Is the Christian religion by nature socialistic?

Kinda seems that way to me.

 

Leo XIII criticized to Europe's early Marxist movement, predicting that "The Socialists, working on the poor man's envy of the rich, endeavor to destroy private property, and maintain that individual possessions should become the common property of all, to be administered by the State... But their proposals are so clearly futile for all practical purposes, that if they were carried out the working man himself would be among the first to suffer."

He extends his comments noting that the socialists "act against natural justice and threaten the very existence of family life. And such interference... is quite certain to... subject [all citizens] to odious and intolerable slavery... Ideal equality--of which so much is said--would, in reality, be the leveling down of all to the same condition of misery and dis-honor.

Thus it is clear that the main tenet of Socialism, the community of goods, must be utterly rejected; for it would injure those whom it is intended to benefit, it would be contrary to the natural rights of mankind, and it would introduce confusion and disorder into the commonwealth." One can only shudder at the cost in human lives and misery that mankind has suffered for not affording greater attention to these words at the time.

From Michael Novak's "Catholic Ethic And The Spirit Of Capitalism"

 

It does?

Doesn't to me, I guess one of has a problem understand the difference between people using their wealth to help others and people not having any wealth at all because everything is owned by everyone. I wonder which of us has that problem.

 

Not in the least.

 

The two philosophies do have many similarities. Both place the highest value on altruism and selflessness and both consider money an evil necessity (well, to be sure, the Marxist idea of utopia, from my understanding, requires no form of currency). Both philosophies reject the value of self-interested motivation, and both demand that each person help their fellow human before themselves.

Where the idealogies split seems to be at the fundamental level of implementation. The whole idea of living a Christian life is that God gave you free will and allows you to choose to live well and reap the rewards in the hereafter, or choose not to live well and be punished in the afterlife. Socialism, conversely, seeks to coerce society as a whole, via the power of government (or society, or "the people", or whatever label you prefer) to live in a financially selfless manner in that the fruits of no man's labor are there's alone, but are shared by society as a whole.

I think the primary difference is the presence of an afterlife concept. Where Christianity has the luxury of being able to reward or punish outside of this life, no coercion of the living is necessarily required to enforce the desired behaviors. With socialism, no afterlife is officially recognized, and so the rewards and punishments have to deal with the living. Thus the standard government responses to criminal activity loom for those who won't go along with the system, and the rewards are (in a working socialism) that all persons' basic needs will be met and all persons, by default, will live a life that people of like philosophy consider morally just.

 

there is nothing in any book of the bible that I am aware of that mandates the government control of the means of production.

 

It's the other way around. The roots of socialism are based in Christianity.

However, the Church has condemned the 'progressive socialist movement' (that's pretty much the Democrats) for its replacement of God with secular greed.

 

I think I'm RIGHT in saying that LEO was PRO-NAZI..enough SAID.tl

 

For even when we were with you, this we commanded you, that if any would not work, neither should he eat.

2 Thessalonians 3:10
King James Bible (Cambridge Ed.)​

Yeah, not so much.

 

There is something horribly inane about you and your comments......"the Democrats"...."Replacement of GOD with secular GREED"

You could make the same arguement about the "Church" itself and/or Republicans....You need educating because by your myopic conservative thought and negative attitude towards everything and everyone,shows how shallow you are as a person. I find you totally self opinionated and totally repugnant...TOTALLY.

You are uneducated.

I'm being nice today,so think yourself lucky.tl "always keeping the bastards honest"