Saturday, April 12, 2008

Does Senator Obama view religion as some sort of "crutch"?

It was Karl Marx who said that, "Religion is, indeed, the self-consciousness and self-esteem of man who has either not yet won through to himself, or has already lost himself again. But man is no abstract being squatting outside the world. Man is the world of man—state, society. This state and this society produce religion, which is an inverted consciousness of the world, because they are an inverted world. Religion is the general theory of this world, its encyclopedic compendium, its logic in popular form, its spiritual point d'honneur, its enthusiasm, its moral sanction, its solemn complement, and its universal basis of consolation and justification. It is the fantastic realization of the human essence since the human essence has not acquired any true reality. The struggle against religion is, therefore, indirectly the struggle against that world whose spiritual aroma is religion. Religious suffering is, at one and the same time, the expression of real suffering and a protest against real suffering. 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 [Emphasis added] The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo."

Is this Senator Obama's view of religion? That it represents some sort of "crutch" or "opiate" which oppressed people fall back upon because they cannot cope with their problems? Does the Senator believe that religious belief is something which needs to be sanitized from society? Something which represents an "illusory happiness"?

2 comments:

Michael Cole said...

Once again Obama has spoken words which seem to reveal some rather disturbing beliefs. Last week, Christian groups called for an apology from the Senator after her referred to unborn children as a "punishment." It would appear that the Senator's preacher - the one who said "God damn America" - isn't the only one with a lot of anger.

Anonymous said...

Why does Obama connect guns with religion? Is the implication that Christians in middle America are just a bunch of gun-toting nutjobs who are potentially violent? This guy is scary.

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