: : On the communist side we have those (pardon my generalising here) who vilify some for "having more than others". Whilst they would claim to not be concerned about wealth themselves, ironically it seems as though these folks are indeed more concerned about material wealth than their capitalistic counterparts. Otherwise, there would never be any angst about "haves and have-nots". (God calls this sin - covetousness).: As Marx wrote, the idea of class struggle is essential for communism. What is the natural human (sinful) inclination here within this "struggle"? How does it openly manifest itself? I would submit that it manifests itself in the form of class warfare, which is indeed vilification of those who have more by those who have less.
: I've watched all sorts of political action "rights" groups for years now use class warfare, and more particularly, class-hatred as their modus operendi. And you know something? As far as their political agenda is concerned this technique works. People will march, people will angrily shout, people will riot, in short, it brings out the worst in human beings. You don't have to look very far to see this type of behaviour either. Just browze through the chat page and witness the hate and discontent being fomented because of rather trite material wealth issues. Isn't it silly? In practical terms, this is what God calls coveteousness. "You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor." Exodus 20:17.
Michael
you base much of your previous argument on 'class struggle'. Firstly you present this as being modus operendi yet you make the unfair and typically sensationalist jump to class hatred. Sure there are elements among those that believe in class struggle that attend to class hatred but it is too much of a generalisation to say that ALL class struggle is based on hatred - you yourself say that it is covetousness, if the bible is so all knowing then surely it would NOT call this covetousness but hatred or perhaps covetous hatred. Anyway, this is an indication of your 'holes'.
More importantly for me is the surprising inclusion of 'You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife ...' - this could have been written by any one of our 'modern' capitalist states. Basically, those that have shall keep it because it is unlawful (in your belief system in the eyes of the 'lord') and in capitalist terms put into effect by force (ie police, military etc) to try and achieve any kind of equality of life. Those that are poor shall remain so until they die ... well Michael I'm sorry but that just isn't good enough for the vast bulk of the world's population.
Why and how can you consign so many people to a life of misery and poverty ('because a better life awaits them') and more importantly how can this occur when the reason for their 'pain' is brought about by those that materially gain from their suffering?
To leave you with somehting else I would contend that your church is inherently anti-communist and almost naturally aligned to capitalism - more so since the capitalist structure can more easily exploit your failings/ teachings/ beliefs for the benefit of the few at the expense of the many - how can this be true of a 'saviour religion'?
