Marx on Religion

Religion is a very personal belief for most people. People have different views on their God or Gods and how or why people and the earth are here. During certain time periods, in many places, religion has been the “opium of the people”. It is incorrect, however, for Marx to apply his theory on the purpose and use of religion to all of mankind.
When Marx first spoke of his theory on religion, his argument held more validity than it does today. Marx was not solely attacking religion, but also the then current use of religion by the upper class to suppress the lower class. Marxism or communism, in theory actually resembles many religions. In an ideal communist society (which has yet to be created) all people would be more or less equal. In many religions, all people are equal in God’s eyes. Marx was criticizing his own theory when he called religion “the opium of the people” and ironically foreshadowing how communism would actually turn out.
Marx seems to be especially concerned about the way in which people are dependent on religion, either for answer as to their inability to succeed or their continual failure. When Marx calls religion “the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, and the soul of soulless conditions” and “the fantastic realization of the human essence since the human essence has not acquired any true reality” he is implying that religion does not exist the way in which most people think it does. Marx is saying that religion is not the source of answers or salvation, but that it is the face of social deceptions. While again, in some cases this is true, Marx has neglected to recognize the fact that for many people religion doesn’t need to be answers or salvation; it just needs to be hope.