Chains and Flowers

In class we mentioned Karl Marx's views on religion. In his book Critique of Hegels's Philosophy of Right Karl Marx writes: “Religion is the Opiate of the Masses.” This refers to his idea that religion helps people cope with the world and circumstances they live in. He also mentioned the idea that religion is the flowers decorating our chains, it helps us look past the fact that we are trapped and ruled over by those who hold power. He brings up the idea the critiquing religion is like plucking the flowers off the chains so that we are once again in our lowly state of capture. But if we cover up our chains, with other more pleasing concepts, we may forget about the chains completely. Covering up something that is distressing to you does nothing to get you away from the situation. Instead we need to pluck away the flowers, examine and critique our beliefs, until we can see the chains again and break free.