Religion—not just opium of the people

Stained glass window in a Church of England church

Many people see religion as one of the main problems in society, accusing it of being responsible for oppression, greed and war. Forms of religion have always existed as a way of understanding society and explaining humanity, as it can offer some comfort in a hostile world.

But organised forms of religion arose with class societies—and adjusted as these societies developed. In the early class societies, “Worshipping the gods became a way of society worshipping its own power, of people giving an alienated recognition to their own achievements,” wrote Marxist Chris Harman.

And it was also a product of powerlessness—a way to explain the horrors and misfortunes unfolding in the world, from why there was war to why a harvest had been unsuccessful.

But religions adapted as class society developed. For example, the Roman Catholic Church “originated in the late ancient world and survived by adapting itself to feudal society for 1,000 years”, Harman argued. “Then, with much effort, it adapted to the capitalist society that replaced feudalism” with the Church “changing much of the content of its own teaching in the process”.

Today, governments, monarchs and politicians use religion to their advantage. They legitimise their rule with religious ideas or demonise the beliefs of others. For instance, Christianity has been used to justify the brutalisation of Indigenous people across the world. Slave owners in the United States used it to justify oppression of slaves.

Today Islam is the official ideology of several regimes that back the West, such as Saudi Arabia. But it has also inspired resistance against the West. For example, the Islamist group Hamas has organised resistance to the Israeli siege on Gaza.

But religion is often used to obscure or justify class divisions while at the same time sounding hostile to the rich, with messages that suggest that gods look kindly on the poor. This perspective can soothe people but mute the potential for resistance—and it doesn’t leave room to question the structures behind economic inequalities, war or poverty.

Religious ideas, like all other ideas, are products of material, social and historical conditions and play a specific role in society. Part of this role is to offer explanation and comfort in an irrational, hostile world, such as through promises of a happy afterlife.

As described by Karl Marx, “Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. 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.”

So religious faith is not the cause of oppression, but partly forms a response to it. Today, ruling classes in the West tell us that religion, in particular Islam, threatens an “enlightened” way of life. They do this while simultaneously presiding over a violent system of profit. We cannot give an inch to those who weaponise religion to deepen racism division.

And solutions such as secularism—the idea that state institutions and religion should be separated—doesn’t deal with the reasons why people hold religious ideas in the first place. For Marxists, the starting point is to defend everyone’s right to freely practice their beliefs and against any religious prosecution.

We want a world that truly meets the needs of everyone and isn’t based on oppression and exploitation. Such a world simply wouldn’t have the same material basis for religion that capitalism does. As Marx said, “To abolish religion as the illusory happiness of the people is to demand their real happiness.”

• This is the 26th part of a series that discusses What We Stand For, the Socialist Workers Party statement of principle (see page 12). For the full series go to tinyurl.com/WWSF2024