What do Marxists mean by saying religion is an ideological weapon?
For Marx, religion operates as an ideological weapon used by the ruling class to legitimate the suffering of the proletariat as something inevitable and God-given (makes the poor believe they will be rewarded for their suffering in the afterlife)
Ideas such as 'suffering will be rewarded in the afterlife' leads to a false class consciousness- a distorted view of reality which prevents the poor from acting to change their situation
What did Lenin mean when describing religion as 'spiritual gin'?
Religion is an intoxicant doled out to the masses by the ruling class to confuse them and keep them in their place. They use it to manipulate the masses and keep them from attempting to overthrow the ruling class by creating a 'mystical fog' that obscures reality
What does Marxism say about alienation and religion?
They say that religion acts as a opiate to dull the pain of exploitation- religion masks the underlying problem of exploitation that creates the need for it
