The Opium of the People

C

Cellar_Door

Whose Worth's unknown
Registered Senior Member
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.
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Karl Marx, Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right​

Do you agree with this quote? Does religion just mask the real problems of society? Is it simply a tool to control and abate the masses?

By no means do I think that 'because Marx said it, it must be true'. However, it is an interesting point to think about. For example, if we apply its message to modern times, undoubtedly the most influential religion in the world is Islam. Not necessarily because we all believe in its doctrines, neither do we abide by its laws, but because even in the west it is constantly on the television and in newspapers.
I submit that the 'War on Terror' has been nothing but a facade on both sides. In the Cold War it was Communism, under Bush the abstract object of terror was (and is) Islamic fundamentalism. Similarly, radical organisations such as Hamas and the Taliban in the Middle East seem to constantly exploit the traditional mistrust of the West that has been around since before the crusades.
If you strip it down to the bare bones, what are we actually fighting for? Security?
Furthermore, you have to ask yourself, was is this opiate preventing us from seeing?
 
Cellar_Door,

Do you agree with this quote? Does religion just mask the real problems of society? Is it simply a tool to control and abate the masses?
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It can be, and has been, used for that purpose.

jan.
 
Cellar_Door said:
Karl Marx, Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right​
If you strip it down to the bare bones, what are we actually fighting for? Security?
Furthermore, you have to ask yourself, was is this opiate preventing us from seeing?
Click to expand...

well said! It's 1) Giving us a justification for war and power and 2) Letting us delude ourselves, in order to believe that we never die. It is instinctual to be afraid of death, therefore people want to believe it never happens. People need to get over that, in my opinion.
 
Cellar_Door said:
Karl Marx, Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right​

Do you agree with this quote? Does religion just mask the real problems of society? Is it simply a tool to control and abate the masses?

By no means do I think that 'because Marx said it, it must be true'. However, it is an interesting point to think about. For example, if we apply its message to modern times, undoubtedly the most influential religion in the world is Islam. Not necessarily because we all believe in its doctrines, neither do we abide by its laws, but because even in the west it is constantly on the television and in newspapers.
I submit that the 'War on Terror' has been nothing but a facade on both sides. In the Cold War it was Communism, under Bush the abstract object of terror was (and is) Islamic fundamentalism. Similarly, radical organisations such as Hamas and the Taliban in the Middle East seem to constantly exploit the traditional mistrust of the West that has been around since before the crusades.
If you strip it down to the bare bones, what are we actually fighting for? Security?
Furthermore, you have to ask yourself, was is this opiate preventing us from seeing?
Click to expand...

Fanatical groups subsist off conservative governments to recruit more followers.
Conservative governments subsist off fanatical groups to implement more draconian laws.


:shrug:
 
religion is a tool to control the masses, indeed...but the way it controls people is by linking to our own thoughts/questions/wishes.

It awakes our own need and lets us share the ideas in us with others, a gift life has to offer to all those who dare to open their inner self to others.
 
Defiantly yes.

I sometimes ask theists if they would worship God IF after this life they don't get to live on. What I mean is, they only get what God is and has been giving them here and now. Most people wouldn't. The Opium is really alleviating the worry about death. Until we can really alleviate that worry, there will always be a religion to do so. It's the cornerstone of ALL religions. After death you get life - and a good one too!

I'd say enough people need religion as to make it an almost permanent part of society. With this in mind, maybe it's best we decide which religions are best for a multicultural society?
 
"blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth"

suits those in power quite a bit more than

"you have nothing to lose but your chains"

Most intelligent contribution we have from Marx, in fact.
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for me the greatest insights from marxism concern 1)the disalienation of work and the commodification of the worker - with the growing contingent workforce being paid by the hour to produce nothing tangible i believe a revolutionary shift must come 2)workers of the world unite - the anti-nationalist core of marxism is powerful. the reality that war serves the goals of the rich with the blood of the poor is all the more timely with such wars as iraq.
 
Many times people use the church to start a movement against society for things society is doing wrong. The Rev. Martin Luther King did just that recently and the Church in California started a drive to prevent gay marriages. That is why I say no because SOMETIMES the church can make things happen to help the society they live in. I've heard many sermons about specific things like abortion, womens rights, cruelty and many other problems that people face everyday. The church gives people hope to change the way things are , to gather together in an orderly way to talk about things that are real and can be changed.:)
 
cosmictraveler said:
Many times people use the church to start a movement against society for things society is doing wrong. The Rev. Martin Luther King did just that recently and the Church in California started a drive to prevent gay marriages. That is why I say no because SOMETIMES the church can make things happen to help the society they live in. I've heard many sermons about specific things like abortion, womens rights, cruelty and many other problems that people face everyday. The church gives people hope to change the way things are , to gather together in an orderly way to talk about things that are real and can be changed.:)
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Yeah, but civil rights is a constitutional argument, not a religious argument. MLK was a religious man, but there was nothing in his holy book that told him that black people (or any people) deserve equal rights.

Mostly, the church is used to wage war against equal rights, like we're seeing right now with gay marriage.
 
civil rights are not bounded by faith of the people, civil rights are laws and so are not eternal and bendable.
 
YES
Yes also to most post's comments but adding part of the illusion is there's someone powerful looking out for us in this life.
Also that bad people will be punished sometime somewhere regardless of what humans do or don't do about it. I think, if there is an afterlife yet not the theist 1(s), most theists will be most disappointed by the lack of eternal horrible punishment for those they deem evil.
 
JDawg said:
like we're seeing right now with gay marriage.
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that has nothing to do with gay righs though. not even a religious issue because often times the people who treat them worst are not religious. just look at what you and your friends say about them. and remember what you did when you were in high school.
 
John99 said:
that has nothing to do with gay righs though. not even a religious issue because often times the people who treat them worst are not religious. just look at what you and your friends say about them. and remember what you did when you were in high school.
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Absolutely wrong. The most religious are the most against it just as, once upon a time, the most religious were the most against equal rights for blacks & ditto for women's rights.
 
maybe 'the most religious' whoever they are but then the average person does not need religion or any other excuses.
 
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