It used to be that Socialism was seen in American society, for the most part, as something bad. It is the very antithesis of the beliefs and principles America was built upon. However, in our modern day, there is a large, and seemingly growing, segment of the population that is all in for Socialism. And, perhaps an even larger segment that, while they do not want to see full blown Socialism implemented, are sympathetic with many of its central tenets.
One powerful evidence of this is the candidacy of Burnie Sanders for president of the United States. While Sanders ran as a Democrat, he has served his years in the senate as an Independent. But as far as his political inclinations, he makes no bones about the fact that he is a Socialist. When he decided to run for president as a Democrat, he actually had to change his party affiliation to do so. And almost immediately after he lost the nomination, he changed back to Independent.
During his campaign, he had huge crowds at his rallies, and the thing that drew his supporters was his Socialist ideas. He strongly pushed for such things as tax payer funded college tuition for students, a $15.00 per hour minimum wage, income and wealth equality, affordable housing subsidized by tax payers, medicare for all paid for with tax dollars, and a bailout for Puerto Rico. And this is just a sampling of his Socialist policy desires – there is much more.
Then, when he knew that he could not win the nomination, he stayed in the race in order to at least get his Socialist policies imbedded into the Democrat Party platform. He was successful to the extent that the current platform is now the most Socialist in the history of the party.
Finally, following his defeat at the convention, he turned around and endorsed Hillary Clinton. Interestingly, though, in doing that, a very large percentage of his followers actually got mad at him for selling out his Socialist principles. The point in all of this explanation is that there is a fairly large, and growing, contingent in America who self-identify as Socialist.
So, Just What is Socialism?
Most think of Socialism as simply an economic philosophy. In actual fact, it is both a political and economic philosophy. It is defined in the dictionary as a political and economic theory of social organization that advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole (government ownership). But in advocating for this kind of control, Socialists also believe that all members of society ought to be equally (or at least adequately) provided for – and it is the role of government to make sure that happens. In the implementation of this philosophy, the mechanism for making things equal is to take the money from those who are more well off (using tax policy, government regulations, and other kinds of government intervention), and giving it to the less well off (usually in the form of tax breaks and/or government welfare programs).
While this definition is not completely wrong, it is also not completely right. Socialism is certainly expressed outwardly as a political and economic theory. But when you look at its underlying foundation, it becomes quite evident that its root is spiritual. Socialism is solidly based on a naturalistic worldview foundation that begins with the belief that the natural universe is all that exists – it is atheistic.
Now don’t get this wrong. This does not mean that all Socialists consider themselves Atheists. In fact, there are a lot of people that self-identify as Christians who are attracted to Socialism. They are attracted by the idea of helping the down and out by redistributing wealth. But in being sympathetic to this point of view, they don’t realize the non-biblical basis upon which this philosophy is built.
So to get at this a little more deeply, let’s ask a simple question: Why do people who believe in Socialism consider it right to redistribute wealth? In order to believe this, one must not only believe that it is a good thing to help the down and out, but also that it is okay to take (steal) other people’s money in order to do it.
As should be obvious by now, this point of view not only involves politics and economics, it also involves a moral judgment. It asserts that it is morally right for the government to take someone’s money and give it to someone else. It also makes one other important moral judgment; that the source of morality lies in the hands of those who have the power to enforce the rules. In this case, it assumes that government leaders, since they are in control, get to decide truth and morality. That is, government rulers have the right to take money from some to give to others (based on their own personal beliefs), and doing that is morally right.
This Socialist point of view is in direct opposition to biblical worldview beliefs. In saying this, however, there is one other point of confusion that also needs to be addressed. Without a doubt, a biblical worldview contains the belief that we ought to help others – particularly the down and out. The Bible is full of admonitions for Christians to do just that. Where the confusion lies is not in the fact that we ought to help others, but in HOW that should be done. Many self-identified Christians are willing to accept Socialism because they have not made a distinction between individuals voluntarily using their own resources to help others, and the practice of taking other people’s money to help others. By accepting Socialism, people are agreeing to give the government the right to steal from some members of society in order to carry out that mission.
In order to understand this more fully, let’s look at what is involved in the worldview foundation of Socialism (Naturalism).
1. It has a false belief about God: Naturalists do not believe in God, so humans must make up their own morality.
2. It has a false belief about man: Man, in Socialism, is just a material animal, so survival is our highest goal.
3. It has a false belief about salvation: For Socialists, human society must, first and foremost, promote the survival of the species, and redistributing wealth is seen to be the best way to do it.
How Christians Should Interact with Socialists
So far, what we have dealt with relates only to the material basis and outcome of a socialistic point of view. But for Christians, there is another element we need to grasp as well. As was mentioned before, there is a spiritual basis for Socialism. It is based on beliefs which are atheistic. As such, Christians need to treat this as a false religion, not just as a political and economic philosophy. And since it is a false religion, we need to be ready and able to witness to its adherents. The biblical task is not merely to help the down and out. That is nothing more than a byproduct of a Christian’s mandate. Our task is to lead people into a relationship with God.
The biblical mandate does not support Socialism for two reasons. First, stealing (whether legalized or not) is not a biblical value. It is not okay to take from some people in order to give it to others. Secondly, the biblical mandate to help others is not directed toward government, but toward individual believers. It is not okay to take a biblical principle and twist it in a way that makes it non-biblical; and that is exactly what Socialism does.
When we look at this philosophy from a spiritual perspective, we can see that the most important thing we need to express to Socialists is the truth about God. Simply dealing with politics and economics will not get at “why” Socialism is wrong. At that surface level, one can only express personal preferences. When interacting based on worldview beliefs however, it becomes possible to talk about why Socialism is wrong, and to share deeper things about God.
Here, specifically, is what we need to share.
1. We need to share the truth about God: He exists and has revealed himself to mankind.
2. We need to share the truth about man: We are created in God’s image, but fallen and separated from him.
3. We need to share the truth about salvation: God provided the means for erasing the separation from him by the atoning death of Jesus Christ on the cross, and his resurrection from the dead.
4. Finally, we need to invite people to receive Christ into their lives.
Socialism is not merely a political and economic philosophy. It is a religious point of view that takes people away from a relationship with God. Christians need to be aware of this and learn how to use this knowledge as a tool to witness to the increasingly large number of people in our society who hold to this point of view.
© 2016 Freddy Davis