How do or did the Ruling class use religion to exploit the lower classes?

Question

I'm writing a paper about Karl Marx's views on religion and I need some help.

Answer 1

He called religion the "opiate of the messes" and said that religious leaders used fear of god and hell fire and damnation to make people behave and donate money to the church.
it became a major power and control factor so much that some countries were in fact ruled by the church because even the kings were afraid of them.

Answer 2

Marx was an athiest. I think he believed religion was delusional and he called it -the opiate of the masses. Basically, religion promises things to us, and sells ideas that may not be attainable by people or realistic. Religion was used to justify history horrors. (Not All) imperialism, forced conversion, rape (Columbus would often torture and rape "savages" who didn't worship his god. King Fernidad wrote a letter to the N.A's stating that they are wild peoples and if they do not convert, they will be killed and tourtured, thus giving Columbus permission to execute millions of inhabitants.)genocides (Natives), also it seperated social groups (Catholics and Protestants, Lutherans, ect. ) Slavery was justified by religion, as many other acts. do a search on here or google. The idea of religion being used to exploit usually the poor or orking class wwill cause racism, classism and other issued in society. (When the imperialists went to Africa to convert the Aftricans and found problems in doing so, they developed stigmatizins attitudes towards that group of people, labeling them savages and animals, because they did not submit.) This is whan Marx means by religion being delusion and causing more bad than good. I kinds went off here, but you can figure it out. Religion still does the same thing today!

Answer 3

A friend always says that "Religion is crowd control for the masses"

It is only very recently that people from lower classes had any education at all. Before that they were uneducated and very simply did not have the learning required to critically think about religion or any topic.

Answer 4

Always remember that through the centuries the ruling party of most countries (especially of the European nations) throughout history told the people that God spoke to the Ruler and the Ruler spoke to the people. That was why they were the ruling the country.

Answer 5

television has long replaced faith because of the fact the opiate of the plenty. verify out the buyer products. DVDS, HDTV, XBOX, information superhighway. we've an abundance of distractions & entertainments. Distraction being the biggest word. as long as we get some creature comforts, we are able to neglect that the international powers are corrupt, and we are getting their table scraps. you may in basic terms have revolution while the region is so dire that risking your life for a raffle at some thing greater appropriate is the greater appropriate option than dwelling with issues as they're. the main important activity of consumerism is to maintain human beings blind. Do a meaningless activity for a small paycheck which you waste on issues to maintain your depressing life in basic terms bearable adequate which you will no longer do something to alter it. Our in basic terms wish for exchange is the undesirable will upward push up. Katrina had the ideal threat- because of the fact for as quickly as, undesirable human beings have been on the pass, and could no longer in basic terms sit down around. yet as a replace of revolution, they waited for gov't handouts. because of the fact being saved is greater straightforward than taking cost. we've been offered.

Answer 6

Marx also said religion was used to oppress the people to keep them from rebelling "opiate of the masses" If you get time read the communist manifesto ;)

Answer 7

According to Marx, religion was an expression of material realities and economic injustice.

Thus, problems in religion are ultimately problems in society. Religion is not the disease, but merely a symptom. It is used by oppressors to make people feel better about the distress they experience due to being poor and exploited.

This is the origin of his comment that religion is the “opium of the masses” - but as shall see, his thoughts are much more complex than commonly portrayed.

Marx’s opinion is that religion is an illusion that provides reasons and excuses to keep society functioning just as it is.

Much as capitalism takes our productive labor and alienates us from its value, religion takes our highest ideals and aspirations and alienates us from them, projecting them onto an alien and unknowable being called a god.

Marx has three reasons for disliking religion. First, it is irrational — religion is a delusion and a 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 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.

Martin Luther preached the ability of each individual to interpret the Bible, but sided with aristocratic rulers and against peasants who fought against economic and social oppression. According to Marx, this new form of Christianity, Protestantism, was a production of new economic forces as early capitalism developed. New economic realities required a new religious superstructure by which it could be justified and defended.

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.

This is often misunderstood, perhaps because the full passage is rarely used: the boldface in the above is my own, showing what is usually quoted. The italics are in the original. In some ways, the quote is presented dishonestly because saying “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature...” leaves out that it is also the “heart of a heartless world.” This is more a critique of society that has become heartless and is even a partial validation of religion that it tries to become its heart. In spite of his obvious dislike of and anger towards religion, Marx did not make religion the primary enemy of workers and communists. Had Marx regarded religion as a more serious enemy, he would have devoted more time to it.

Marx is saying that religion is meant to create illusory fantasies for the poor. Economic realities prevent them from finding true happiness in this life, so religion tells them this is OK because they will find true happiness in the next life. Marx is not entirely without sympathy: people are in distress and religion does provide solace, just as people who are physically injured receive relief from opiate-based drugs.

The problem is that opiates fail to fix a physical injury — you only forget your pain and suffering. This can be fine, but only if you are also trying to solve the underlying causes of the pain. Similarly, religion does not fix the underlying causes of people’s pain and suffering — instead, it helps them forget why they are suffering and causes them to look forward to an imaginary future when the pain will cease instead of working to change circumstances now. Even worse, this “drug” is being administered by the oppressors who are responsible for the pain and suffering.

Answer 8

I think they pretty much covered it.