Nice bit of Marxism there. Sort of "religion being the opiate of the masses".
It may be for some but religion is also,at the human level, an attempt to make sense of life and death and the world.
I can recall, when I was doing Nasho as an eighteen year old in the 1960's, some of the "philosophical" discussions we indulged in to help fill in the time.
There was about twelve in our platoon and as there was nothing else much to do on the evenings, we used to lie on our bunks til lights out discussing all sorts of things. I don't think any one had much of a formal association with religion but I remember a few nights when there were some heated (like HC) debates. Some of these would end up with an invitation to settle it outside.
One young bloke, who was rough as guts, (his name was Kneebone; he was kiiled when he decapitated himself by riding his motor bike under a semi a few years later) would invariably end up telling us he just couldn't believe, "you lived this life then there was nothing after that".
Now eighteen year olds I know aren't as cynical as old fellows, but I would suggest that it is considerations like that, rather than a Marxist analysis, that are drivers of a desire for religion and a "spiritual" dimension to life.
