... false consciousness for the proletariat. Marx said that, "religion acts as an opiate to dull the pain produced by the oppressed." To maintain societies class, religion does nothing to solve the problems of the imbalance and oppression, instead it tries to make life more bearable. Lenin stated that religion is a, "spiritual gin", for the oppressed, allowing the proletariat feel better about their situation. This then is done in a variety of ways. Firstly for the oppressed, religion can promise paradise and an eternal bliss in life after death. Engels says that religion appeals to the subject class as it, "promises salvation from bondage and mister in the afterlife", thus the idea of Heaven just makes life more bearable for them. Another way is offering the idea that the proletariat would be rewarded for suffering. For Christians, this is backed up by the Biblical quote, "it is easier for a ...

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