Darwin and Marx
...e leader of that state as the Supreme Being (that is God). Since religion does not play a role in communism, it is believed to be a guide to help the oppressed. Marx says, “Religious suffering is at one and the same time the expression of real suffering and a protest against 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” (Marx, A Criticism of the Hegelian Philosophy of Law) Religion is the cause of suffering by the people and it helps the person momentarily. He believes that religion is similar to opium in a way that it eases the stress on people who have a bad life. Marx’s view of religion is that it creates an illusion to help demoralize the people within the society. Religion comes in and helps the oppressed feel that even though they do not have a happy life now, they will have a happy after-life. Karl Marx argues his view on religion by saying, “ The first requisite for the happiness of the people is the abolition of religion” (Marx). According to Marx, for people to be happy religion must be annihilated so those who are oppressed can wake up and see there is nothing waiting for them. Charles Darwin is another scientist who rejects religion and believes that it only exists because man has been brought up in a culture that believes in a Creator. Darwin’s theory of evolution automatically contradicts religion. In religions such as Christianity, the belief is that God created all humans but Darwin’s scientific approach has a different view. The theory of evolution is a guess that humans came from the lower primates and have gradually developed into what we have today called Homo sapiens. In the introduction by Philip Appleman he says, “ (Darwin) ultimately rejected the “brutal” religion that threatened to condemn his freethinking father, brother, and best friends to everlasting punishment.” (Appleman 4). Darwin’s belief is that religion is evil because it takes possession of you and does not allow you to think freely therefore limiting your knowledge. In his work, Darwin rejected the creation story and developed the theory of evolution. He believed that humans evolved by natural selection rather than by a force. The orthodox proclaimed his theory as heresy and the Catholic encyclopedia rejected his theory of natural selection. Darwin’s argument is that, “ The birth of the species and of the individual are equally parts of that grand sequence of events, which our mind refuses to accept as the result of blind chance.” (Darwin 249). He believed that people became blinded by religion and because of this, they refused to accept the theory of evolution. Darwin thought that religion showed people only one path and did not allow them to see in other directions. Marx and Darwin have similar views on religion but for different causes. Marx believes that religion should not exist because it does not fit communism’s standards. Darwin believes it should not exist because he does not believe in the creation story and it does not allow people to be open-minded. People need to think freely to develop new ideas or theories and religion does not allow this because you have to go by what the Holy Book says. Marx and Darwin believe that religion creates an illu...