Socialism in the Bible?

----- Original Message -----
From: M Shover
To: Sam Kegley
Sent: 2008-10-28 19:48
Subject: Fw: A few things to ponder


Thanks Martha and Lyle-

Christians will better follow this, because the non-believers just do not want to hear anything that mioght make them lose the election. Am I implying something in this? Yes, somewhat, but some believers are being fooled.

Sam




The following was written by one of the pastors at our former church and sent to us via e-mail from him, as part of a monthly letter. He is a campus pastor too (heading to Florida State next week - hence when he mentions a student at UNC, the questions were addressed to him.) Thought you might want to chew on this - long but worth the read and you'll like his example near the end.

What's Wrong with Spreading Around the Wealth?
There has been a lot of talk in recent weeks about
Barak Obama's comment to "Joe the Plumber" that he wants
to "spread the wealth around." In addition, a radio interview
Obama gave in 2001 has now surfaced in which he uses the
same language - even calling our Constitution "flawed" because
it did not "redistribute the wealth" and a "tragedy" that our
Supreme Court has never corrected this problem.
Of course, to many people, the concept of redistributing
the wealth and spreading the wealth around is nothing more than
socialism or, in the words of Karl Marx, "From each according to
his ability to each according to his need."
Last week, a student at UNC Wilmington asked, "What's so
wrong with spreading the wealth around? What's wrong with
socialism? Isn't that what the Bible teaches?"
Actually, the Bible doesn't teach socialism, but it is
not uncommon for people with a shallow knowledge of the
Bible to think that it does. They point to the following verses
as evidence:
And all those who had believed were together and had all things
in common; and they began selling their property and possessions
and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need.
Acts 2:44-45
For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were
owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the proceeds
of the sales and lay them at the apostles' feet, and they would be
distributed to each as any had need. Acts 4:34-35
Sounds like socialism. None were rich; none were poor; everyone
shared with one another. The perfect society.
But there are a couple of important distinctions to make here.
First, those who gave to the poor did so voluntarily. Socialism is
mandated by the government; true charity is freely and voluntarily
given from a loving heart. In socialism, the government takes from those
who have and the government gives to those who lack. This is forced --
you have no option of whether or not to participate. There is no love
involved in socialism on the part of the giver. And there is usually not
much gratitude on the part of the receiver because he / she feels
what they receive is not a gift - it is something to which they are
entitled.
Second, in the Bible passages above, the acts of charity were
carried out by the church - not the government. Biblically, the role of
government is to protect the innocent and punish evil people (Romans
13:1-7). The church is the redemptive institution that is best able to
serve the poor. Giving to people in need can be destructive if not
given with the proper discernment (as is evidenced by the abysmal
failure of many of our "war on poverty" programs). While our government
may provide an ultimate safety net for those trapped in poverty, the
church is best equipped to help with the problems that lead to poverty.
Along these lines, notice that the material goods distributed in
the book of Acts were given to those who were part of the Christian
community. They took care of their own poor (Acts 2, 4) of their own
widows (Acts 6), etc. They didn't simply give indiscriminately to anyone
who seemed to be in poverty.
OK, maybe it's not Biblical, but is Socialism Wrong?
I have several other problems with a government feeling
it is there duty to "redistribute the wealth" and to "spread the
wealth around." Here are several of those reasons.
I asked the idealistic student who believed in spreading the
wealth around what she thought was the opposite of "socialism."
She had no idea. Finally, a friend tried to bail her out and offered
"capitalism" as the opposite of socialism. Well, not exactly.
The opposite of "socialism" is freedom. When we give the
government power over our money and the right to redistribute it,
we give up our freedom to control our own possessions. Ultimately,
socialism says that property belongs to the state - or, in some cases,
to the collective community (which, in all practical terms, still means
the state).
I oppose socialism because it takes away individual freedom.
Secondly, and closely following this last point, I oppose socialism
because I believe in ownership of private property. This is established
in the Bible in the Eighth Commandment, "Thou shall not steal." (Ex 20:15).
What I have is mine and is not to stolen from me. If the government has
the right to come take it from me, it isn't really my property - it's theirs.
Third, I oppose socialism because it doesn't work.
The goal of socialism is to eliminate poverty. Of course, Jesus said we
will always have the poor with us (Matt 26:11), so I don't think any
system of government will ever prove Him wrong. But beyond that,
socialism just hasn't worked. Look at socialist societies and you will
find the more socialist it is the poorer it is. Travel the world and you
will see that no place has as much prosperity as America does. In
America, even our "poor" often have living conditions that are the
envy of much of the world. Yes, there may be a big gap between
the rich and the poor in America, but there is also a huge gap
between the poor in America and the poor in most other countries
of the world.
Fourth, socialism is based on a faulty view of human nature.
It assumes that people will work hard and produce even if they
don't receive the reward of their labor. Again, this just has not
proven to be the case. Just try going to a restaurant in a socialist
country where you don't give tips and see what type of customer
service you will receive. And ask if that perky server you get in
an American restaurant would be as nice to you if she wasn't
hoping to get a bigger tip when the check is paid. Socialism doesn't
really reward greater and better work and so you rarely get it.
On the contrary, Scripture teaches that "The laborer is worthy
of his wages" (1 Tim 5:18). Proverbs is filled with promises that
harder work will produce greater financial reward. Socialism
takes this away.
Many young people have not experienced this in the workplace,
but can understand the following illustration from school-work.
A father was talking to his college-aged daughter about socialism:
she was for it, he was against it and she couldn't understand how he
could be so calloused against the less fortunate.
The father asked his daughter what here GPA was. She proudly
reminded him that she was pulling down a 4.0.
"What's your roommates GPA?" he asked.
"She's barely passing her classes. She parties a lot and doesn't
turn in a lot of assignments," his daughter answered.
"Well, you don't really need a 4-point and she is almost failing.
I think we should take one or two of our points and give them to her so
she doesn't fail."
The very thought horrified the daughter. "That wouldn't be fair,"
she protested. "I worked hard for these grades and she doesn't take
her school work seriously."
"Precisely," said the father. "And now you know why I'm not
a socialist."
Why is there so much Poverty in a Rich Country like America?
I'm sure there is no simple answer to that question, but many
things come to mind:

Drug and alcohol abuse
Discrimination
Poor education
Immigrants just starting a new life in a new country

All of these things may contribute to poverty, but do you know the
number one factor contributing to poverty in our country?
It is the breakdown of the family.
Being the child of a single mother - especially if the child was conceived
out of wedlock and never grew up with a father - is the number one factor
correlating with poverty in America today (and I'm sure this is an even
greater cause of poverty in most other countries of the world).
To those who want to address the problem of poverty, I know of no
better solution to offer than that we help young people abstain from
sexual relations until after they are married. But this is such a radical
solution in a land obsessed with sensual gratification that I doubt such
a solution will ever gain much traction. Therefore, we'll just throw more
money into failing schools, etc, while ignoring the root issues that are the
direct result of violating the Seventh Commandment, hoping that we can
get around the principle God has laid out that we will reap what we
sow (Galatians 6:7). (Note: For a fascinating article addressing poverty
and its causes, see http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/wew/articles/07/ArethePoorGettingPoorer.htm)
Keep praying for our country.
We are experiencing serious problems right now - the result of unbridled
borrowing by individuals, businesses, banks and governments. We have
not seen the worst of it yet. And, we have a serious election in a week.
Be in prayer.
God bless,
Tom Short



Mary in WestervilleOH
(DH Mark, DS Luke 13, DS John Richard 10 - home from RP March 05)

Billy Gillispie Pic with Banners

Coach Billy Gillispie is beginning his second season as Head basketball coach at the University of Kentucky. We fans are enthused, to say the least. His second season at previous stops of Texas El Paso and Texas A & M have produced great turn around seasons. Although they lost Bradley and Crawford ( most of their returning scorers), Coach Gillispie says the spirit on the team is great and it is the tallest overall team he has had. Patrick Patterson and Jodie Meeks are healthy and should lead this team to an improved season over last season's 18-13 record.

The Blue-White game will be in Rupp Arena at 6 PM Saturday, Nov. 1 KY PPV BBN and the first exhibition gane will be Monday, Nov 3 in Rupp Arena at 7 PM on FSN South.

Ramey Hoskins- Give it some thought

I know everyone has a different opinion on the war and our current President. But, this article makes a lot of sense; take 2 minutes, read it and give it some thought.


When electing the next President, "the only decision you have to make is who you want sitting in that seat in the White House when - not if - WHEN we get hit again and millions of American lives are put at risk!"

This is from: "You ain't gonna like losing." Author unknown.

President Bush did make a bad mistake in the war on terrorism. But the mistake was not his decision to go to war in Iraq . Bush's mistake came in his belief that this country is the same one his father fought for in WWII. It is not.

Back then, they had just come out of a vicious depression. The country was steeled by the hardship of that depression, but they still believed fervently in this country. They knew that the people had elected their leaders, so it was the people's duty to back those leaders.

Therefore, when the war broke out the people came together, rallied behind, and stuck with their leaders, whether they had voted for them or not or whether the war was going badly or not.


War was just as distasteful and the anguish just as great then as it is today. Often there were more casualties in one day in WWII than we have had in the entire Iraq war.



But that did not matter. The people stuck with the President because it was their patriotic duty.



Americans put aside their differences in WWII and worked together to win that war.

Everyone from every strata of society, from young to old pitched in. Small children pulled little wagons around to gather scrap metal for the war effort.



Grade school students saved their pennies to buy stamps for war bonds to help the effort.

Men who were too old or medically 4F lied about their age or condition trying their best to join the military. Women doubled their work to keep things going at home. Harsh rationing of everything from gasoline to soap, to butter was imposed, yet there was very little complaining.

You never heard prominent people on the radio belittling the President. Interestingly enough, in those days there were no fat cat actors and entertainers who ran off to visit and fawn over dictators of hostile countries and complain to them about our President. Instead, they made upbeat films and entertained our troops to help the troops' morale. A bunch even enlisted.

Imagine this: Teachers in schools actually started the day off with a Pledge of Allegiance and with prayers for our country and our troops!

Back then, no newspaper would have dared point out certain weak spots in our cities where bombs could be set off to cause the maximum damage. No newspaper would have dared complain about what we were doing to catch spies. A newspaper would have been laughed out of existence if it had complained that German or Japanese soldiers were being 'tortured' by being forced to wear women's underwear or subjected to interrogation by a woman or being scared by a dog or did not have air conditioning.

There were a lot of things different back then. We were not subjected to a constant bombardment of pornography, perversion and promiscuity in movies or on radio. We did not have legions of crack heads, dope pushers and armed gangs roaming our streets.

No, President Bush did not make a mistake in his handling of terrorism. He made the mistake of believing that we still had the courage and fortitude of our fathers. He believed that this was still the country that our fathers fought so dearly to preserve.

It is not the same country. It is now a cross between Sodom and Gomorra and the land of Oz.



We did unite for a short while after 9/11, but our attitude changed when we found out that defending our country would require some sacrifices.

We are in great danger. The terrorists are fanatic Muslims. They believe that it is okay, even their duty, to kill anyone who will not convert to Islam. It has been estimated that about one third or over three hundred million Muslims are sympathetic to the terrorists cause... Hitler and Tojo combined did not have nearly that many potential recruits. So...we either win it - or lose it - and you ain't gonna like losing.

America is not at war. The military is at war.



America is at the mall, or watching the movie stars.

(Remember Obama said in his book "Audacity of Hope", 'I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction'.....what better place for the Muslins to control our country, than in the office of the President of USA .)

If you never forwarded an e-mail, now's the time to do it!








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Parody- The Trolley Song

Clang, Clang, Clang Went The Trolley

Win, win win say the demos
No, no, no say the pubs
The ads started to clang and the
The buzzers continued to ring as they get off the bus
But we stayed in our seats
To the end of the line… The end of the line!

Pelosi and Dirty Harry salivated
Their slobbers ran down the aisles
McCain and Palin stuck to business
Even with their smiles
The ads started to clang and
The buzzers continued to ring as they get off the bus
But we stayed in our seats
To the end of the line The end of the line!


McCain has endured so much
Sarah boosts his team so much more
Teflon o and no war Joe lie without remorse
The buzzers continue to ring as they get off the bus
But we stayed in our seats
To the end of the line!
The end of the line! The end of the line!

O’Hare removed God from schools
Roe-Wade kills off the fetuses
Supported as Champs by the libs
The buzzers continue to ring as they get off the bus
But we stayed in our seats
To the end of the line The end of the line!

Harry beat Dewey in forty-eight
And good Americans can still change late
The buzzers continue to ring as they get off the bus
But we stayed in our seats
To the end of the line

The End of the Line!