08-17-2004, 06:28 AM
I'm sure most of you are aware that Opiate, both the song and the EP, is named after the Marx and Engels quote "Religion is the opiate of the masses." However I've been doing a little reading and discovered that this is actually a common misquote. The original quote is actually "It [Religion] is the opium of the people.". This is it in its original context;
Religious suffering is at one and the same time the expression of real suffering and a protest against real 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.
The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is therefore in embryo the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo.
You can read about it here (http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/1616_reg_print.html) and here (http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Famous_non-quotation). The latter specifically mentions that it is a common misquote.
What I'm wondering is; was Tool also unaware of the original quote, or is it simply fan folklore that's kept the misconception going?
Religious suffering is at one and the same time the expression of real suffering and a protest against real 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.
The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is therefore in embryo the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo.
You can read about it here (http://www.temple.edu/tempress/titles/1616_reg_print.html) and here (http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Famous_non-quotation). The latter specifically mentions that it is a common misquote.
What I'm wondering is; was Tool also unaware of the original quote, or is it simply fan folklore that's kept the misconception going?