Quote Re Religion

[whirlyhurly]

Was it Karl Marx who said "Religion is the opium of the masses" ? I absolutely agree, (even though "once a Catholic " etc )

[maggiebee]

That is only a very small sentence in the quote. The full thing is:

"Religious distress is at the same time the expression of real distress and the protest against real distress. Religion is the sigh of the oppressed creature, the heart of a heartless world, just as it is the spirit of a spiritless situation. It is the opium of the people. The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is required for their real happiness. The demand to give up the illusion about its condition is the demand to give up a condition which needs illusions."

Karl Marx - Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right

[Graham-W]

Sorry to be picky but I was taught that the word was "opiate" not "opium".
As it was written in German it would probably be difficult to differentiate between the two.

[Graham-W]

Hmmmm. Having Googled it, it would appear I may have been taught wrongly.

[slaney]

Opium is fine - "narcotic juice of the white poppy ...anything considered to have a stupefying or tranquillizing effect on people's minds emotions etc"
Opiate is simply a drug containing opium.

[mikey4444]

Yes it was, and he was right ! Religion is an emotional crutch.

[sandyRoe]

And there are not a few here in R&S who delight in kicking peoples crutch out from under them. :-)

[mikey4444]

A free and open debate is nothing to be ashamed sandy. Its the theists poor attempts are defending their irrational and illogical beliefs that seems to the problem.

[RATTER15]

I agree Mikey. if you cant stand the heat....

[mikey4444]

Hope that tyre is OK now ratter ? I was thinking the other day that your best bet might be to buy a cheap spare wheel from a scrappy somewhere, and keep in your garage, if you don't have room in your Citroen. At least you will have a spare that you can put on, to get you to your nearest QuikFit !

[mibn2cweus]

Essential to our survival as rational beings is a set of guiding principles that enable us to efficiently and effectively confront the realities we face as individuals as well as to engage with each other to initiate and maintain mutually agreed mutually beneficial relationships. Throughout much of our history and evolution as a potentially rational species, religion has been the predominant source of those guiding principles. Unfortunately religions are based on world views that do not properly reflect human nature nor the world we have painstakingly come to better understand in spite of the crippling domination religion has had over the development of a rational view of existence. I believe we are likely to continue to be held back by religious doctrine until a critical mass has come to understand, appreciate and address this need to establish a more relevant set of guiding principles that take into consideration our rational nature and the needs imposed upon us by the reality we face can be agreed upon by an overwhelming majority. The solution is not to steal the crutches from under those who see no option but to rely on religion but rather to teach them and provide them with the necessary tools to be able to stand on their own two feet.

[naomi24]

^^ Ditto to that.

[RATTER15]

lol. mibn2cweus, please dont ever write a book for dyslexics :-) however I'm sure it is written perfectly.

[anneasquith]

well your in the right place to get abers to agree with you :)

[naomi24]

Thinking about mibn2cweus’ post at 19.07 yesterday, because the Bible and the Koran are considered by the faithful to be the irrefutable word of God, no matter how highly educated they are in other areas, they refuse to acknowledge that their religious books are demonstrably in error. Why is that – and how can society begin to teach the already well-educated to abandon irrationality and stand on their own two feet, as Mibs suggests?

[pixie373]

Rationality isn't about intelligence. They choose to believe. I think some people are "prone" to it.

[naomi24]

Pixie, I know it isn't, but we’re not talking here about something that has even a vague a question mark hanging over it. These books contain unquestionable errors that are purposefully ignored.

[pixie373]

Yes. And pure common sense would tell us that, without in-depth reading. I just think some are more prone to "believing" just as some are more prone to "addiction". Rationality doesn't come into it.

[naomi24]

In other words, 'wanting' to believe - I agree. I doubt there is a solution to that.

[pixie373]

I think that's what it is.