Is Socialism/Communism Based In Christianity?
Word-Of-The-Day: ‘(1) But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. (2) Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.’ (2 Peter 2:1-2)
The worst scourge of the 20th century has been socialism/communism. From the teaching of Karl Marx’s ‘Communist Manifesto’ of the late 1800s; Lenin’s Soviet Union, Franco’s Spain, Mussolini’s Italy, Hitler’s Nazi Germany, Mao’s ‘Red’ China, and Castro’s Cuba, and many others in Eastern Europe, South America, and Africa have followed the blueprint Marx laid out.
This blueprint has resulted in great anguish for the people, in terms of physical, provisional, and economic security. In the 20th century, sixty-one million people died during the reign of the Soviet Union, eighty-seven million died through Mao’s ‘Great Leap Forward’ in China. Two million perished in the late 1970’s in Cambodia during the ‘Year Zero’ reset by the Khmer Rouge, and an estimated ten million victims have been claimed in the other communist regimes.
Socialism and communism claim to be the pathway to ‘Utopia’, a setting where people, according to Marx, “From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs“. In theory, this sounds poetically well intended for a populace, but in practice it removes the incentive to work; it is a system that rewards people to do the least amount of effort as it is based on equality of outcome. When those who are high achievers find their accomplishments are rewarded the same as those who are low achievers, their motivation is removed, and thus begins a spiral downward from a productive society to one focused on consumption.
The number one cause of the estimated one-hundred-fifty million deaths under communism in the 20th century was famine. People either lost the will to produce (or lost their farms to produce) sufficient quantities of food, and the people starved. Those who had chosen to show individual initiative to do more, in order to gain more, were also ‘purged’ as ‘contrarian to the needs of the proletariat’. This included those who were educated, were entrepreneurs, or even had ‘side crops’ to provide for their families. Those who had these tendencies were outright killed or sent to ‘reeducation camps’, often never to return ‘reeducated’.
In order to maintain the rules of communism, in addition to the purges, communist countries attempted to remove religion from their people. China greatly restricts any religion, including their traditional Confucianism and Buddhism. North Korea forbids any religion except for the ‘worship’ of their Great Leaders of the Kim dynasty. The Soviet Union had closed Orthodox churches until World War II, when Josef Stalin opened them in order to rally the people against the Germans invading from the west.
Christianity is a threat to communism and socialism (a lighter ‘gateway’ system toward communism) as it shifts the focus of the people from the controlling state system to Jesus. A Believer in Christ does not focus on the state but on Him and His teachings, which is not forced compulsion to communal works but to work to pursue the love of God, self, and others. While Jesus never focused on economic systems for us to follow, He has always desired we come together for the benefit of each other in His family, and sharing His Gospel message to all to encourage them to join as well.
Some proponents of communism point to the communal actions of the early church as written in Acts 4:32, ‘No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had’, or the Parable of the Talents in Matthew 25, as Jesus provides in Matthew 25:15, where the wealthy man provides three men various amounts of gold coins to invest, ‘each according to their ability’, as Christianity supporting communism.
That is simply not true; the principles of Christianity are based on free will, the desire to follow Jesus by choice, not forced compulsion. The early members of the church shared out of the love they had for their fellow members; the Parable of the Talents ends with the two men who did their best to increase their master’s investment in them were blessed, while the one who did the least was cursed.
Jesus rewards those who do the most effort for the cause of His Kingdom, according to their abilities. It is not by the equality of outcomes as we are all different, both strengthened and handicapped by our individual characteristics and environment. Each of us have different talents, amount of wealth, and time available to accomplish what we desire for the Lord. A retired person will have more available time to share the Gospel than a person working a stressful occupation, and an older couple with no children may have more available resources to share than a younger couple with several children to take care of. But all can give time, treasures, and talents in accordance to their ability to do so.
Capitalism is not endorsed by Jesus, but it is the best economic system we have as it is based on free will and a person’s ability and desire to achieve their goals. It best serves those who apply maximum effort. The sin of greed often derails some of the benefits of capitalism, but those who do not succumb to greed are generous in what they charitably share with others; their church, Christian charities, and those who are less fortunate and need assistance.
Today we see the growth of socialism popping up throughout the United States and the world. Socialism is not the panacea that leads to ‘Utopia’ but instead leads to squalor, ruin, and death. Those who espouse its benefits may be sincere with good intentions, but good intentions often lead to terrible consequences. Pray for the Holy Spirit to lead you who you should Righteously choose in the upcoming elections, as we will collectively elect the candidates who we desire, and thus elect the candidates who we deserve.
