Jesus Christ's Love vs. Obama Style Socialism
There is no reason to think the socialism advocated by Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton (and most other Democrats and Republicans) is Christianity. All the difference in the world exists between voluntarily sharing as an extension of one's spirit, and mandatory government programs enforced by government guns.
Yes, early Christians practiced voluntary socialism (community ownership and sharing guided by one's spirit) as have many Christian cults through history:
"All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all. There were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned lands or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone as he had need." (Acts 4:32-35)
In fact, Karl Marx was a Christian in his youth and he must have felt the spirit of the earliest Christian community in Jerusalem as ideal. However, somehow along the way Marx must have become impatient with people making voluntary choices, because he became an advocate of heavy-handed dictatorship, the inevitable result of the 10 policy programs recommended in his Communist Manifesto (all necessarily maintained by government force):
1. Abolition of property in land and application of all rents of land to public purposes.
2. A heavy progressive or graduated income tax.
3. Abolition of all right of inheritance.
4. Confiscation of the property of all emigrants and rebels.
5. Centralization of credit in the hands of the State, by means of a national bank with State capital and an exclusive monopoly.
6. Centralization of the means of communication and transport in the hands of the State.
7. Extension of factories and instruments of production owned by the State; the bringing into cultivation of waste-lands, and the improvement of the soil generally in accordance with a common plan.
8. Equal liability of all to labour. Establishment of industrial armies, especially for agriculture.
9. Combination of agriculture with manufacturing industries; gradual abolition of the distinction between town and country, by a more equable distribution of the population over the country.
10. Free education for all children in public schools. Abolition of children's factory labour in its present form. Combination of education with industrial production.
You have probably noticed that Marxist "progressives" have been successful in implementing the majority of this manifesto in most countries of the world. In communist countries, tens of millions of non-believers have been slaughtered in cold blood. In countries where "progressives" have advanced their socialist agenda without having to murder, their programs have severely limited the natural expression of the inventive and creative spirit of hundreds of millions of people, resulting in countries all over the world stuck in chronic unemployment, shortages of goods and services, and severly limited freedom and opportunity. They have "killed" the spirit, so to speak.
All of the misery created over the last hundred and fifty years by socialist ideas stems from one single anti-Christian idea popularized by Karl Marx and his followers: you are a victim of the world you see.
Once you believe you are a victim of the world around you, you are likely to invent illusions of being oppressed or seeing an oppressed people, as Barack Obama and his church have done:
"As a congregation of baptized believers, we are called to be agents of liberation not only for the oppressed, but for all of God’s family.
"The fortunate who are among us combine forces with the less fortunate to become agents of change for God who is not pleased with America’s economic mal-distribution!" - Obama's Trinity United Church of Christ
If you were to buy into the socialist world view of the overriding importance of the material world, you would then accept only facts that support your preconceived belief. It would no longer matter that free markets consist of free people making free choices, and using their free choices to teach themselves the (sometimes very difficult) lessons of life. Because now you would be blinded by illusions you have made up in your mind of "economic mal-distribution" and "oppression."
Yet Jesus Christ clearly has no interest in materialism. Jesus doesn't care, as Barack Obama does, if some people have more and some people have less. Jesus calls his followers away from addiction to material concerns and invites them to focus only on the spiritual. He tells the rich young man:
"If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Matthew 19:21)
In his modern revelation for the 21st Century, A Course in Miracles, Jesus Christ thoroughly reinforces his teaching that the material world means nothing:
The world you see has nothing that you need to offer you; nothing that you can use in any way, nor anything at all that serves to give you joy. Believe this thought, and you are saved from years of misery, from countless disappointments, and from hopes that turn to bitter ashes of despair. No one but must accept this thought as true, if he would leave this world behind and soar beyond its petty scope and little ways.
Each thing you value here is but a chain that binds you to the world, and it will serve no other end but this. For everything must serve the purpose you have given it until you see a different purpose there. The only purpose worthy of your mind this world contains is that you pass it by, without delaying to perceive some hope where there is none. Be you deceived no more. The world you see has nothing that you want. (ACIM Lesson 128)
But freeing oneself of addiction to a materialistic view of the world is just the beginning. Jesus Christ takes us much farther into personal responsibility with his Course in Miracles lessons.
Lesson 31: “I am not the victim of the world I see.”
Lesson 32: "I have invented the world I see."
Lesson 33: "There is another way of looking at the world."
Lesson 34: "I could see peace instead of this."
We've seen Barack Obama's pastors like Reverend Wright, and his other teachers, vent their grievances against unequal distribution of material wealth. But Jesus Christ teaches to forgive all appearances and let go of all grievances:
Lesson 68: "Love holds no grievances."
Lesson 69: "My grievances hide the light of the world in me."
Lesson 72: “Holding grievances is an attack on God’s plan for salvation.”
The truth is it doesn't matter if Democrats grope around stumbling blindly ... or if Republicans attempt to feel their way with cataracts blurring their vision. There is no reason for you to accept unclear seeing. There is no reason for you to surrender your world to Caesar.
Join Jesus Christ in affirming that the material world is not your overriding concern. Feel the joy and freedom of knowing that the material world will take care of itself if your focus is above and beyond the material world. Hold the following prayer in mind constantly as you go through your days this month:
"Heavenly Father,
I sought for many things,
And found despair.
Now do I seek but one,
For in that one is all I need,
And only what I need.
My only need I did not recognize.
But now I see that I need only truth.
In that, all needs are satisfied,
All cravings end,
All hopes are finally fulfilled,
And dreams are gone.
Now have I everything that I could need.
Now have I everything that I could want.
And now at last I find myself at peace."
"...nor will people say, 'Here it is,' or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21)
Click below for more information on A Course in Miracles Light Sessions:
Holy Instant Christian Fellowship in Utah
