Is Christianity compatable with Communism

Are Christianity and Communism compatable?

  • Yes

    Votes: 4 26.7%
  • No

    Votes: 10 66.7%
  • Other[specify]

    Votes: 1 6.7%

  • Total voters
    15
  • Poll closed .

Dante the Marxist

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Messages
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Location
Montana
What do you think?

I think that, although the aspects of the religioun such as giving, helping the less fortunate, and selflessness would fit in well, the authoritarian aspect would not work in a Worker's Democracy, and neither would the restrictions on love and expression.

So, what do you think?
 
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There are plenty of examples of the two not being mutually exclusive.
One can certainly be both.
 
What do you think?

I think that, although the aspects of the religioun such as giving, helping the less fortunate, and selflessness would fit in well, the authoritarian aspect would not work in a Worker's Democracy, and neither would the restrictions on love and expression.

So, what do you think?

The Heuterites who came to Canada from Russia were a Christian sect that practiced pure communism in which everything was communally owned. No conflict, they laid up their treasures in Heaven just as Jesus commanded.

The real incompatability lies between Christianity and Capitalism, one is foursquare against greed and the other is based a firm foundation of greed being the best motivating force for human beings.
 
The Heuterites who came to Canada from Russia were a Christian sect that practiced pure communism in which everything was communally owned. No conflict, they laid up their treasures in Heaven just as Jesus commanded.

The real incompatability lies between Christianity and Capitalism, one is foursquare against greed and the other is based a firm foundation of greed being the best motivating force for human beings.

Understood, but my only quarrels with it are that the authoritarian moral restrictions cannot fit in with the democratic society of Communism, and that much of the bible and most other holy books sound like pure fairy tales.
 
Understood, but my only quarrels with it are that the authoritarian moral restrictions cannot fit in with the democratic society of Communism, and that much of the bible and most other holy books sound like pure fairy tales.

Well I can't dispute the... sounds like pure fairy tales part.

But I think that any religion as long as it is kept as one's personal relationship with God can coexist with almost any government structure.

The problem only really arises when one wants to take that religion into the operations of government. Kept separate it is simply one's supernatural spiritual belief.

It's kinda like the old saying... Love is love and money is money. They are two completely different things that when too intertwined can lead to serious problems. But they can also coexist well if kept separate.
 
Understood, but my only quarrels with it are that the authoritarian moral restrictions cannot fit in with the democratic society of Communism, and that much of the bible and most other holy books sound like pure fairy tales.

In the wider perspective you are of course correct, in the smaller religious communities everyone accepted the moral strictures or they left the community altogether.
 
The real incompatability lies between Christianity and Capitalism, one is foursquare against greed and the other is based a firm foundation of greed being the best motivating force for human beings.
I agree. Nevertheless, it never ceases to amaze me that that Conservatives cannot or will not see the conflict.
 
The real incompatability lies between Christianity and Capitalism, one is foursquare against greed and the other is based a firm foundation of greed being the best motivating force for human beings.

I am not sure where in the Christian tradition is says people are not allowed to go out and earn a living. Perhaps you can enlighten me?
 
Jesus was not a prophet of Keynesian economic theory.

Nor was he enamored by the money changers.

What Would Jesus Do?

He would do as he did in his own time. From childhood, Jesus studied the Jewish religious texts and attended the synagogue. For most of his adult life, he earned his living as a carpenter - what today would be considered an honorable, skilled working-class profession. In his old age (and in his time, most people did not live past 40, so at 33 he was an old man), he turned away from his preoccupation with life and living, turned toward the life hereafter, and tried to improve the world as he found it.

He preached a message of love and charity and of the brotherhood of all humankind. He so relentlessly railed against the religious establishment of his day that the scribes and Pharisees plotted and planned a way to permanently get rid of him.

Today he would denounce those who ignore the issues of social justice and those who are unwilling to fight for the rights of all human beings to life lives of dignity. He would especially denounce those who justified their uncharitable actions as the will of God. He would warn the religious establishment, again and again, that they imperil their immortal souls when they ignore issues of social justice, when they sit in their multi-million dollar "Crystal Cathedrals," singing praises to the Almighty, then ignore the starvation of 30,000 people across the world each and every day, and when they demand that, not millions, but BILLIONS, of dollars each year be spent to create a mighty military machine, designed to bring death and suffering into this world.

Jesus would rail against those who profit from religion as he railed against the money changers in the temple. Perhaps he would visit Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, D. James Kennedy, James Dobson, Ralph Reid, or many other of the religious right luminaries, rip their internet line out of the wall, make a whip out of an Internet cable, then proceed to whip the miscreants, to overturn tables, and to trash the place, all the while yelling, "Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father's house a marketplace!"


He also said...

In all who suffer for My name, said Jesus, you are to recognize Me. ... done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye have done it unto Me"! ... All may find something to do. "The poor always ye have with you," (John 12:8), ...
 
“Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas.”
John 18:40 (KJV)

When Christ drove the moneychangers from the temple, that sealed his fate. The Pharisees could put up with a radical teacher who preached selling all one has and giving to the poor; but now he was interfering with business. They had to get rid of him. It would be no different now, for nothing has changed. If Christ returned to earth today, he would be assassinated by Pat Robertson.
 
Since both Lenin and Marx called religion the "opiate of the people", I'd say no, Communism and Christianity are not compatible. Of course, Communism isn't compatible with any other religion, either. Doesn't communism support atheism?
 
I am not sure where in the Christian tradition is says people are not allowed to go out and earn a living. Perhaps you can enlighten me?

There is a difference between making a living by the sweat of your brow and charging all the market will bear. Capitalism is a greed-based system, advertising enflames the greed and dissatisfaction; charity, kindness, compassion, and love of others goes right out the window and you have giant corporations selling poison in addictive little sticks to children. You end up with vast fortunes being made by people who profit off war. How many examples do you need? The banks that just stole billions from some of the poorest people in the country? The credit card companies adding fees and charging usurious interest rates? How many homeless and hungry people are there in this country? Why did Reagan turn out the inmates of mental institutions? Why do hospitals and cities give free rides to people to get rid of them? How many people were lied to by lending institutions and now are losing their homes because of it?

Christianity and Capitalism are antithetical.
 
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Since both Lenin and Marx called religion the "opiate of the people", I'd say no, Communism and Christianity are not compatible. Of course, Communism isn't compatible with any other religion, either. Doesn't communism support atheism?

Yes, but I am more aiming at the main concepts that the two share in common, such as selflessness, loving your fellow man, and aiding the less-fortunate.
 
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