This Is Our City

Rick: I do not remember the review that you mention of Graeber's book. Thomas Merton was opposed to communism as an economic theory; however, he lived in a monastery where the Christian ideal from Acts was practiced; receive according to need, give according to capacity. He said that could only be achieved in a monastery. Christians are to be motivated by LOVE, not material gain. "You cannot serve God and money." "Love of money is the root of all evil." Christians by their very actions must transcend whatever economic system they are in. Free market capitalism is, like every other human ideology, flawed and imperfect. This article mentions that loving your neighbor (social justice) through purchases that consciously promote human welfare, rather than maximize profit or to maximize material gain, is needed. Its point is that that doesn't go far enough.

Then there is the strange contest Christianity Today is sponsoring to send in the best story of an example of “the Common Good”. At the SAME TIME Jim Wallis Sojourners magazine is sponsoring a contest to send in the best story of “the Common Good”. Sojourners was given a $300,000 grant by George Soros, the atheist billionaire and promoter of global socialism a few years ago. Sojourners says "Rather than just offer you more “ideas” about “the common good, we are going to offer you some stories about how ordinary people are creating it. Watch. Listen. And then create your own story for the common good." This has been a key socialist phrase for over 100 years and was recently adopted by the Democrat party. Timing is everything. Jim Wallis’s newest book, released this week is titled, On God's Side: What Religion Forgets and Politics Hasn't Learned about Serving the Common Good. The phrase was proposed by the democrats in 2005. Google; Common Good and the Daily Kos. This is getting scary.

Huh! I was stunned to read a review of a book in Christianity Today/Books & Culture magazine, Love Is Stronger than Debt, Against Chrapitalism by David Graeber. It is online, read it. He conflates Christianity with Capitalism to create the word, Chrapitalism. The entire book is a diatribe against the free market system and its close connection with Christianity. He promotes Communism as the answer for America. But the astounding thing is that the reviewer from Christianity Today agrees and closes his review by saying, "as Thomas Merton knew, "to be a Christian is to be a communist." And divine friendship is to live without debts by "throwing ourselves away"—giving (not charging) according to our ability, and receiving according to our need." I thought it was an anomaly, a lapse in judgment, but now I wonder.

Roger McKinney- your own knowledge of economics is suspect, as the following dialog indicates- Roger McKinney: Hermit, government ownership of the means of production is not socialism; it's communism. [continues] A Hermit: Mr. McKinney: Webster's New World Dictionary 1974 p. 710: "socialism: 1. any of the various theories of the ownership and operation of the means of production and distribution by society rather than by private individuals, with all members of society sharing in the work and the products." A Hermit: New World again: "communism: 1. a theory or system based on the ownership of all property by the community as a whole 2. a hypothetical stage of socialism, as formulated by Marx, Engels, Lenin, ..." Roger D. McKinney : Hermit, Your quote from Webster proves you are a socialist. [continues] http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2011/december/notaxpayerisland.html?all comments=true&showall=true

Before a coup over a decade ago, the staff of CT openly promoted Marxism. It was forced underground for a while, but tends to leak out in articles and book reviews like this one. I think writers like this believe the old Marxist saying that we are rich because we stole everything the poor had, so justice can be nothing but giving it back. Those people hate the science of economics because it proves what ignorant fools they are. CT promotes every science, even insisting that science takes precedence over scripture in the area of origins, but denies the science of economics. For CT, the ideology of Marxism has as much legitimacy and the real science of economics.