Christian Case Against Socialism Part II

God’s Private Property Laws

PART TWO
Everything is established by this universal truth: “The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof: the world and they that dwell therein” Psalm 24:1.

From the beginning of Genesis all throughout Scripture, we see how man was created by God and then commanded to subdue the earth, having dominion over it. Man wasn’t just created to exist, but created to exercise dominion over creation under God and a major component of dominion is property ownership.

Three of the Ten Commandments are very clear on private ownership although we could easily argue from the position that all Commandments upholding private property ownership:

“You shall not steal” and “You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife; and you shall not desire your neighbor’s house, his field, his male servant, his female servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s” and “You shall not commit murder.”

The fact is, God created the world and then delegated it, in the form of personal property, to man. The right to own and control private property, therefore, transcends any political, moral, economical, or psychological basis and rests in God’s revealed and declared law.

Socialism Seeks to Destroy the Family

Another fantastic book also written by Paul Kengor called, “Takedown: From Communists to Progressives, How the Left Has Sabotaged Marriage and Family” explains one of socialism’s aims: to replace the most fundamental pillar in any society, the family, with the state.

Why would socialists desire this? For one, to indoctrinate the next generation. With both parents working outside the home, children are placed into childcare and/or government schools where they’re fed government talking points day in and day out.

Secondly, we can look to Friedrich Engels, who co-authored “The Communist Manifesto” with Karl Marx. Engels wanted a society where “the single family ceases to be the economic unit of society. Private housekeeping is transformed into a social industry. The care and education of the children becomes a public affair.”

So, according to Engels and those who espouse his views, what’s the point of stay at home mothers who have been the heartbeat of homes for generations when they could be out of the home making money, their children being given an “education” by the government, all while providing another woman with a job cleaning her home.

Socialist societies, like Canada, now provide childcare and “education” for children as young as six-weeks-old, both Canada and United States have legalized same sex unions all while the United Nations (whose leader is formerly the head of a Socialist Party) is seeking to redefine the definition of the family from one man and one woman who are married to two men or two women who are in a union.

Socialism must take down the family unit because of the power it possesses to influence the next generation, its self sufficiency, the wealth families generate and above all, it is God’s creation (Genesis 1:27-28).

The issue of the family is also intimately tied into the welfare state which we won’t spend too much time on. However, governments have slowly become stand-in parents in many households through monies made available which actually incentivizes poor behavior. The Bible teaches that aid should be tied to responsibility that means anyone who refuses to work should be refused aid, this especially applies to fathers.

To my peers, this will sound unjustly harsh but facts don’t care about our feelings. “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.” 2 Thessalonians 3:10 – this is absolute truth. Further to this, no one should be given aid when his family can provide for him. Paul even states that a man who fails to provide for his family; “he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” (1 Timothy 5:8)

Socialism Demeans Work and Wealth

Socialists demonize the rich, blaming many societal ills on them. One of my favorite examples is of Senator Bernie Sanders who once posted: “Let us wage a moral and political war against the billionaires and corporate leaders on Wall Street and elsewhere, whose policies and greed are destroying the middle class of America.” If someone said this was Karl Marx, I probably would have believed them. Marx explicitly detested those with wealth and promoted the overthrow of the ruling class. Hillary Clinton agreed with Marx’s ideal when she said the U.S. economy required a “toppling” of the wealthiest 1%.

God doesn’t hold such a detestable view of those with wealth and influence. On the contrary, God gives these individuals instructions not to oppress the poor (Proverbs 14:31). Many with wealth don’t obtain it by wicked means, instead, they use the intelligence and giftings God placed within them to produce wealth which is a Biblical principle that, whether one is a believer or not, works (Deut 8:18).

The demonized “top 1%” also provides jobs for others, that holds no wickedness within it at all. The roots of evil surrounding wealth come in when there is a love of money not from money itself for it is not inherently good or evil but a tool in our hands.

Socialism Endorses Theft

Jesus isn’t a socialist, nor does he advocate for socialism. Jesus is a gentleman, he doesn’t force that we accept him, he gives us the choice.

Christianity is a choice: we must voluntarily accept Jesus.

Equal to this is the issue of voluntarily giving. Let’s say you have two houses and someone down the street doesn’t have one, so the government decides to forcibly take one of those houses you worked hard for and gives it to that person down the street. That’s what we call theft. This is never endorsed in Scripture. What is endorsed is voluntary giving.

Government, which is a delegated authority on earth, forcibly taking away your property and giving it to someone else is theft by God’s measure. Remember the eighth commandment? Thou shalt not steal. Those who claim to be “Christian socialists” (which is oxymoronic), haven’t read the passages in both the Old and New Testament which endorse and uphold private property. If we aren’t to steal, the presumption is that property belongs to another individual!

What about stewarding our money well as God calls us to do? If the government has control over our funds, we wouldn’t be able to steward our funds according to the principles laid out in Scripture.

Private property ownership and the freedom for people to allocate resources according to their conscience are two major elements the Bible endorses and socialism condemns.

Socialism, the road to Communism

Socialism is the breeding ground for communism.

Both socialism and communism are essentially economic philosophies that promote public rather than private ownership which involves the means of production, distribution and the exchange of goods. Both philosophies purport to seek to resolve problems created by a free-market capitalist system which both say exploit workers and create an unfair chasm between the rich and poor.

When a government owns the means of production and is the central planner of the entire economy, that government is following socialism hook line and sinker.

But what does America have? Sure, we say we are a capitalist economy, but are we fully?

At present, America has quasi-socialistic policies and programs such as healthcare (Obamacare), retirement savings (Social Security), and education (government schools). The government has been interfering in the market since the early 20th century, so no, we aren’t functioning in a “free market” like politicians like to say we are.

The 8th commandment clearly condemns socialism “You shall not steal” (Exodus 20:15; Deuteronomy 5:19). The basis of socialism is theft, therefore, it is not just immoral but it is anti-God seeing as His endorsement is with private-property ownership, stewardship and responsibility.

Just Taxation

Is “just taxation” discussed in the Bible? Indeed it is.

Biblical limitations on taxation is discussed in 1 Samuel 8 where the Israelites were warned by God that a tyrannical king would tax their income at 10%, a percentage outrageous at the time and almost laughable with the current percentage of our incomes that go to taxes.

According to 1 Samuel 8:14, 17, a king would come in and establish a “tithe” to his kingdom, this example was given to explain how a 10% taxation of the people’s wealth was oppressive! Depending on where you live, you probably wouldn’t mind having a mere 10% cap on your wealth!

Explicit instructions or discussions around taxation aren’t outlined very often in Scripture but there are guardrails for us to pay careful attention to.

In order to provide for the greatest degree of accountability, it is the local jurisdictions that should provide for the collection of taxes seeing as they are the closest governing structure to constituents. If this were the case, the federal income tax would be removed, states would prosper based upon their own economic advantages and policies. This would help residents evaluate on a greater level who is spending what in their communities and restore more power to locals as opposed to politicians far, far away.

Voters are often encouraged to vote in favor of politicians and policies who will tax the rich at higher rates than the middle and lower classes.

For example, income taxes are difficult to restrain, but with a sales tax, everyone pays the same rate, and the more you buy the more you pay in taxes. Income tax punishes those who help drive the economy whilst punishing those who are rewarded for their diligence and ingenuity which produces wealth and improvements for the whole of society which we as Christians should desire for our nations.

Conclusion

We must put aside the talking points used by political figure heads and even those in the pulpit and get back to what the Word of God has to say on the various issues surrounding socialism. The Bible addresses every single issue we may face as individuals or as nations. God’s Word is intentional in every way.

In no way did God forget to include Scripture that addresses an ideology that seeks to oppress the most beloved of His entire creation: humanity.

We must understand that socialism attempts to borrow the compassionate aims of Christianity in meeting people’s needs while rejecting the Christian expectation that this compassion not be coerced or forced.

Socialism brings with it a set of entitlements which harms both individuals and society at large. However, its entitlements are what makes it so attractive to an unsuspecting and ignorant society. This is one reason why God tells us we are to “renew our minds” (Romans 12:2) in His Word because His “people perish for a lack of knowledge.” (Hosea 4:6)

All in all, socialism is not rooted in the biblical model for society. In opposition to socialism, the Bible promotes the idea of private property and issues commands to respect it: commands such as “You shall not steal” (Deuteronomy 5:19) are meaningless without private property.

Socialism always fails, even when people say that it hasn’t yet been implemented properly. God doesn’t endorse nor promote that which is harmful, and that is exactly what experiments in socialism have proven to be.

God honors and promotes work and teaches that individuals are responsible to support themselves and their family: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). The redistribution of wealth foundational to socialism destroys accountability and the biblical work ethic. Jesus’ parable in Matthew 25:14–30 clearly teaches our responsibility to serve God with our (private) resources.

So can a Christian also be a socialist?

No.

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