{UAH} RELIGION MUST BE PROPERLY UNDERSTOOD FOR IT IS. THE OPIUM OF THE PEOPLE.

RELIGION IS THE OPIUM OF THE PEOPLE: KARL MARX. The Heart of a Heartless World

Marx's most famous statement about religion comes from a critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Law:

• Religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the protest against real distress. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people.

• The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is required for their real happiness. The demand to give up the illusion about its condition is the demand to give up a condition which needs illusions.

Marx has three reasons for disliking religion.

• First, it is irrational—religion is a delusion and worship of appearances that avoids recognizing underlying reality.

• Second, religion negates all that is dignified in a human being by rendering them servile and more amenable to accepting the status quo. In the preface to his doctoral dissertation, Marx adopted as his motto the words of the Greek hero Prometheus who defied the gods to bring fire to humanity: "I hate all gods," with the addition that they "do not recognize man's self-consciousness as the highest divinity."

• Third, religion is hypocritical. Although it might profess valuable principles, it sides with the oppressors. Jesus advocated helping the poor, but the Christian church merged with the oppressive Roman state, taking part in the enslavement of people for centuries. In the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church preached about heaven but acquired as much property and power as possible.

Amazing Oasis

7 January 2018 · 

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