posted 01-27-2000 09:57 PM                

I appreciate the heads-up on "Christian Communism" but I don't think that the early communes had the same structure as anything ever labeled "Communistic" for these reasons--

At the heart of Christianity is commitment to a single head, a theocratic rule by God. At the heart of Communism is a supreme state administered by a narrow privileged leadership group (much like our Congress has become).

A primary tenet of Christianity is personal responsibility for stewardship of our goods, our means of production, our capacities as individuals for growth, and our willing accountibility to our elders.

A primary tenet of Communism is duty to the collective and submission to the dictates of imposed leaders.

An expected result of life as a Christian is personal peace and contentment with what God has given.

An expected result of life as a communist is satisfaction with participation in the endeavors of man.

Christianity celebrates human ingenuity in pursuit of our best efforts.

Communism celebrates conformity. (I think of how Houston is the only major metropolitan area in the country without a planning commission and/or zoning ordinances and with this wonderful integrated structure of offices, single family homes mixed with apartments/condos/patio homes, etc. In contrast, there are new master planned communities in the suburbs where every building is the same shade of beige, every roof the same shingles, every sign the same size, etc.....borrrring.)

The focus of communism is to make the nest here more comfortable for all. The focus of the Christian is to make the unbeliever a citizen of an altogether different world.

No; I do not think that there is such a thing as Christian Communism. They are antithetical.

In His Matchless care, beat to beat,

------------------
CONRAD

posted 06-22-2000 10:16 AM                 

I am back for a few weeks (the seminary semester has finally wrapped up), so I decided to stir up a little trouble!

I suppose I ought to respond to Conrad's critiques. While they are well-argued, I do take issue with some of them. Let's start, shall we?

>>At the heart of Christianity is commitment to a single head, a theocratic rule by God. At the heart of Communism is a supreme state administered by a narrow privileged leadership group (much like our Congress has become).<<

I think that although historically communism has tended towards oligarchies, this is not the "heart" of communism (by the way, the communism that I advocate is anarchic communism--as in no singular head of state, but I will get to that later). Moreover, while Christians affirm that God is the pantakrator, the ruler of all, this assertion must be played out in some form of human authority, whether it be a pope, a king, tribal elders, or whatever. So by saying that a form of government has a "head", we may say that it has a bad head, but that it has a head at all is not a valid criticism.

>>A primary tenet of Christianity is personal responsibility for stewardship of our goods, our means of production, our capacities as individuals for growth, and our willing accountibility to our elders.

A primary tenet of Communism is duty to the collective and submission to the dictates of imposed leaders.<<

While I agree that accountability is an integral part of Christianity, I would disagree with you in that Scriptural injunctions are usually directed towards worshipping communities rather than towards individuals. And part of that responsibility seems to involve the care of the poor at the expense of those who have riches to spare. As a further note, all authorities are "imposed" in one way or another. Nobody chooses one's parents, and the minority never chooses an elected leader. But we still find ourselves under authority. While they may be good or bad, they always are "imposed" in some sense.

>>An expected result of life as a Christian is personal peace and contentment with what God has given.

An expected result of life as a communist is satisfaction with participation in the endeavors of man. <<

This distinction seems problematic. After all, the very first metaphor given for people's interactions with God is that God set them in place to tend a garden. Thus we have what God has given plus the endeavors of man.

>>Christianity celebrates human ingenuity in pursuit of our best efforts.

Communism celebrates conformity. (I think of how Houston is the only major metropolitan area in the country without a planning commission and/or zoning ordinances and with this wonderful integrated structure of offices, single family homes mixed with apartments/condos/patio homes, etc. In contrast, there are new master planned communities in the suburbs where every building is the same shade of beige, every roof the same shingles, every sign the same size, etc.....borrrring.)<<

First of all, isn't that zoning endeavor one example of humans trying to be ingenious? Second, does not Scripture enjoin us to be "conformed" to the image of Christ? And have not even historical examples of communism sought to use the talents of individual bureaucrats to the end of engineering a better society?

>>The focus of communism is to make the nest here more comfortable for all. The focus of the Christian is to make the unbeliever a citizen of an altogether different world.<<

And I would say that Jesus' criticism of "the world" often jives with the prophets. And the prophets often preach against greed, exploitation, and the accumulation of wealth by individuals at the expense of the poor. Those all sound like communist complaints.

At any rate, let me say that state communism is as aberrant to me as to the most staunch capitalist. Stalin was an evil man. Mao was a butcher. And I will be quite happy when Castro's regime leaves Cuba. But on a small scale, within a larger existing culture, I think that communitarian (a much less nasty word than communistic) ethics and economics simply jive better with Christian teachings. After all, the widow and orphan get taken care of. The strong take care of the weak. The rich sell their possessions for the benefit of the poor. I'm not talking Stalin here. I'm talking monasteries, communes, and the Jerusalem Church in Acts 4. So no, I don't think that communism and Christianity are incompatible. I just think that people ought to use some imagination to make the former serve the latter.

--Automatic Nate--

[This message has been edited by Automatic Nate (edited 06-22-2000).]