In his essay “Contribution to the Critique of Hegel’s Philosophy of Right: Introduction,” Karl Marx described religion as the “opium of the people.” However, as we have learned, religious thinkers have found resources for inspiration within Marx, and Marx’s own appraisals of religion are perhaps more nuanced than his oft-quoted line may indicate. What is Marx’s critique of religion? How do either 1) Gutierrez or 2) West rely on Marxist ideas about the material roots of inequality to propose visions of emancipation?