Is Christianity a more fluffy form of communism?

Question

Well, we are all equal in the eyes of God aparently... and isn't that what communism teaches?

and if so, since communism beleives are totally against religion isn't that a contradiction int he similarity.

Answer 1

Good question! I have to say that the IDEALS of Christianity and Communism, as laid out in the Gospels and Marxs' manifesto, have loads in common. The golden rule "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" applies in both and day to day life under the pure ethic of either (from each according to his ability, to each according to his need) would be very similar. I know that the application of both ideals has been flawed, but that is people for you! I visited the ruins of one of the earliest settlements of Christians in Turkey, at Goreme valley, where living accommodation was individual for sleeping but communal for everything else (work, eating etc). Communist indeed.

But where they part is that communism is an intellectual exercise only, saying only man is important and how to organise mankind - true Christianity comes from the heart and looks at what is bigger than man, relating to the eternal. What each wants for the individual is different and Marx called for violent struggle, where Christ only allows people to sacrifice themselves.
Regards, Steve.

Answer 2

Why yes, it is like communism's ideal state, all people working at their peak for their fellow man, sharing everything in common, no concept of property ownership, "taxes" are willingly given as donations for social programs. Great point. Churches are engines of productivity for their communities, most all of their efforts being volunteer and for a greater cause.

The problem is when this system is forced upon people. All it takes is for the idea of social loafing to set in, and you end up with some of the poorest countries in the world. Government can never be the facilitator of communism. When it does, it becomes God, having its own power over life and death, and when its own "religion" is science (after all, God cannot exist if government itself is God), man then becomes carbon life-forms and death is cheap. Communication is cut off. The government tells you what you must think because it is your new mommy. Religion has a parallel there too, with its "believe the way I do or you'll go to Hell" thinking, and sometimes a lack of dialogue with other faiths, but the important difference is that religion cannot be forced on a particular society. A government with power to enforce this type of thinking is dangerous, which is why I agree (to an extent) with separation of church and state.

Answer 3

Communism is like an attempt to have Christian community without Christ. In Christianity we are supposed to live as if everything we own belongs to Jesus, and to use it or the good of others. In Acts 2, after the addition of 3,000 people from all parts of The Roman Empire joining the Church, people sold possessions to ensure that these newcomers could be housed and fed. We are to show mercy and hospitality, ensuring that no-one in the Church is in need. In that respect it is something like Communism. However, where Communism tried to dictate how people should live, Christianity shows how people can be changed to give the same results, a community where everyone is cared for.

Answer 4

Define Christianity. As practised today it appears to be more and more like a white supremacist cult. Go back to the teachings of Jesus and you'll discover that he was a socialist. Do not confuse socialism with communism or new labour.

Answer 5

Christianity not only makes us all equal but also we become part of the family of God with God being our Father. This is way ahead of communism which does not work and has faded away. Christainity is here now and forever.

Answer 6

Nope you are not. The priest and the Pope is closer to the God than you are.


But the Flying Spaghetti Monster touches all equally with his Noodly Appendages.

Answer 7

>>>Well, we are all equal in the eyes of God aparently... and isn't that what communism teaches?>>>

No, communism doesn't teach that we are equal in the eyes of God. It denies the existence of God -- and puts people in jail for believing in Him.

Bear in mind that no communist government was ever elected into power by a country's people -- in every case where communists have been in power, they've gotten into power by force. Every case!

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Answer 8

No, Christianity is not communism because communism is a form of government and Christianity is the realization that all people who have been born again by the Holy Spirit have been adopted into the family of God and so we are all brothers and sisters in Christ.

It's like if you had a sibling who needed some help and you were well off so you gave them some money out of love with a cheerful disposition. This is what Paul wrote about the believers in Corinth donating money to help their brothers and sisters in the faith in Jerusalem.

2 Corinthians 9:1 Now concerning the ministering to the saints, it is unnecessary for me to write to you; 2 for I know your readiness, about which I boast concerning you to the Macedonians, that Achaia has been prepared since last year, and your zeal has provoked the majority. 3 And I have sent the brothers, lest our boasting about you lose its justification in this matter, that just as I said, you may be prepared, 4 lest perhaps if some Macedonians come with me and find you unprepared, we (not to mention you!) should be ashamed of this confident boasting. 5 Therefore I thought it necessary to urge the brothers, that they should go before me to you, and should arrange in advance your generous gift, which you had previously promised, that this would be ready, thus as a blessing and not as grudgingly given. 6 But this I say: he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. 7 Let each one give just as he decides in his heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.

It isn't like some legal form of taxation where people have to give a certain amount of income and it is distributed to all of the other people in the same country. Believers cheerfully donate their surplus to other believers in the "family" who have needs as they each decide in their own hearts what is appropriate.

Answer 9

no, as far as I can tell, it is not at the slightest like communism.

It is a bit more complex than just "equal in the eyes of god", dont you think?

Answer 10

Jesus hated rich people and condemned them to Hell. Communism also seeks to redistribute the wealth, and have "the greatest good for the greatest number of people."