Opium of the people
KARL MARX'S DESCRIPTION OF RELIGION: “RELIGION IS THE SIGH OF THE OPPRESSED CREATURE, THE HEART OF A HEARTLESS WORLD, AND THE SOUL OF SOULLESS CONDITIONS. IT IS THE OPIUM OF THE PEOPLE.”
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The opium of the people (or opium of the masses) () is a dictum used in reference to religion, derived from a frequently paraphrased statement of German sociologist and economic theorist Karl Marx: "Religion is the opium of the people." In context, the statement is part of Marx's structural-functionalist argument that religion was constructed by people to calm uncertainty over their role in the universe and in society.