[Telepathic Intruder]

"Often the bible does verge into what looks like a leftist screed"

Yes, but the leftist screed is missing one vital component. Something similar to communism can work just fine as long as you have a benevolent tyrant running things. But you can't have that in a worldly system, even if you found the perfect dictator, because government is constantly changing hands.

And also, I sometimes hear people say "Jesus was a socialist", because they've taken one or two of his statements out of context. "Render under Caesar what is Caesar's", or "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of Heaven". There is a deeper meaning behind these statements than they realize, however. But one thing is certain: Jesus never suggested we replace God with the state, which is the ultimate goal of socialism.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Does that render those portions of scripture into a dead letter?

I say no. They describe what should be church behavior today. Now IS it common church behavior? I daresay no. That’s how socialism got a welcome in America. People who remembered the old church fondly accepted a vacuum filler of any kind.

[HiTech RedNeck]

And people who say they want a Christianized government don’t think it through well. That is going to need some benevolent side. A rough consensus under God will do, but it isn’t going to look like unmitigated utter raw materialism.