Karl Marx said, “Religion is the opium of the people.”
Religion, like politics, has often been placed under the microscope, and both have often been found wanting. Take all the enquiries into state capture and the rumours of not billions but trillions of rand stolen by a few connected people – as an ordinary man on the street, I wonder how much better our country would be if this money had not been stolen, especially in regard to education, health care, and pensions, not to mention state-owned enterprises.
Could electricity cost half of what we are paying today? Who took the money, and where is it today? Maybe power is the opium of politicians, high on self-enrichment.
But don’t forget religion. Over the years, religion has also played games with our minds. Holy water, Doom, get rich quick schemes and false miracles, and accusations of child abuse being committed by the clergy cannot be swept under the carpet forever.
But what must we do? Are politics and religion all bad?
I believe there are many honest and sincere politicians of all parties that have clean hands and pure hearts. I also believe that there are many religious people who love God and their neighbours.
I do not believe that religion is our opium – rather, it is the medicine needed to heal our nation.
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