I am fascinated by religion, but I don't consider myself "religious." Religion is a human construct - not a God construct. God wants relationship, but us humans need to frame that somehow in a way we can understand it and express it. So we create religions that start out with good intent, but somehow or another get twisted along the way. Was it Marx who called religion the "opiate of the masses?" I get that, on one level, because religion does have the tendency to separate, define, and condemn - leading to the stifling of creativity and uniqueness, and causing a radicalism that alternatively oppresses its followers and those who do not follow. I get that sentiment, because so much of our "religiosity" comes from fluffy feelings and tugs on the emotional heart-strings. I can see what Marx is talking about when we sing worship songs, or do emotional tugs to create an effect. That stuff doesn't go over well with intellectuals - they see religious fervor as "dumbing down," or, "turning off the lights" (to quote a friend of mine).
Opiates are narcotics, which have the effect of numbing or loss of feeling. When he said that religion is the "opiate of the masses," Marx was saying that religion makes oppression (physical, economic, intellectual) tolerable, and thus hands over the control of the people to the religious authority. If that religious authority is corrupt in any way, the corruption only spreads if the people are immune to its poison. Religion can very easily become the scapegoat, the reason, the purpose behind an oppressive regime - and the more numb the people become, the more the power of oppression corrupts. I think that's what the Reformation was about - clearing out the corruption of the current regime and giving each person responsibility for their own understanding of God based on the revelation given (sola scriptura - scripture alone holds authority, not tradition - a HUGE counter against the Roman Catholic Church which held all Christian religious authority of that day).
But God is not a narcotic. If anything, belief in God calls us to greater responsibility for and greater awareness of our world. It is so easy to get wrapped up in the stuff of life, but my belief that God loves each person forces me to treat them differently than I would otherwise. My belief that God wants to have a relationship with each individual forces me to approach my interactions differently than what might come naturally. My nature is to be a very selfish person; egocentric and self-righteous. But because I believe that all persons have value in the eyes of my God - wow, I just can't be that selfish any more. I can't see the world through my Mona-colored glasses; I see it through God-colored glasses and it looks so different.
So... I don't say that I am "religious." I love God, I follow Christian teaching (because amongst all religions, it is best supported by what I know of God). But to me, God is the central factor, not theology. God desires relationship with me, and I am learning more and more that the deepest desire of my heart is to nurture that relationship with God.
You've hit a big area/weakness of my faith Mona. When I was in college I fully subscribed to Marx's "opiate" statement. I no longer feel it is an opiate in the way Marx thought (governmental social control) but I still struggle mightly with the people I see, everyday, using religion as a crutch or an excuse for problems in thier lives. I DO believe that Marx is right on the "opiate" opinion on an individual basis when applied to many people. I hear the term "let's pray about it" soooo much it makes my head spin. People pray about important and worthy things like a loved one's health etc., but I also know of people that pray about finding a parking space at the grocery store, or whether to buy a new car or not etc. etc. Then there are others who, when faced with a bad situation, say "oh well, it's just part of God's plan" and move on without really dealing with whatever the issue/problem/grief was about. I don't know quite how I feel about that. I still see how the "opiate" statement applies and is accurate for some, just not in the way I think Marx did.
ReplyDelete"But God is not a narcotic. If anything, belief in God calls us to greater responsibility for and greater awareness of our world."
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more with your statement. But Marx did not say God was the opiate, he said religion was the opiate. That very same religion you correctly identify as a human construct.
You are absolutely right, Doug. Many people use religion as a way to control God, instead of allowing God to direct their lives. It's insulting, IMHO, to God to have people praying for a good parking space. But on the other hand, if that's the only way they communicate with God maybe God is okay with that - at least it's SOMETHING.
ReplyDeleteMy friend's comment about Christians "turning off the light" was in reference to your second statement - when faced with a bad situation we have this tendency to "turn off the light" and say "God did it" or "God will fix it." To my friend, and I think this is what you are getting at, that is revoking our own responsibility. I'm not an advocate for sloughing responsibility onto a higher power - but I do think that somewhere in there is the point of faith. I do believe that God orchestrates our world - not that God causes good stuff or bad stuff to happen, but that God has this overall vision for our individual lives and the corporate good - the "corporation" being the Kingdom of God, and that God is active in bringing that to completion/perfection (the Greek word "teleo" means both). Couple that with the conviction that God is love, and all of God's direct actions are done out of love... well, you end up having to balance between faith in God's promises and the responsibility to do something about it.
And, I'm not disagreeing with Marx about the opiate thing... just making the distinction that religion is not the same as God. Too many people confuse them. I was reading this book on atheism - trying to understand the one "religious" outlook that I truly do not comprehend - and the author kept bouncing back and forth, blaming God for religion's failures. Drove me nuts.
Absolutely! That drives me nuts too! What I also struggle with is the lack of belief in God BECAUSE of what man made religion has done, or not done the world. The inability to seperate God and religion is a major hurdle for many and indeed was my major stumbling block for decades! It is precisely why I belong to a church that is so loosely organized and so lightly dogmatic. But even there, the room for me is very tenuous because of the overwhelming urge for humans to interject, interpret, and overwrite God's Word in the way they believe it should be done. But I fear I may be straying a bit from the thrust of today's blog!
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