아편(마약)과 종교: 아편의 비유, 그 이면을 찾아서

Abstract

Marxs critique on religion through the opium metaphor has a dialectical character. Religion makes people have false consciousness and provides them a shelter from their suffering in life. We can find this character in todays symbolic meanings of opium. It is also same in the sacred. This article is an analogy. Religion and opium is not the same thing. They always are only like. But the difference between the two is not great. The gap between religion and opium may be narrowed. They could be connected to each other. Because they have some joint parts. First, we can find one in social level of religion. Second, the internal experience for transcendence is another discoverable one. It is not only in symbolic meanings, but also in realistic meanings. On these things in this article, I try to think about another aspect of the Marxs metaphor which has a different implication on the secularization discourse. I have paid attention to the situation that some people prefer saying themselves spiritual to saying religious. We need some special conditions to hold true Marxs opium metaphor. The pressure made by irregularities in religion and society is the driving force to substantiate this analogy between religion and opium. Those who desire to escape from the absurd of religion and society, those who would not gladly to be deceived by past fantasies, could make opium their travel companion to leave from this side to that side. It is difficult to imagine that there is nobody who has to leave from here to there.