What does Marx mean by "Religion is the opiate of the masses?"?

Question

Clearly I'm not asking what you think of Marx or the validity of his words, just your interpretation.

Thanks Urobo[l]us. As a firm, but mostly uneducated, believer in the idea, it's nice to know I can be corrected without someone calling me a jackass. And I completely agree with you. Not knowing the source of the quote doesn't change my opinion. I hate free trade enough to feel like i don't need to study the history as much. I fill up on Chomsky anyway, so I'm sure i have a bias perspective.

Answer 1

Marx believed that religion, especially Christianity, especially with its belief in the afterlife, kept the downtrodden, the proletariate, happy, and stopped them from rebelling against the rich, because they were to get their reward in heaven rather than on earth.

Answer 2

It may be useful to see the quoation in context :

"Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, the soul of a soulless condition. It is the opium of the people." (Critique of Hegel's Philosophy of Right)

And this was written in 1844, when opium was viewed by many in Europe as a soothing drug (the British Empire was very actively growing it in India and selling it in China). It does not have the same connotation as it has today.

Read in this context, it seems that Marx thought of religion as something to calm the human souls, and to help them tolerate the difficult living conditions that most were living under.

If Marx was truly an atheist, would he have used the word "soul"?

Answer 3

Marx seems to be defining religion as a combination of beliefs and cult-practices which places human life below a higher divinity. Historically religion is used as a form of oppression of the people by the ruling elite. Religion exploits human ignorance and the people's tendency to believe too readily.

Don't know if I agree with that, but I reckon that's what he's saying.

Answer 4

Religion is what has stopped the people from development, has stopped from being free to be better for themselves, it is what keeps people sumisive to what the leaders say and not what they think it´s right. Just like consuming opiate makes you not think clearly, not free to do what you want what you can do, but to be in a state of where you think it is good, but in reality it is not.
You can not be free with religion oppresing the people and can not be free while being high on opiate.

Answer 5

Marx believed that religion produced unattainable dreams for the people which stripped them of the independence of thought and action. In that way it was just as if they were drugged on opium. He therefore referred to religion as the opium of the people.

Answer 6

OPIATE - Tools first album

It means Religion is the masses drug

or neurosis, psychosis, it means that religion puts man in an induced state of uphoria. Like OPIUM hence opiate

Answer 7

MARX, CONSIDERED THE FATHER OF COMMUNISM .HATED RELIGION .HE WAS AN ATHEIST AND BECAUSE OF THAT STATED THAT RELIGIONS WERE OPIATES.ADDICTING FORCES THAT CAUSED PROBLEMS FOR THE IDEA ABOUT GOVERNMENT , OR IDEALOGY , THAT HE BELIEVED SHOULD EXIST....IF EVERYBODY BELIEVED AS HE DID ,COMMUNISM , WE WOULD BE BETTER OFF...COMMUNISM HAS SOME GOOD IDEAS.......COMMUNE ( TO BE TOGETHER ) , SHARING AND THE LOT .BUT IT CAN NOT SURVIVE BECAUSE AS A HUMAN RACE WE WILL NEVER SEE EACH OTHER AS EQUALS...AS A RACE WE DO NOT SHARE OUR WEALTH , WE NATURALLY STRIVE FOR MORE ..COMMUNISM ASSUMES MANY THINGS AND FAILS AS A SYSTEM , IT IS SURPRESSIVE AND HAS NO ROOM FOR GOD IN ANY FORM.........IT ALSO HAS NO ROOM FOR A STRUCTURED SOCIETY ...

Answer 8

a claim of a crutch to get through life outside of what is real or felt in the 5 senses. religion to a certain extent has been a crutch and has gotten in the way of truth. seeking who jesus is may be better served in the conversation instead of the pulpit

Answer 9

1. It causes people to become oblivious to what is going on around them (just like opium puts it's users into a fog);
2. People crave it, but don't seem to realize what it's doing to them.
3. It placates the people so that they are not distracted by the bigger issues (similar to #1 above).

Answer 10

I believe he meant that religion was useful for distorting people's perception of reality to something more palatable, that it was addictive, and that it was embraced by the common folk, rather than the intelligent few.

You did not ask my opinion so I will give you none.
Peace and grace to you from a Christian.