opiate

THE MYTH

In 1844 a scruffy German by the name of Karl Marx wrote that “religion is the opiate of the masses”. Marx argued that by offering God’s love and the promise of a glorious afterlife, religion deludes the lower classes into thinking they can be happy despite their poverty and powerlessness. This delusion prevents the lower classes from standing up against their oppressors.

Over time, Marx’s idea has mingled with the work of Nietzsche and some dubious Da Vinci Code style conspiracy theories to form the myth that Christianity was specifically designed by the rich and powerful to oppress the masses. Spend enough time on tictok and you will hear some version of this argument.

THE TRUTH

Christianity is not a “top-down” religion. It was “designed” by a group of powerless Jews living under Roman oppression. These people were at the bottom of society and for the next 300 years Christianity stayed at the bottom, they had no political power at all and were often actively persecuted by the Roman state.

In 313AD this dynamic changed when the Roman Emperor Constantine legalised Christianity. Some point to this event and say that Christianity might not have been created to control the masses but Constantine co-opted it in order to do so.

But, Rome already had a religion which was far better suited to controlling people, it had helped Rome win and control the greatest empire the world had ever known.

Traditional Roman religion taught that the Emperor was divine and deserving of their place of power and privilege. Christianity taught that there was only one God and it was not the Emperor, according to Christian thinking the Emperor was no more special than a slave. It makes no sense for the Emperor to implement a religion which explicitly undermined his authority as a means to enhance his authority.

Furthermore, Christians were not taught to put up with injustice because their next life would be a better one. Jesus taught Christians to pray “your kingdom come, your will be done ON EARTH”. This is a call to bring justice to the world in the here and now. It is a call to end suffering here and now. It is a call for the first to be last and the last to be first, here and now. Present sufferings are certainly reframed by the promise of an afterlife but Christians are given no opportunity to become indifferent to them.

Teachings like “Love your neighbour” and “Do to others as you would have them do to you” are practical demands upon Christians to help the suffering. And we know that this is exactly what Christianity did, here is one example..

Across the Roman Empire it was acceptable practice to put an unwanted baby out on the street. There they would either die or be collected up by another family to be raised as a slave. Christians believed that all human life had value, so the church began collecting the babies and raising them. Eventually this became the accepted system and parents of unwanted children took their babies directly to the church. Some churches installed hatches where the baby could be placed. Upon his conversion Constantine brought in laws to make abandoning babies difficult and his successor banned the practice altogether.

Other examples are abundant, the early church collected funds for the poor and sick, they established hospitals and provided welfare. They nursed wounded soldiers and gave shelter to refugees and they did so because Christ explicitly taught them to do so. The idea that Christianity was designed to oppress the masses is simply untrue. Christianity lifts the masses up.

Lastly, public Christian discourse did not promote the maintenance of existing power structures. Take for instance John Chrysostom, in 397 he became the Archbishop of Constantinople where he made constant criticism of the rich for their indulgences while the poor suffered. He said ”Do you pay such honor to your excrements as to receive them into a silver chamber-pot when another man made in the image of God is perishing in the cold?” and "Prayer without almsgiving is unfruitful.” This was a leading Christian voice loudly calling for a change in the structure of society rather than the maintenance of it. This is not the voice you promote if you are a rich and powerful man and you want to remain a rich and powerful man.

The truth is this, most historians argue that Christianity was more likely a contributor to the fall of the Roman Empire than a means to control it. Christianity dignifies the oppressed. It offers a hope that this world can be transformed into a place where justice reins, peace presides and suffering is no more. Jesus claimed to be “good news for the poor” and millions have discovered that he most emphatically is.