Posted on 02/22/2019 7:26:57 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Dear Chuck,
In his State of the Union Address, President Trump declared that “America will never be a socialist nation.” Some say the Bible supports socialism. Does the Bible support it or any other specific economic system?
Unsocial
Dear Unsocial,
I’m glad you asked, because I fear many people are supporting an economic philosophy they really don’t understand. To many, it sounds good on the surface, maybe even compassionate and fair, a way to close the income inequalities that exist. In reality, it is none of those.
Remember, Robin Hood is a fairy tale. It should never be attempted as an economic system and it is certainly not supported in Scripture. God’s Word prohibits taking from the rich and poor alike.
Daniel J. McLaughlin, columnist with Townhall Finance, recently argued that those who endorse socialism are naïve; they have never studied its history or lived under it:
It is not just an alternative form of government. It is a different way of life, one that is entirely incompatible with what Americans take for granted, the inalienable rights to life, liberty, and property, which have set the backdrop for the amazing economic development and progress.
Margaret Thatcher warned that the problem with socialism is that “you eventually run out of other people’s money.”
I have heard it said that socialism truly does usher in equality: equal misery for all.
Venezuela’s Misery and Socialism
Dr. Anne Bradley, with the Institute for Faith, Work & Economics, identified how Venezuela Took the Fastest Route to Poverty, in an article released February 1, 2019.
Eliminating prices and making things free or nearly free is the fastest road to poverty and ruin. Making something free doesn’t make it less scarce. It just means we have to find another way to finance those free things.
Printing money to finance the “free things” in Venezuela resulted in hyperinflation. Prices are needed, Bradley defends: “They are powerful market signals. Policies aiming to eliminate them are the surest, quickest way to poverty.”
Frank Vernuccio, in an article posted on January 17, 2019 in The Affluent Investor states that “Venezuela adopted socialism – the very same brand being promoted here in America.” He cites an article at the Mises Institute written by two Venezuelans, who explain this reality:
Ultimately, the lesson we learned is that socialism never, ever works…It was very common during the years we suffered under Hugo Chavez to hear these pundits and economists on TV saying that this time, socialism is being done right. This time, the Venezuelans figured it out. They were, and are wrong.
Socialism is Not Biblically Supported
Having traveled the world, I’ve witnessed the devastation of socialism and communism. People struggle to overcome barriers that their governments impose and suffer as many of their resources are taken from them. They lose the incentive to work which is contrary to God’s plan for us. Inevitably, systems that are centrally controlled are corrupted, leading to widespread economic pain.
Issues like debt, lack of margin, and no motivation arise instead of financial freedom, generosity, and biblical ambition.
The Bible teaches that God gives resources to people, to individuals with private ownership and personal responsibility, and holds them accountable for stewarding these resources. The ability to work and steward our gain is a tremendous privilege in a free society where one can achieve according to their desire to work.
The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” (Genesis 2:15 ESV)
In all toil there is profit, but mere talk tends only to poverty. (Proverbs 14:23 ESV)
If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. (1 Thessalonians 3:10)
A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest, and poverty will come upon you like a robber, and want like an armed man. (Proverbs 24:33-34 ESV)
In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’” (Acts 20:35 ESV)
Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ. (Colossians 3:23 ESV)
Work brings dignity and joy. It benefits the family and society, and provides the means of giving to others who cannot work. Economies where individual work and achievement are not rewarded will eventually collapse; dishonesty, greed, pride, and immorality will take over.
Last Thanksgiving, Jerry Bowyer shared how the pilgrims discovered abundance after a period of socialism and starvation. Decades later, our founding fathers, aware of the destruction caused by unleashed political power, created a limited government based on a constitution. The separation of powers, complete with checks and balances, were an attempt to protect the citizens of America. Private property rights and the freedom to enjoy personal advancement are supported by the 10 Commandments.
Although we hear a lot about socialism today, America does not need it. What we need is a return to the Biblical values that support capitalistic freedom governed by transformed hearts in a people that are willing to generously care for their neighbor.
It is easy to say we want someone else to care for our neighbor; it is hard to take that responsibility personally. But God said that along with our freedom to prosper is our responsibility to extend kindness by caring and sharing. Taking from others to achieve equality is not the right way or God’s way.
In the Robin Hood story, the rich were the ruling class who were getting wealthy off of taxes.
The current equivalent of Robin Hood today would be those who fight for reducing the taxes.
Christ turned over the tax tables. Nuf said.
Democrats created the IRS tax tables. That is unbiblical devil’s work.
Both God and Christ (after all, they are one in the same) are disinterested in the structures and affairs of men with men. They are disinterested in the form of legislatures, PTA groups, neighborhood groups, school boards, tax rates, public vs private schools, strong vs weak county executive forms, elected vs appointed school boards, minimum wages, free markets, government price controls, and all other structures and power of men among men.
God and Christ are solely interested in your acceptance and following and obedience, and your salvation.
To be sure, Jesus wants you to love your neighbor, and all but makes it a demand that you love your neighbor. I’ll concede to those who say this is a demand.
Nowhere in the Bible does God or Christ weigh-in on the matter (much less advocate) of the following:
— Neighbor A votes for politician P
— Who creates a state armed enforcement body
— And a state tax collection service
— And produces taxing legislation
— For the seizure of wealth + labor + property
— from Neighbors B, C, and also A (perhaps)
— And for further legislation
— which transfers this wealth, labor, and property
— to Neighbors D, E, F, G, H and returns some to C and A
— which in turn induces
— a standing political party
— which advocates compassion and kindness and Jesus
— and also the theft and confiscation of wealth
— albeit by popular vote
— which bases its power on the seizure of wealth,
property and labor from certain categories of
neighbors in order to transfer it to other
categories of neighbor
Jesus said zero about this.
In any event, Jesus was disinterested in this sort of thing, except that he was aware of and did not like persons who abused their power to steal from the weak and otherwise abuse the weak. The Democratic Party is an example of this exploitative villain. Socialism and its variants is the MO of the Dems.
Freedom is the most valuable of all human possessions, next after life itself. It is more valuable, in a manner, than even 'health. No human agency can secure health; but good laws, justly administered, can and do secure freedom. Freedom, indeed, is almost the only thing that law can secure. Law II cannot secure equality, nor can it secure prosperity. In the direction of equality, all that law can do is to secure fair play, which is equality of rights but is not equality of conditions. In the direction of prosperity, all that law can do is to keep the road open. That is the Quintessence of Individualism, and it may fairly challenge comparison with that Quintessence of Socialism we have been discussing. Socialism, disguise it how we may, is the negation of Freedom. That it is so, and that it is also a scheme not capable of producing even material comfort in exchange for the abnegation of Freedom, I think the foregoing considerations amply prove. EDWARD STANLEY ROBERTSON." - Liberty Fund Library "A Plea for Liberty: An Argument Against Socialism and Socialistic Legislation," edited by Thomas Mackay (1849 - 1912), Chapter 1
“Don’t steal.”
Deuteronomy 5 and Exodus 20.
Heaven is a dictatorship where there is no private ownership of property.
But trying to recreate heaven on earth will always fail. Because apart from God there is no heaven.
Mathew 20:15
Don’t I have a right to do what I want with my own money.
No it isn’t, and even if it were, it would be wrong.
That verse is actually 2nd Thessalonians.
No. Proverbs is pretty clear about sloths and hard workers.
One that you never apparently read.
Robin Hood was about a guy who thought the government and church were taxing the people beyond their limit to pay.
So he began to give unauthorized tax refunds.
"The Socialist - the extreme and revolutionary party of Socialists - are very fond of telling us they are reviving in modern days the best principles of the Christian era. They consider they are the political embodiment of Christianity, though, to judge by the language which some of them use and the spirit of envy, hatred, and malice with which they go about their work, you would hardly imagine they had studied the teaching of the Founder of Christianity with the attention they profess to have given to the subject. - (Hear, hear.) But there is one great difference between Socialists of the Christian era and those of which Mr Victor Grayson is the apostle. The Socialism of the Christian era was based on the idea that "all mine is yours', but the Socialism of Mr Grayson is based on the idea that 'all yours is mine'. — Winston Churchill, January 22, 1908
The most famous socialist was Judas Iscariot.
When Mary, the sister of Lazarus, anointed Jesus with costly perfume just days before the crucifixion, Judas lectured her and said, “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor?”
Notice that Judas put on a show of caring for the poor - even though the money was Mary’s, not his!
The motives of Judas, John 12:6 tells us, were corrupt and self-centered - and Jesus responded with a stinging rebuke.
“This he said, not that he cared for the poor; but because he was a thief, and had the bag, and bare what was put therein.”
Which gets to the heart of socialism:
Envy disguised as altruism.
Judas was not concerned about the poor, he wanted money.
That sounds familiar. :-)
Exactly. Also, “Don’t covet” from the same chapters.
Socialist schemes seek to deny human nature and its tendency to evil and sin. Those who promote them think wrongly that the government can make us perfect. It is the embodiment of Anti-Christian thought
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