I found tis essay and it is interesting. I would like to share it
with you.
. .
According to Marx, religion is an expression of material realities
and economic injustice. Thus, problems in religion are ultimately
problems in society. Religion is not the disease, but merely a
symptom. It is used by oppressors to make people feel better about the
distress they experience due to being poor and exploited. This is the
origin of his comment that religion is the “opium of the masses” - but
his thoughts are much more complex than commonly portrayed.
Although this is a criticism of religion, Marx is not without
sympathy: people are in distress and religion provides solace, just as
people who are physically injured receive relief from opiate-based
drugs. The quote is not, then, as negative as most portray (at least
about religion). In some ways, even the slightly extended quote which
people might see is a bit dishonest because saying “Religion is the
sigh of the oppressed creature...”
deliberately leaves out the additional important statement that it is
also “the heart of a heartless world.”
What we have is a critique of society that has become heartless rather
than of religion which tries to provide a bit of solace. One can argue
that Marx offers a partial validation of religion in that he tries to
become the heart of a heartless world. For all its problems, religion
doesn’t matter so much — it is not the real problem. Religion is a set
of ideas, and ideas are expressions of material realities. Religion is
a symptom of a disease, not the disease itself.
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