You know, I have to say, any time I read that quote, I never really took it as being pro or anti religion. I always took it as like, an observation and as a piece of info to use for good or evil. 

Like, you know the part in anchorman where that girl is like “I have a piece of information you can choose to use or not use: Ron will read anything you put up on the TelePrompTer, and when I say anything, I mean eh-neh-theh-nguh” and then Veronica corningstone decides to do the whole “go fuck yourself San Diego”?

Thats kind of how I took this quote when ever I read it. Like Marx was saying that religion is the opiate of the masses, and you can manipulate the masses (for good or bad, unity or division, destroying or creating a govt etc etc) with religion. And then ending the quote with, but editing it out later, ‘im just sayin..’

I totally see how it can be taken all sorts of wrong ways, but that’s how I always saw the quote. Although, admittedly, I hadn’t seen it in its original context until recently.