Religion as the opium of the masses
Also called: Opium of the people · Topic: Secularism: Western and Indian Models · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 8 "Secularism"
Meaning
"Religion as the opium of the masses" is Karl Marx's view, from 1844. He said religion comforts people who suffer, much as a drug dulls pain. He believed religion would fade once people's basic needs were met. NCERT (Class 11, Secularism) rejects this view. Humans can never fully control disease, loss and death, so religion will always have a place in people's lives. This is why NCERT says secularism is not anti-religious. Secularism opposes domination by religion, not religion itself.
Example
Even a rich, healthy family may turn to prayer when a loved one dies, because no amount of wealth removes grief. So the Indian Constitution does not try to make religion disappear. Art. 25 lets every person profess, practise and propagate any religion, or none.
Don't confuse with
- Secularisation: the actual decline of religion in a society. Marx predicted this would happen. Secularism is a normative doctrine (an idea of how society ought to be) that seeks freedom and equality, not the end of religion.
- State atheism: a state policy of fighting religion, as in the USSR or in Albania, which declared itself atheist in 1967. This is a political system, not a theory of why religion exists.