Religion is Detrimental to Society and the Individual

Karl Marx a Marxist sees religion as an illusion and that the phenomenon of religion is part of what Marx refers to as an alienation of people

his religion. Marx writes, "The more man puts into God the less he retains in

Generally, Marx’s position on religion is drawn up in an entirely negative manner. In his writings, he expresses his belief that religion is a set of doctrines intended to stabilize, while at the same time bring into servitude the working class people. In addition to that, he argues that the society’s inclination towards religious excitement serves to represent a reaction to disaffection. Also, Marx contends that, since religion causes human beings to feel delusive happiness it makes an erroneous mental representation in as well as of itself. Indeed to him, it is an instrument utilized to sustain cultural systems together with ideologies that in most cases encourages oppression in the society (Parsons 38-46).

What Marx puts forward is that religion does not manifest a person’s true awareness. Marx sees religion as a distraction from misery. Religion, as Marx describes, is something you do to help your mind think of something else; religion is temporary

Marx warned that religion was like a narcotic: It dulled people’s pain so they did not realize how serious the situation was. He claimed that it kept that classes in order as well. Marx believed that religion had been institutionalize to undermine the masses impulse to resist exploitation and change the social order.

Even though Marx acknowledged the comforting role of religion, he focused on its repressive, restraining qualities which help to maintain the 'status quo'. He suggested that often religion provides justification for inequalities of wealth and power and argues that we must free ourselves and not fear the gods we have created. He argued that religion prevents people from challenging the source of their oppression and provides them with a 'false consciousness'. People believe they will be compensated for their suffering in the next world. Like Functionalists, Marxists agree social institutions control and socialise individuals but

Shagor (n.d.) argue that Marx was stating that the main purpose of religion is to establish an illusory fantasy for the poor in the society. As a

There is a conflict in the village between the chief and Nathan because of the missionary that Nathan wants to bring Christianity to Congo where Congolese already have their own God.

I agree with you that churches/religious beliefs can be considered a social problem. I like that you pointed out how religious social problems can be analyzed on a micro and macro level. People have their own thoughts and beliefs within a religion and different religions have different thoughts and beliefs as a whole. I also like that you pointed out that mental institutions can be considered a social problem. I did not know that two major mental health institutions were recently shut down and I see where this could be considered a huge problem. People who are in need of mental health care are being put back into society because of the lack of funding, which could put others and the people in need of mental health care at risk. Furthermore,

Religion and Science has always been one of the biggest debates of all time, but I believe that Science determines all answers to our questions. Although as a Catholic my opinions will start to change from my religious point of view. As Bishop Robert Barron said in, The Myth of the War Between Science and Religion, he said, leaving aside the complexities of the Galileo story (and there are complexities to it), we can see that the vast majority of the founding figures of modern science—Copernicus, Newton, Kepler, Descartes, Pascal, Tycho Brahe—were devoutly religious. More to it, two of the most important physicists of the 19th century—Faraday and Maxwell—were extremely pious, and the formulator

Notwithstanding, what is inadequate in volume is compensated for in power and exhaustiveness. As stated by Bell (2008) some of Marx's best-known obitera are about religion. It is the murmur of the persecuted animal, the fanciful satisfaction of men. It is the reflex of this present reality and best of all it is the opium of the general population. Marx (1972).

Following the Industrial Revolution in 19th century Europe, change was in full swing and religion began to have different meanings for different people. The upper-class citizens used Religion, namely Christianity, and the power that it possessed in an attempt to keep their high status in society, while the lower class turned to faith so that their lives could possibly improve. Instead of religion being the cornerstone of faith and worship amongst all people, it was being used for power and money by the upper class. Even worse, religious leaders were using the upper class people as well, gaining money and authority from their endorsement. A man by the name of Karl Marx saw

Religion has been a powerful force in human history. Mankind has longed and searched for the answers to its purpose, the reason for being and the possibility of life after physical death. They reasoned that an afterlife would be a place of accounting and reckoning for the life they lived on earth. Religious belief systems seemed to give the answers as to how to prepare for the afterlife. Religion became the means of giving answers to those basic yet deep-seated questions of both life and death. Religion provided a format of rules and laws for conduct and treatment toward others based on the desires and wishes of a god or gods that people envisioned, imagined or invented. Religious belief systems have been a powerful force for good and bad...good in the sense that it provided a measure of individual behavior and order in society for the wellbeing of the whole, but bad in the sense that men of ambition who craved power and control over others would often use religion as a tool of manipulation and fear. A casual glance of history tells us that complete civilizations have been built, grown and maintained around elaborate religious systems, ancient Egypt being a prime example.

Marx did not believe in religion or God. He was a materialist; only the physical world was of reality and importance, while the mind and spirit were of little importance. He also believed that it was man who created religion. Marx famously stated that “man makes religion; religion does not make man” (as cited in Opium of the people, n.d.). He stated that “Christians believe that God created man in his own image, whereas the truth is that man created God in his own image” (Hamilton, p. 84). Although Marx never conducted any formal study on religion specifically (only briefly touching on the subject

One great benefit that faith in religion has had to mankind is that religion answers all of the “big questions”. No matter how farfetched the answers may seem, followers of a religion feel assuaged and even motivated by the answers. The concept of “live after death” and “bad luck for bad actions and good luck for good actions” assuage many individuals who are uneasy about the mysteries of life. For example in the religion of Hinduism there exists a concept of Karma, which basically states that what goes around comes around. This simple concept motivates millions of Hindus to perform good deeds and also discourages them from committing sins as the concept of Karma stands to offer great rewards as well as great punishments. Likewise in Christianity there exists a concept of “Heaven” and “Hell”, Heaven being the luxurious destination for afterlife and Hell being the horrible and abject one. The Christian concept of “A record of good and bad deeds”, also motivates millions of Christians to make the right choices and decisions. Although beliefs in afterlife are completely due to faith and lack no scientific proof, there are great benefits as it is proven