Karl Marx never opposed spirituality, morality and proper conduct
In the [present] capitalist age, religious exploitation is more psychic than physical, because the capitalists use the intellectuals to try to spread intellectual propaganda among the masses to prevent them from finding any philosophical justification for their suppressed grievances against the capitalist structure. This intellectual propaganda aims to convince people that they are the victims of circumstance. It argues, “Everything is destiny. Everything is preordained.†Such doctrines help the capitalists to perpetuate their structure. They destroy the personal force of people and make them the playthings of fate. People accept the idea that everything is preordained, and support the status quo. Those who try to break the structure of the capitalist age and show the downtrodden the path of liberation, will have to advise the people to free themselves from the intoxicating effect of the opium of religion; otherwise how will they be able to serve the downtrodden people? A group of exploiters loudly object to a remark that was made by the great Karl Marx concerning religion. It should be remembered that Karl Marx never opposed spirituality, morality and proper conduct. What he said was directed against the religion of his time, because he perceived, understood and realized that religion had psychologically paralysed the people and reduced them to impotence by persuading them to surrender to a group of sinners.
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Shrii Prabhat R. Sarkar
