Religion and Means of Production

In its more primitive manifestations, Religion consists in the performance of rites designed to appeal to a deity for favorable treatment, e. g. for bountiful crops.  Such rites thus function as Means of Production, and the performers as laborers.  Accordingly, therefore, insofar as the reading of scripture is an essential rite, it functions as a Means of Production, with its reader as a laborer.  Thus, Religion can function as both Base and Superstructure in a society.  Furthermore, in such conditions, the number of copies of scripture in existence determines the political structure--few copies creates an Oligarchy, and an indefinite number creates a Democracy, though, in the latter case, the need for experts to advise in the operation of the Means of Production, i. e. in how to read the scriptures efficaciously, can involve an Oligarchical dimension.  So, the relation of Religion to Economics is more complicated than Marx seems to conceive, due, perhaps ironically, to his neglect of the Practical aspect of the former.