Karl Marx's oppinion on religion
When Karl Marx said, "Religion is the sign of the oppressed creature, the feeling of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of unspiritual conditions. It is the opium of the people." He was trying to summarize his very controversial point of view, that religion is a crutch that people fall back on to escape the physical reality. People use it as a reason to get up in the morning and suffer another day of backbreaking labor so they can afford to buy bread to feed their families, as opposed to stealing what they want / need (for fear of being punished in the after life.) He felt that religion gave people a way to deal with grief and problems in their lives, but like opium he felt that religion took hold or peoples lives and gave them a false sense of hope.Needless to say Marx was an Atheist (from the Greek a "without" and theos "deity",) which commonly and loosely refers to denial of the existence of a higher power. The meaning of atheism has varied considerably in history: even the earliest Christians were labeled "atheists" because they denied the existence of the Roman gods. In Western culture, where monotheism has been the dominant religious belief, atheism has generally referred to the denial of the existence of a tran
scendent, perfect, personal / creator of the universe. To be an atheist does not mean no religious beliefs. For there are "high" religions, such as Buddhism and Taoism, that do not assume the existence of a supernatural being. Karl Marx and other social analysts see religious belief as the product of socioeconomic forces. One of the reasons that so many of the once Buddhist nations have found themselves under communist rule, is because both ideologies are very similar. For example much like Marx's idea of a classless utopian society where all people are equal (Communism,) Buddhism teaches that all people no matter how much they make or the color of their skin are equal. It is just as hard for a farmer to follow the eight-fold path and understand the four Nobel truths as it is for a king. Buddhism also says nothing of a superior entity. Marx was a militant critic of religion generally and of Christianity particularly. He pointed out the ultimate conflict of interest in the Catholic Church during the 19th century (The time when he lived). The fact that the church was telling people that their lives would be better in heaven (if you gave money to the church) and that life on earth was a test. Well at the same time taking the peasants money and getting rich. Which mad
Some common words found in the essay are:
Catholic Church, Marx Religion, Karl Marx, Atheist Greek, Asia Buddhist, Buddhism China, Communism Buddhism, Indian Buddhist, Buddhism Taoism, Asian Buddhist, karl marx, denial existence, religious belief, buddhist leaders,
Approximate Word count = 862
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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