The Opiate of the Masses
Why have communist regimes traditionally been against religion?
“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.”- Karl Marx
What exactly did he mean by this, and is there any truth to it? Marx saw the development of religion as a balm for people who were suffering in the physical world. He saw it as a remnant of the past that had continued into the current age. He saw the issue with religion as being how it can make people complacent and can hinder their desire to change their material circumstances. In addition to that it gives a lot of power to religious leaders over people, which can go against the good of the people at large.
Do we still see religion making people complacent today, or wielding incredible power over people? We have to look no further than the situation in the U.S. where religion still plays a huge role in politics. No president ever dares claim to be anything but a flavor of Christianity, and an endorsement from certain pastors holds a lot of weight. Billy Graham was a huge example of this, but other religious leaders still have an incredibly far-reaching platform today, Pat Robertson and James Dobson as more recent examples.
