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Hate is the opiate of the masses
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e_chao lemmy.world e_chao@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-10-10
Quote

"Hate is the opiate of the masses. Some say it's religion, but that's incorrect. Religion is merely a syringe of choice." - Sunflier

152   Original
sit lemmy.dbzer0.com sit@lemmy.dbzer0.com
Joined: 2024-11-05
#2 · Quote Reply

Is this debatable here?

Hate can be empowering as a good amount of hate increases chances that actions are taken.
Hate can be felt towards real things.
Hate (anger?) is a human emotion that will bottle up and cause problems later on if not dealt with.

Religions root cause for existence is control, make believers calm down because karma or something will cause justice. -> I’m less likely to cause change if I think justice will be served without my action.

Religion is the opiate of the people.

0
Pratai piefed.ca Pratai@piefed.ca
Joined: 2026-02-12
#3 · Quote Reply

This was in response to something I said. I found it pretty profound as well. Definitely deserves meme status!

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JayDee lemmy.world JayDee@lemmy.world
Joined: 2024-11-08
#4 · Quote Reply

Yeah I get what they're talking about. Humans are pack creatures, we want to band together and cooperate, but we've also developed techniques for strengthening internal cohesion over time that are counter-productive to forming larger cohesive societies. One of those is hate and fear of out-group members. It's convenient for conserving resources if you feel justified in hoarding them for the ingroup. It's also a prejudice which is useful for producing precedent for stealing resources from weaker groups, thus preserving a surplus for the strongest collective.

Ultimately, this tendency in humans has existed prior to structured society and organized religion, and it takes a great amount of teaching and practice to restrain this urge. Ultimately religion mostly serves as a channel for this natural tendency of ours. However, the original scripture seems to directly function to reinforce this othering, which makes sense when religion is written by humans.

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nonentity sh.itjust.works nonentity@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2024-06-12
#5 · Quote Reply

Religion is the opiate of the masses, economics is their fentanyl.

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Varesti lemmy.zip Varesti@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2026-08-14
#6 · Quote Reply

I dunno about the rest of the world, but in America, opiates are the opiate of the masses.

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SnoopSqueak lemmy.today SnoopSqueak@lemmy.today
Joined: 2026-07-09
#7 · Quote Reply

Normalized delusion is a deadly problem.

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melsaskca lemmy.ca melsaskca@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2025-03-09
#8 · Quote Reply

If Marx were alive he would approve (while laughing his ass off and picking errant shit out of his big old beard).

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Kyrias lemmy.ca Kyrias@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2026-08-25
#9 · Quote Reply

So many people in this thread misunderstanding the original quote. The image misunderstanding it as well.

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mHtt lemmy.ca mHtt@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2026-08-10
#10 · (edited) Quote Reply

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=91_G8iaokk8

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mHtt lemmy.ca mHtt@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2026-08-10
#11 · (edited) Quote Reply

Is this debatable here? Hate can be empowering as a good amount of hate increases chances that actions are taken. Hate can be felt towards real things. Hate (anger?) is a human emotion that will bottle up and cause problems later on if not dealt with. Religions root cause for existence is control, make believers calm down because karma or something will cause justice. -> I’m less likely to c...

Religions root cause for existence

personally, I believe Religion is a consequence of a feedback loop between the concepts of Marriage and Faith. Marriage provides the next generation of believers and Faith gives the dogma/community for context of raising them to adults. Sprinkle in some environmental stimuli that leans towards more emotion and less criticality and boom: BIBLE BELT.

Faith is still a fiction though, and they promote faith based unenlightened thinking.

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shishka_b0b lemmy.zip shishka_b0b@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2025-06-12
#12 · Quote Reply

So many people in this thread misunderstanding the original quote. The image misunderstanding it as well.

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Kyrias lemmy.ca Kyrias@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2026-08-25
#13 · Quote Reply

Oh shit. Forgot letting people be wrong is the thing to do these days.

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egrets lemmy.world egrets@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-14
#14 · Quote Reply

This has "in this moment I am euphoric" vibes.

I can up with this quote just a few minutes ago

Just to be clear, I'm not a professional 'quote maker'. I'm just an atheist teenager who greatly values his intelligence and scientific fact over any silly fiction book written 3,500 years ago. This being said, I am open to any and all criticism.

'In this moment, I am euphoric. Not because of any phony god's blessing. But because, I am enlightened by my intelligence.'

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shishka_b0b lemmy.zip shishka_b0b@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2025-06-12
#15 · Quote Reply

Oh shit. Forgot letting people be wrong is the thing to do these days.

Not every mistake warrants a correction and you should go watch a Bob Ross video if you disagree. That's beside the point though bc your intention either wasn't to inform or you're really bad at it.

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Kyrias lemmy.ca Kyrias@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2026-08-25
#16 · Quote Reply

Not every mistake warrants a correction and you should go watch a Bob Ross video if you disagree. That's beside the point though bc your intention either wasn't to inform or you're really bad at it.

Nah. Gonna keep doing what I want.

You do you though, boo.

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Malica lemmy.zip Malica@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2026-08-27
#17 · Quote Reply

Outrage and anger give you a good amount of dopamine. That can be exploited, turning you into a radicalized addict desperate for your next fix. To get it, you'll believe something you otherwise wouldn't.

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Shenanigan lemmy.ca mosaic09@lemmy.ca
Joined: 2026-08-24
#18 · Quote Reply

fair. Unless it's that baptist church that promotes hate. They deliver hate and religiosity in a packaged deal

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Talcosis lemmy.zip impairedimperator@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2026-06-03
#19 · Quote Reply

fair. Unless it's that baptist church that promotes hate. They deliver hate and religiosity in a packaged deal

...sorta like a syringe?

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Aqarius lemmy.world Aqarius@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-14
#20 · Quote Reply

If Marx were alive he would approve (while laughing his ass off and picking errant shit out of his big old beard).

I'm not so sure. What people forget is that back in the day, opium was one of the few anaesthetics available. It's why he also called it "the heart of a heartless world".

3
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