The Ruled Class

• Marx stated that religion is caused by inequality as an 'opium of the masses'.
• Explain how religion formed amongst the ruled classes, according to Marx.

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  • The ruled class is exploited and alienated as the ruling class own all of the means of production.
  • The ruled class is reduced to paid labour, so they're poorer and lack opportunity and autonomy as they're constantly told what to do and how to do it.
  • They ultimately can't help but believe in God so that their suffering had meaning.
• How does religion maintain class inequality when it wasn't created by the ruling class according to Marx?

  The ruled class create churches and practice religion, and this gets hijacked by the ruling class to justify the status quo.
• Support: Engles argues that the inheritance of wealth is a creation of monogamy, which is supported by religion, and states that this justifies the maintenance of wealth.
• Further analysis: Religion has never been gotten rid of, the decline in religion in the West has also facilitated the rise of religious diversity, so religion seems to always be part of society.

  Functionalists argue that religion is necessary for regulation and integration.