Karl Marx’s Views on Religion, Essay Example

Introduction

Karl Marx was one of the most influential philosophers of the Nineteenth Century. Of Germanic and Jewish origin he became a revolutionary with huge influence on society, culture and history. This brief analysis explores Marx’s views on aspects of religion, considering other learned views on how his religious ideology influenced 20th Century thinking. (Smith)

Analysis

Marx described religion as being `the opium of people`. Marx essentially did not have a lot of time for religion or its concepts. He thought that it created an evil in society and was like a drug that corrupted people.  Further, he viewed it as an outmoded institution that had no real right to exist. Marx viewed that to understand religion it could only be placed into proper context by relating it to other social systems and economic structures.  Marx indicated that religion was purely an illusion designed to keep society performing in a continuous manner. The religion itself served no real practical purpose.  Marx stated three key reasons for his dislike of religion in the holistic concept:

1. Religion is hypocritical – Jesus advocated for the poor but the church became a more oppressive regime than that of the Romans.
2. It is irrational and delusionary – It is not based upon reality and places then human in a subservient state.
3. Religion negates all what is considered to be dignified in a human

“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.“ (Cline)

Conclusions

Karl Marx was an uncompromising atheist.  His view of religion was that humans created an illusion in order to escape from reality and provide some means of consolation. As such people were deluding themselves and merely providing a means to escape from reality.  He particularly attacked the Christian faith because he thought that it was hypocracy i.e. on one hand Jesus was benevolent and helped the poor, whilst on the other hand the church grew richer and was less concerned about the welfare of the people.

Works Cited

Cline, Austin. Why Does Religion Exist? 26 12 2008. 29 10 2009 <http://sarahpalindeservesourvote.blogspot.com/2008/12/karl-marxs-view-of-religion.html>.

Gunasekara, Victor. Karl Marx as a Humanist. 2008. 29 10 2009 <http://uqconnect.net/slsoc/manussa/MarxHum.htm>.

Smith, Cyril. Karl Marx and Religion. 1 3 2005. 27 10 2009 <http://marxmyths.org/cyril-smith/article2.htm>.