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If Jesus were alive today, he would be a member of the Communist Party

BelgiumHarry Cross, International School of Brussels
February 13, 2010

NEWS

In the New Testament of the Bible, Jesus preached a message of humility, denouncing the wealth driven and materialistic institutions of his day, such as the opulent Roman Empire. He preached primarily to the poor and promised an otherworldly utopia of peace and freedom to be inherited by the worker. Through reading the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth and applying them to modern times, one arrives at an inescapable conclusion: that if Jesus Christ were alive today, he would be a member of the Communist Party.


The idea that Jesus preached a “universal message” is false. Jesus addressed himself to the lower classes and his teachings offered hope to the proletariat. When Jesus says unto his followers “Blessed be ye poor: for yours is the kingdom of God” (Luke 6:20) he anticipated Karl Marx’s Communist Utopia by several centuries. He may well have said “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for the privileged member of the bourgeoisie to enter the kingdom of God.” Both philosophies speak to those at the bottom of society, and promise something better.


Where the Son of God would have fallen out with the Father of Communism would have been over Marx’s idea that “The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is required for their real happiness.” Communist parties demand obedience. Religion is an outside influence that upsets this loyalty; hence Communist states have the characteristic of being secular. This idea is neatly mirrored in Christianity. The first commandment of Christianity is “thou shalt have no other Gods before me.” In Matthew 22:36, Jesus names this is the most important commandment, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.” In the eyes of Christianity, Communism is a godless creed, but while the two great schools of thought are so ready to excommunicate each other, they should realise that they preach the same message from different sources. In the USSR, the cult of the leader formed around Joseph Stalin. In Rome, crowds flock to see the Pope.


Christians may protest that Communism forcefully imposes its views as part of what it calls a ‘class struggle’ whereas Christianity is peaceful, putting forward its ideas in a peaceful way.” While the adherents of the two doctrines would have made their founders turn in their grave (or Marx at least, because he’s still in his) both ideologies support action promoting their values. Jesus says in Matthew 10:34 “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.” The sword is the class struggle that will overthrow the Roman Empire. It makes one wonder whether Jesus’s “peace” was in fact an ideal to be fought for. And what will happen to the overthrown class who do not accept the total rule of God? “If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned.” (John 5:6). The call to action is again seen in “the philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it” but this is now Marx speaking. His “change”, however, does not enter the apocalyptic madness of the Biblical Armageddon.


Why is this important? I am neither Communist nor Christian, and do not wish to make the case for either. But the similarity between them is often overlooked. In America, politicians back their policies with Christian doctrine to win votes. But if Jesus had strolled into the McCarthy era saying “You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter” he would’ve been blacklisted. Major Christian festivals such as Christmas have become commercialised to lengths that would have sickened the carpenter’s son, as would the wealth of many churches from all denominations.


Because ultimately, to quote George Bernard Shaw “no man ever believes that the Bible means what it says; he is always convinced that it says what he means.” What the Bible does preach consistently throughout the Old and New Testaments is unswerving, unquestioning, total submission to a supreme ruler, God. It is as authoritarian and totalitarian a doctrine as is found in any communist state, and equally represses the spirit of the individual and imposes harsh punishment – hell – on any individual who practices what we now consider basic human freedoms: freedom of expression, speech and dissent. Anyone who claims their religion is tolerant misunderstands what a religion is. This insistence on complete obedience is why both Communist and Christian ideologies bring such destruction upon mankind. As to which has inflicted the greatest harm, considering the relatively recent scope of Communism, Christianity wins hands down. But even after 1917, when the first communist state was established, Christianity would probably still take the lead, considering Franco’s Catholic Fascism, the Vatican ordering the German Catholic Centre Party to disband in favour of National Socialism, religiously fuelled terrorism in Northern Ireland, Maronite factions in Lebanon, genocide in Bosnia, the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda, which recruits child soldiers, rioting in Nigeria, which left hundreds dead in January, and above all the millions who have and will continue to die because the Catholic Church condemns the use of condoms in combating HIV/AIDS.


The truth is that Christianity and Communism gain supporters by preaching against oppression and injustice, but neither can offer solutions. If a system claims it can install Utopia, especially as subjective a Utopia that it demands totalitarian rule, forget it. It can’t. People ask how it is possible still to believe in the Communist ideal after seeing it in practice, but they’ve been asking that about Christianity for much longer. History has shown that the only time man is willing to abandon the values of peace, equality and justice and still call himself “good”, is when he is pursuing his Utopia that enshrines them.       

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Tags: communism, christianity, jesus

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