Religion is the Opium of the People??

**badrassila** · 02-06-2007, 03:39 PM

we are going to discuss a quote which has for a long time been misunderstood, since it has been taken out of its real context. Therefore, we will, today, present the real context of this quote, following this plan: <shapetype id="_x0000_t202" path="m,l,21600r21600,l21600,xe" o:spt="202" coordsize="21600,21600"><stroke joinstyle="miter"></stroke><path o:connecttype="rect" gradientshapeok="t"></path></shapetype>I. Presentation of the quote: Religion is the opium of the people or as translated from German “Die Religion …ist das Opium des Volkes” is one of the most frequently quoted statements of Karl Marx, from the introduction of his work Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right which was actually released one year later in Marx’ own journal Deutsch-Französischen Jahrbücher. Here is what Marx said, in its real context:“Religion is, indeed, the self-consciousness and self-esteem of man who has either not yet won through to himself, or has already lost himself again. But man is no abstract being squatting outside the world. Man is the world of man—state, society. This state and this society produce religion, which is an inverted consciousness of the world, because they are an inverted world. Religion is the general theory of this world, its encyclopedic compendium, its logic in popular form, its spiritual point d'honneur, its enthusiasm, its moral sanction, its solemn complement, and its universal basis of consolation and justification. It is the fantastic realization of the human essence since the human essence has not acquired any true reality. The struggle against religion is, therefore, indirectly the struggle against that world whose spiritual aroma is religion.Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. 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. [Emphasis added]The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo”. <p class="MsoNormal" style="background: #f8fcff; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 54pt; text-indent: -36pt; text-align: justify; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-list: l2 level1 lfo2; tab-stops: list 54.0pt">II. The Historical context of the quote:To present this quote, we have to pay great attention to the historical, social, political contexts when Karl Marx said it, so as to have a clear vision of the meaning of this quote. We all know that this quote has been misunderstood and that it is always used out of context. Therefore, the first part of this presentation was to present the real context where the quote appeared. Many people take Marx’ statement to be a plain and simple condemnation of religion but what Marx actually meant by saying that Religion is the Opium of the People is somewhat more subtle than this.It is often misunderstood, perhaps because the full passage is rarely used. Thus, I believe that the quote is presented dishonestly, since the full passage, with the quote, 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. I believe if Marx had viewed religion as an enemy, he would have devoted more time to it.When I wanted to tackle this issue, I tried to look for the period when this quote was said. Thus, to understand the quote, let’s go back to the time when it was produced.Marx said “Religion is the Opium of the People” in 1843, the year when his book Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right was published. At that time, the world was living under a system in which religion was used as a means of oppression. The ruling class used religion to sanctify its wars, laws and class division. Marx said that religious ideas obscured a real understanding of the social forces which cause exploitation and oppression. He argued that “man makes religion – religion does not make man”.Let’s now decorticate the quote and try to analyze what Marx tried to say. “Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of the spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people.” People look to religion because it fulfills a need in a world which is full of competition, misery and oppression. In a society divided by class, where the majority of people have no real control of their lives, religion can seem to provide a solution. This is why religious ideas have often found mass support at times of great upheaval.Marx tried to say that religion is meant to create illusory fantasies for the poor. Economic realities prevent people from finding true happiness in this life, so religion tells them this is OK because they will find true happiness in the next life.The churchmen stupefied the people and tried to divert them from the path of revolution by administering to them dopes of promises of an eternal heaven and paradise where those who bear injustice in this world will live forever in comfort and pleasure.If church promises did not work, they would resort to threatening; saying that he who disobeys his feudal lord disobeys God, the church and the churchmen. It should be remembered that at the time the church itself was the greatest of all feudal lords, with millions of serfs working on its estates. Therefore it was only natural for the church to join forces with the nobility against the hard working people. They all belonged to the same camp and knew full well that if revolution broke out it would spare no blood-sucker whether he was a nobleman or a churchman.Thus, with the Russian Revolution, the great leader Lenin said, “The state must not concern itself with religion.” Religious societies must not be bound to the state. “Everyone must be absolutely free to practice whatever religion he likes, or to profess no religion, i.e. to be an atheist, as every socialist usually is.” But while advocating religious freedom, socialists put forward a distinct view which tries to win people away from religious explanations of the world. This is not only because they want to fight for a better world here and now on earth, it is also because religious ideas can confuse the struggle and can absolutely be an obstacle to liberation.III. What’s today’s opium of the people?Today, with all the changes, both at the social, political, industrial, and technological level, many think there are other sources which opiate people and that religion has no longer that role to play in society, especially that so many believe in secularism and that many states has adopted this concept. All this makes us ourself, what’s today’s opium of the people? Why do you believe it is so? References:<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-indent: -18pt; text-align: justify; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; mso-outline-level: 1">Ø Dictionnaire de la Philosophie<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-indent: -18pt; text-align: justify; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; mso-outline-level: 1">Ø <a href="http://www.wikipedia.com/">www.wikipedia.com</a><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-indent: -18pt; text-align: justify; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; mso-outline-level: 1">Ø <a href="http://www.google.com/">www.google.com</a><p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt 36pt; text-indent: -18pt; text-align: justify; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo3; tab-stops: list 36.0pt; mso-outline-level: 1">Ø La Vision Socialist pour la Religion – Une These de DESA soutenue publiquement à Grenoble.

Religion is the Opium of the People??

Religion is the Opium of the People??

إحصائيات Arabic Translators International _ الجمعية الدولية لمترجمي العربية