Opium and Revolution By R.R. Reno

Marx famously said, “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.” The implied analysis has become commonplace. Ordinary people suffer under a system of exploitation, and their hearts cry out for justice. Religion provides a symbolic satisfaction: God hears the cry of the oppressed and will give each due reward in the end (a convenient delay for those presently in positions of power). The people desire revolution, and in the agony of their impotence they project that desire onto a remote, divine figure powerful enough to break the chains of oppression. Like a narcotic, this pious belief in a just God dulls the pain of an unjust world.

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