If
Right-Wing Christians Accuse the Pope of Being a Communist, Would
They Accuse Jesus of the Same?
By
Rev. Paul J. Bern
By
now many of you already know about comments that Pope Francis made
this past week during his tour of South America about his views on
capitalism, calling extreme cases of inequality and obscene profits
at the expense of millions, “the dung of the devil”. Religious
conservatives from North America, Western Europe and Australia, all
of which are the economic centers of capitalism, and particularly the
United States, have derided the pope's comment unanimously, calling
him a Communist or a “commie”. It looks to me like the top 1% of
the global economic pecking order just gave themselves away by doing
so. By bombarding the pope with all kinds of insults and sarcastic
comments, they have shown their true colors. They are idolaters, and
the god they worship is money. Jesus himself said it best: “No
one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the
other, or he will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot
serve both God and Money.” (Matthew 6: 24 NIV)
They've
decided that the Pope is a "Marxist," pointing out that
Francis speaks often about "the structural causes of poverty,"
the "idolatry of money" and the "new tyranny of
unfettered capitalism”. Obviously, say the Pontiff's pious critics,
that's commie talk. The clincher for them was when Francis wrote an
exhortation in which he asked in outrage: "How can it be that it
is not a news item when an elderly homeless person dies of exposure,
but it is news when the stock market loses two points?" See,
cried the carpers, that's proof that Francis is the Red Pope! But
wait – I'm not a Catholic, but that was a very good question he
asked, one ripe with the moral wrath that Jesus himself frequently
showed toward the callous rich and their "love of money."
Indeed, the Pope's words ring with the deep ethics you find in Jesus'
Sermon on the Mount and in his admonitions to serve the poor. Would
they call Jesus a commie, too? Probably.
The
apostle James set the record straight for all Christians when he
wrote, “The brother in humble circumstances ought to take pride
in his high position. But the one who is rich should take pride in
his low position, because he will pass away like a wild flower. For
the sun rises with its scorching heat and withers the plant; its
blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich
man will fade away even as he goes about his business.” (James 1,
verses 9, 10 and 11 NIV) This,
to say the least, is a far cry from capitalism and all the trappings
of bounteous wealth. Let's not forget the comments Jesus made about
this when He said, “Those who exalt themselves will be
humbled, but they who humble themselves will be exalted”;
and again it is written, “The last shall be first, and
the first last.”
The
early church embraced these values without reservation, as it is
written, “They devoted themselves to the teaching and to the
apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread
and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and
miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were
together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and
goods, they gave to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to
meet together in the Temple courts. They broke bread in their homes
and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and
enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added daily to
their number those that were being saved.” (Acts 2, verses 42-47
NIV) OK, let's ask ourselves a
simple question – does the passage of Scripture above resemble
capitalism? The obvious answer is, not in the slightest. We live in
an age of instant everything, including every form of merchandise one
can think of. We can even go onto social media and make instant
friends if we want. In a way, we have lost some of the face-to-face
contact that was commonplace less than a generation ago. But that's
only what I'm seeing on the surface. As I look down into the depth
and substance of the above Bible quote as opposed to capitalism, I'm
seeing everything and everyone in common with each other. This has
been tried before in American history with the hippie communes of the
1960's and '70's. Although there are a few still in existence today,
most of them are gone now. I think the main reason is that they had
everything in common like Acts chapter 2, but they left Jesus out of
the equation for their success.
Let
me give you all one more example of this, which can be found in 2nd
Corinthians chapter 8, verses 13-15, and I quote: “Our
desire is not that others may be relieved while you are hard pressed,
but that there might be equality. At the present time your plenty
will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply
what you need. Then there will be equality, as it is written: 'He who
gathered much did not have too much, and he who gathered little did
not have too little'.” Of
course, the right-wingers will vehemently declare, “That's
socialism! That's a threat to the American way of life!” You've
heard all that before, but consider that that's the same as saying
that Christianity is a 'clear and present danger' to capitalism and
democracy. Based on this fact, that's like calling Jesus a threat to
America and to capitalism. But isn't that exactly what the global
elitists are saying? All for us and nothing for you, does that not
reflect their attitude?
Never
mind, say the 1%-ers! Their rightist viewpoint is that diabolical
liberals – such as Marxists or Democratic Socialists like
presidential candidate Bernie Sanders – are out to ban capitalism
entirely. Just think – if that were to occur, greed would no longer
be in style. And that's always a good thing. The apostle James wrote
passionately about this in his letter to the churches: “Now
listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is
coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your
clothes. Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will
testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded
wealth in the Last Days. Look! The wages you failed to pay the
workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries
of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. You
have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened
yourselves in the day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered
innocent men who were not opposing you.” James 5: 1-6 NIV)
Does this sound a lot like capitalism to you? Doesn't this read like
a description of the future American prison-industrial complex? Has
anyone reading this ever performed work for which they did not get
paid? Or have you ever completed work for which you were eventually
paid, but not until weeks or even months later? I have experienced
all of the above, and I seriously doubt that I am alone in having
such experiences with employers. Welcome to capitalism 21st
century style, where 'we the people' have been reduced to economic
slavery. Wages are stagnant and unrealistically low. Low pay is not
OK. Those who went on strike for a $15.00 per hour minimum wage were
a lot closer to being scriptural than they realized. By the same
token, many of the globalist elites who keep wages artificially low
and trample on our Constitutional rights are far closer to being
demonic than they care to acknowledge.
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