Why did Karl Marx say religion is the opinion of the people?
I think you have misquoted Marx. Marx says that ‘Religion is the opiate of the Masses’. Religion is, in his view, a drug which keeps the mass of the population sedated. Obviously Marx is critical of this situation. He sees the Church as something which does not do for the mass of people what he thinks that it should. The Church he sees as a tool of the establishment in keeping poor people poor. He is referring primarily to what he sees in the society of 19th century Britain: Times have changed, but the veneer is stll quite thin, you do not have to look very far, perhaps, to see the point he was making….
