Was Jesus a socialist? (1 Viewer)

[ILuvMySaintsBaby]

I never understood how a lot of conservatives are very religious but despise socialism so much, when Jesus himself preached socialist ideals. Just to be clear this is not intended to offend anyone and I apologize if it comes off that way.

 

[ArmoredNOSaint]

To me, I think Jesus represents something that cannot be pigeon-holed by ideology or party affiliation.

 

[SaintsBrazil]

From a friends blog:

Conservatism often has the right moral perspective and Liberalism often has the right social perspective, but the problem is both are self-serving and they are pushing an agenda but has forged Christ’s signature on the bottom line. Jesus doesn’t approve of Capitalism and He doesn’t disapprove of Socialism, He doesn’t disapprove of Capitalism nor approve of Socialism.

http://www.lionelwoods.net/2010/03/god-is-not-socialistic-capitalistic-democratic-nor-a-communist/

 

[Dre]

I don't remember reading about Jesus teaching about government systems. Then again I am a Catholic and we don't spend much time reading the Bible.

 

[SebaSaint]

Was Jesus a Socialist? No, but he is the reason for the season...

 

[FLIPPY]

No, I think he was a Libertarian...He really hated government....

 

[SebaSaint]

I never understood how a lot of conservatives are very religious but despise socialism so much, when Jesus himself preached socialist ideals. Just to be clear this is not intended to offend anyone and I apologize if it comes off that way.

what exactly are these "Socialist Ideals" you speak of?

(full disclosure, I'm a conservative)

 

[Det. Brees]

what exactly are these "Socialist Ideals" you speak of?

please do tell, i want to hear this.lus-un2:

 

[lapaz]

I've always thought that he was a Socialist. Socialism is villified because of its association with Communism, and because it doesn't lead to prosperity in a society, but it is unquestionably the most compassionate system of government. Jesus was all about compassion, so his ideals were aligned with socialist ideals. In our selfishness and greed, we desire wealth. However, indirectly Capitalism leads to many positive advances, which can improve everyone's life, since those advances lead to wealth. I think Jesus would want us to be as socialist as possible, however in the real world we know that pure socialism would probably lead to the society crumbling. I don't know if Jesus would realize the danger to society as other non-socialist societies advance, and then concede that some capitalism is needed to motivate people to advance the society, but Jesus was an idealist, so somehow I doubt it.

 

[dagimlet]

He was an atheist.

 

[ILuvMySaintsBaby]

“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after they have erred from faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness."

"Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon which is not? For riches certainly makes themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven"

"If thou will be perfect, go and sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me."

"Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God"

 

[Mr. Blue Sky]

Jesus taught us that u should never, EVER give someone a fish-- U should only teach them how to fish and if the fish aren't biting that day, then screw 'em, they're on their own.


Conservative

 

[SaintsBrazil]

“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after they have erred from faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness."

"Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon which is not? For riches certainly makes themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven"

"If thou will be perfect, go and sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me."

"Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God"

1 Timothy 6:10
???
Matthew 19:21
Matthew 19:24

 

[SebaSaint]

Jesus was all about compassion, so his ideals were aligned with socialist ideals. .

LOL wut? I'll fix that for you: Socialists are all about compassion so their ideals are aligned with Jesus' ideals.... I think that's what you wanted to say because clearly one came before the other.

Compassion isn't owned by socialists btw. I would argue that compassion is a human trait and people have different ideas on how to go about giving out that compassion.

 

[SebaSaint]

“For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after they have erred from faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness."

"Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon which is not? For riches certainly makes themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven"

"If thou will be perfect, go and sell what thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me."

"Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God"

-- Although liberal families' incomes average 6 percent higher than those of conservative families, conservative-headed households give, on average, 30 percent more to charity than the average liberal-headed household ($1,600 per year vs. $1,227).

-- Conservatives also donate more time and give more blood.

-- Residents of the states that voted for John Kerry in 2004 gave smaller percentages of their incomes to charity than did residents of states that voted for George Bush.

-- Bush carried 24 of the 25 states where charitable giving was above average.

-- In the 10 reddest states, in which Bush got more than 60 percent majorities, the average percentage of personal income donated to charity was 3.5. Residents of the bluest states, which gave Bush less than 40 percent, donated just 1.9 percent.

-- People who reject the idea that "government has a responsibility to reduce income inequality" give an average of four times more than people who accept that proposition.

Brooks demonstrates a correlation between charitable behavior and "the values that lie beneath" liberal and conservative labels. Two influences on charitable behavior are religion and attitudes about the proper role of government.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/03/conservatives_more_liberal_giv.html