General Discussion
Showing Original Post only (View all)WaPo Guest Columnist - "From Jesus’ socialism to capitalistic Christianity" - Great Read! [View all]
The phenomena of how Christianity became pro-capitalistism is rarely discussed. Instead, it is taken as canon by the mainstream media that Evangelical Christians and free marketeers happily co-exist under the Republican banner. However, if anyone has read the Bible, as I was required to do as a child, was is amazing is how socialistic many of its passages appear to be. I am not even talking about the passages that slam the rich such as those saying it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of the needle then for a rich man to enter the kingdom of god.
My take is that Republican ownership of the religious right is classic case of folks making god in their image, rather than the other way around. How else can the right wing happily embrace the contradictory views of Ayn Rand, who was an outspoken atheist, while also currying favor with the religious right. I would love to see Christian reclaim the Bible from those who use it defend capitalism and the exploitation of the poor.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/guest-voices/post/from-jesus-socialism-to-capitalistic-christianity/2011/08/12/gIQAziaQBJ_blog.html
But to understand just how non-capitalistic Christianity is supposed to be we turn to the first chapter after the gospels, Acts, which describes the events of the early church. Chapters 2 and 4 state that all the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had . There were no needy persons among them. From time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need.
Now folks, thats outright socialism of the type described millennia later by Marx - who likely got the general idea from the gospels.
The pro-capitalist Christians who are aware of these passages wave them away even though it is the only explicit description of Christian economics in the Bible.
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