Mr. Green, my dear friend,Thank you for your kind response. May the Blessings of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ be in great abundance with you.
I must say that any of the "isms" that dominate our thinking should be, at a minimum, held suspect because they originate with man's (flawed) thinking. That is one explaination of why man tend's to abuse his fellow man.
Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life", therefore any "ism" that man would try to place in front of God would be one, an affront to God, and two, an inferior policy at best. Consider these attempted "isms" by man:
Capitalism- Man can be trapped in a concern for material wealth only, as well as the false belief of his own self-reliance.
Communism- Man is deterministically set upon planning society based on material production and distribution in order to build a "utopia".
Nihilism- Man is seeking only worldly pleasures as his highest achievement.
Behaviorism- Man is seeking to manipulate others like they were Pavlov's dogs, just for his own worldy gain.
Fascism- Man seeking to institute a reign on this earth, based on eugenics.
Socialism- Man seeking to build an earthly "utopia" based on public policy.
I could go on and on with these "isms" but I think you can get the idea here. The common denominator to all "isms" is that they focus on the earthly and the material. They are man's attempt to build God's kingdom on earth, and that is always futile. Don't worship "isms", worship Jesus. He's the only one who is worthy.
Now, do we not go and help the poor? Of course not. We are mandated by Christ to help these people. But the important thing to remember here is WHY we help the poor. Is it because there is a law that tells us to do so? or, Is it because we truly love Jesus? If it is certainly the later, then I would surmise that several characteristics apply. One, that you don't need to be told by law to go and help. Two, it would be done rather anonomously (remember we don't seek a worldly reward and therefore announce it to the world "See me, I'm helping the poor"). Three, it is done in the Name of Jesus so that all thankfullness is directed in the the proper Source of that help.
I would argue that socialsim takes much of the reasons of WHY we help the poor away from God and directs its focus back on man.
Even the idea of "communal ownership" directs the focus of one's beliefs on the material and hence on man, not God.
Well, that's enough banging-on by me for now. Again, thank you very much indeed for your coorespondence and may God richly Bless you.
"But seek first his kindom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" Matthew 6:33
Robert M. Mitrocsak
