In Marx’s own words:
‘Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the sentiment of a heartless world and the soul of soulless conditions. it is the opium of the people‘.
Similarly one may ask, can you be a good Marxist and believe in God?
Could you be a good Marxist and believe in God? No. Materialism and atheism are non-negotiable in Marxism.
Keeping this in consideration, what did Karl Marx mean when he said religion is the opiate of the masses?
Specifically, Marx believed that religion had certain practical functions in society that were similar to the function of opium in a sick or injured person: it reduced people’s immediate suffering and provided them with pleasant illusions which gave them the strength to carry on.
What did Marx say about God?
He believed that whilst belief in God is a kind of projection, the illusion itself stems from something that is quite proper to human faculties: he argued that religion is a kind of malfunction, the result of alienated labour.
What is Karl Marx most famous quote?
“Reason has always existed, but not always in a reasonable form.” “I am nothing but I must be everything.” “To be radical is to grasp things by the root.” “Go on, get out! Last words are for fools who haven’t said enough!”
What Marx thinks about Jesus?
Jesus added the elements of compassion and love, for the poor but also for one’s enemies, the rich. Marx combined the Judeo-Christian concern for social justice with a scientific analysis of the structures of injustice and laid the basis for a science of revolution which would free humanity from those structures.
What religion was Marx?
Marx’s family was originally non-religious Jewish, but had converted formally to Christianity before his birth.
What was Karl Marx beliefs?
Marx wrote that the power relationships between capitalists and workers were inherently exploitative and would inevitably create class conflict. He believed that this conflict would ultimately lead to a revolution in which the working class would overthrow the capitalist class and seize control of the economy.
What was Karl Marx slogan?
“From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs” (German: Jeder nach seinen Fähigkeiten, jedem nach seinen Bedürfnissen) is a slogan popularised by Karl Marx in his 1875 Critique of the Gotha Programme.
What was Marx’s prediction about the future of religion?
If the social factors which produced these needs were removed by transforming the structure of society, then religion would become functionless and would wither away. Indeed, Marx and Engels believed this to be already happening.