Religion Should Unite, Not Divide: Lessons for South Asia

In his critique of Hegel’s ‘Philosophy of Right’, Karl Marx defined religion as the ‘opium of the masses’. Many may not have been able to afford the transitory and ultimately self-destructive bliss of opium, but religion was always available in the nearest pulpit or lectern. Marx saw religion as having the same effect as opioids on the suffering workers of his time, of dulling their senses in the face of the brutality of exploitation of the worker by the owner of capital described in his chapter on ‘The Working Day’ in ‘Capital’ (or ‘Das Kapital’, as it is called in German). Since the 1990s, Marxian thought has gone out of fashion, including for its lack of success in creating prosperity for workers in countries which claimed to have adopted the communist model of development. Even in China, it was only when Deng Xiaoping brought in capitalist characteristics to the economic structure and welcomed outside investment in a much more comprehensive manner than even a reformist India of the time, that economic growth soared to double digits. During the Mao period, China was locked into a cycle of low growth.