Karl Marx was a German philosopher, economist, and the least funny of the Marxes. The key to the intricate and massive system of thought created by Karl Marx is at bottom a simple one: Karl Marx was a communist. Religion and Social Control Marx viewed religion as a tool of social control used by the bourgeoisie to keep the proletariat content with an unequal status quo. Chapter 4: Marx’s Critique of Religion. Unlike other great thinkers in discussing religion, Nietzsche, for instance, states that “Religion is a part of a slave rebell ion on . Aristotle said that to understand a thing one must study its origins. It is the opium of the people". Marx as Millennial Communist. A ccording to Marx, religion has a dual role to play. ... including religion… Karl Marx (1818-1883) was a German philosopher and economist who became a social revolutionary as co-author of "The Communist Manifesto." Karl Marx on Religion By: David R. Papke Posted on January 20, 2015 Categories Political Processes & Rhetoric , Public Religious people sometimes express disdain for Karl Marx and his philosophies because he supposedly characterized religion as “the opiate of the masses.” B. Karl Marx’s and Religion . The full quote from Karl Marx translates as: "Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions. In reality, according to Marx, nature is an impersonal force which imposes limitations on man’s capacity to act, but nature can be understood scientifically and manipulated rationally, via technology, potentially for the benefit of man-kind. Throughout the history of class society religion performs two essential functions: it buttresses the established order by sanctifying it and by suggesting that the political order is somehow ordained by divine authority, and it consoles the oppressed and exploited by offering them in heaven what they are denied upon earth. Often quoted only in part, the interpretation of the metaphor in its context has received much less attention. It was one of Marx's first attempts to develop what would later be called the materialist conception of history.. Marx and religion: A brief study Himel Shagor Marx’s most famous statement about religion comes from a critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Law: Religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the protest against real distress. "On the Jewish Question" is a work by Karl Marx, written in 1843, and first published in Paris in 1844 under the German title "Zur Judenfrage" in the Deutsch–Französische Jahrbücher. This lesson will discuss Karl Marx's view of how religion is an 'opiate for the people' and perpetuates social inequality. From Marx’s materialistic perspective, religion serves to mystify the real relations between men and inanimate objects. Religion is the sigh of … Karl Marx: Religion, Marx held, was a significant hindrance to reason, inherently masking the truth and misguiding followers. Before expounding Marx’s critique of religion, let us first inquire what kind of religious influence Marx had at home and during the school days.