Karl Marx on Religion

[Z.D.]

Does anyone agree(or disagree) that Karl Marx is right when he said religion is the Opium of the masses?

 

[Androvski]

It was a valid enough statement when he made it,but I don't think it's generally as relevant today.
You only have to observe the religious hysteria in certain countries to realise that it does still apply with some religious beliefs.

 

[y not peace?]

Yes Karl Marx did not beilve in teh idea of religion. You are correct.

 

[Z.D.]

I partially agree with Marx because I believe that many people have greatly abused religion. People have taken religion and made it into an excuse for doing terrible things. Like the crusades and arab terrorists. I think that for the majority of people, religion is a great thing but I also think that for a small minority it does more harm then good. So basically, I think religion is terrible in the wrong hands.

Though I question if there is even really a god I still believe in religion, but not god.

 

[y not peace?]

excellent post Z.D.

religion is not only terrible when it reaches the hands of power, but deadly (which is definitly shown throughout history)

 

[V.I. Lenin]

Gah, he never said religion was bad or evil. It's the opium of the masses, the sigh of the oppressed creature. He told of how religion is a crutch that the people use to get through their poverty, as opposed to rising up and changing their lives.

People also took MARXISM and used it as an excuse to do bad things as well. Hey, just saying.

 

[y not peace?]

The words of Karl Marx:

Religious suffering is at one and the same time the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world and the soul of soulless conditions. It is the opium of the people.

The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is therefore in embryo the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo.

Interpert as you will.

 

[Z.D.]

But as Karl Marx compares religion to opium, it is still does not solve problems. It just gives you a vacation from your problems which, at times could be just as bad.

 

[Comrade Brian]

Yeah, religion is many times abused. Did you take a look at the Catholics and their indulgences. Also politics comes there a lot too. like God hates commies or liberals or whatever. Ever heard of the Christain Anti-Communist Crusade(CACC)? They're a bunch of fanatics, and most of what they say is contradictory. They couldn't tell you the first thing about Communism.

 

[Gardener]

Considering the agressiveness of the Christian coalition or Islamic fundamentalism and the almost psychotic zeal of folks like Phelps, Zarchawi and their ilk, I might suggest a different drug. Religion is the PCP of the masses, perhaps? Perhaps a little opium is what some of these people need, because it might mellow them out a bit.

Of course, religion can be many things, as it is a crutch and it is a source for bonding and it is a set of rules for behavior and it is a set if answers to people's questions, and acts on any of a number of different levels so IMO it all depends upon the relationship between the person and their religion and how they approach it. I would not say that religion is necessarily an opiate, but it can be.

For that matter, so can Marxism.

 

[The Truth-Bringer]

One new Scholarly Recent Evidence has Appeared: That Marx's Books such as "The Communist Manifesto", weren't Marx's Actual Theory in Whole, That he kept it from the Public because that book and some of his others were meant to inspire action, as Engels once said:

"A Ounce of Action is worth more than a Ton Of Theoretics"

Recently Marx's personal Manuscripts have been recovered and Printed, and Many New Revealations on Marx's Grand Theory of the Revolution, History, Economics, and the World are revealed. To see a Printed version of this, see:

"The Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844 Karl Marx and the Communist Manifesto"

The validity of these Manuscripts are possibly doubted, but nonetheless they seem like clear, summarized, and excellently done Theoretical Philosophy.