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Thursday 11 August 2011

Religion as the opium of the masses


The modern state which has come to stay in today’s world has gone through a lot of philosophical and foundational theories all in an attempt to discover the origin of the state and seek the practice that can best stabilize it and foster social justice and other .One of the theories that were postulated was the instrumentalist theory engineered by the socialist Karl Marx.
This theory posits that those in places of authority have the state in their hands as an instrument of oppression so as to terrorize the weak masses. It state that those in the reins of power would become utterly corrupt and high-handed. In this situation, the people can no longer access the basic necessities of life, as the welfarist phenomenon in the state would become extinct.
Religion is therefore the next available option to fill the gap that the failure of the state has created. It becomes the opium of the masses as it provides an alternative to the deteriorating condition occasioned by mismanagement in governance. It is therefore not unusual to find welfare, counseling, prayer and service communities in our churches and mosques today performing the function originally assigned to the state.
These communities are there when a landlord evicts an unyielding tenant who has not paid his rent because the state has not implemented the policy that would ensure job creation. They are there to hear the crisis of the student who has not gotten admission into the university, not because he did not exceed the cut-off mark in JAMB, but because the state has refused to expand the entrance capacity of our universities. They are there to pray for healing and seek medical services for a sick brother because the state has failed resuscitates the health sector. They are there to cater for the elderly, who after serving his nation faithfully, has been left to queue endlessly under the hot sun for a pension that would never come. They serve as a point at which the outcry of the masses are heard so as to relief them of the tensions and despondencies which the state has created or has refused to solve.
The picture painted above has been regarded as commendable since it ensures that the people are not neglected to wallow in doldrums. Our religion institution has now filled the gap. They are manifesting of Marx by being the opium of the masses.
What this means is that our religious institutions should not resign themselves to fate and allow the status quo to remain. They should take up the challenge of speaking to power and confronting the government to do what it was created to do. Our churches and mosques should serve as avenue for social mobility, where the people are educated on their rights, privileges and obligations.



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