...or at least his teachings seem to be considerably more consistent with socialist ideology than capitalist ideology.
So how come there aren't more Christian socialists?
After all the side-tracking -the answer should be obvious to anyone who really understands the teachings of Jesus. Since it is the individual who will be judged by God -and not what system of government he happens to live under -His teachings apply ONLY to the individual and not a non-human entity. His teachings urge the individual to voluntarily do the right thing by each other and by God. If a government removes that choice and does it for him -it has absolutely no meaning to God. So what's the point?
That is not the individual who has done it. It is a faceless, non-human entity that removed choice from the individual -and let's be honest here. Communist governments have a long brutal history of NOT doing the right thing by their own people anyway -more than 70 million died in the last half of the last century alone as a direct result of communism -and some estimate it is actually closer to 250 million. So it isn't as if it has this admirable warm and fuzzy record. Communism has a history that has repeatedly proven it simply cannot succeed and invariably fails. And proven that any future attempt to create one will also only result in failure. It has its own built-in fatal flaw that insures it will fail -every single time. It is doomed even before a new communist government is in place.
No one is going to get communism "right" if they are just given one more chance because it is the very premise of communism that insures its own failure. Any system that is based on the ridiculous notion that people actually believe the sole purpose of their existence is to serve the faceless masses over their own welfare cannnot succeed. People don't function that way in life and cannot be FORCED to do so indefinitely. They also can't have that basic trait of mankind eliminated by being sent to "re-education camps". Being concerned with one's own welfare and the welfare of their loved ones is an inherent part of the survival instinct of man -and every living creature has a survival instinct.
So where in the teachings of Jesus does He ever ONCE teach it is the right thing for the individual to be stripped of the CHOICE to do the right thing and to try and exist under a system only fit for an ant colony? Communism and socialism are antithetical to Christianity BECAUSE Christianity emphasizes the personal responsibility of the individual. Communism doctrine flat out says the individual doesn't matter at all and only exists to serve the greater good. But find me ANY person who actually believes the only purpose for his existence is to serve the greater good of the faceless masses -and not to have a purposeful life of his own -as HE defines it, not a faceless government. Even Mother Theresa believed her work would be rewarded in heaven and it only had value to God because she CHOSE to do it.
Jesus never ONCE taught that people only exist to serve the greater good and that is not the reason God created them either. We are not here to serve man's purposes, the will of the masses or any other such notion. Communism doctrine says individualism is to be discouraged and considered a social ill, just like prostitution and alcoholism -and that just is NOT consistent with Christianity and several other religions as well. Which is undoubtedly why communist governments invariably try to squelch the religious beliefs of its own citizens.
The individual will never be judged on the grounds of what system of government he lived. And since I know for a fact that I am not going to be judged by whether I lived under communism, socialism or capitalism -I prefer living under a system that has actually acknowledged the inherent traits of people -while figuring out how best to exploit those traits for the greater good.
I'm not quite as hardcore about capitalism as Ayn Rand, who experienced firsthand what life was like under communism -but I have to give her some credit for helping me understand the real value of the system I live under. Her book
The Virtue of Selfishness explains why altruism is NOT the ultimate moral value (which is the assumption of communism and socialism) and why it never can be, why any system that premises its own existence on that can only fail and is most likely to only produce a higher level of misery for its own citizens. She explains the inherent failure that dooms such a system to collapse and that it is because it REJECTS the REAL traits of mankind. She explains why she believed that the real ultimate moral value that truly DOES exist and cannot be "re-educated" out of mankind, the one that actually produces the most for the greater good - is the individual being concerned with his own well-being first. Which may help you understand why it was a Christian who first said "God helps those who help themselves." -a statement that is consistent with Christianity. Rand explains why systems that understand this and exploit it, are not only preferable, but the ones that produce the most benefit for the greater good.
