty much ignored the church. Now later in the Thirties, I think there was more active persecution, but not at first.
All that said though, I think it would be disingenous to think that any sort of God has a place in Marxist thought. It is by nature a materialistic system. However, I don't think anybody's private religion is an automatic disqualifier to being a Marxist. Just don't try to bring it into governance. 
