Jesus was a Marxist

[Valley Oak]

The following article was published by The Huffington Post on October 3, 2014:

Dan Arel, Author of "Parenting Without God"

Sorry Republicans But Jesus Was a Marxist




There has been a lot of discussion recently about Jesus and his political views. Putting aside the debate about Jesus' existence for a moment, let's assume for this article he did exist, and even was the Son of God. I want to look at the Christian version of Jesus of Nazareth and see if he was, as some have claimed, a Marxist.

If you have read the Bible, you then know much about the story of Jesus and how he helped the sick and poor, asking for nothing in return. According to CJ Werleman, writing for AlterNet:

The Bible makes it clear Jesus was a Marxist before Marxism had a name. He distrusted the rich. "It's easier for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to enter Heaven," forewarned Jesus. The credo of the Beatitudes demonstrated Jesus saw the world in terms of class struggle. "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth."

Marxism, of course, is an economic system that puts people first. Unlike capitalism, which is profit-based...

Read the rest of the article by clicking here.

[forveterans49]

This was a very good article and so right on. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.

The following article was published by The Huffington Post on October 3, 2014:

Dan Arel, Author of "Parenting Without God"
Sorry Republicans But Jesus Was a Marxist

Read the rest of the article by clicking here.

[Jim Wilson]

The following article was published by The Huffington Post on October 3, 2014:

Dan Arel, Author of "Parenting Without God"
Sorry Republicans But Jesus Was a Marxist

Ha, ha, ha!!! Thanks for posting such a humorous satire on what passes these days for religious commentary. I strongly suspect that the original article from which this one was derived, was from the Onion.

Personally, I don't think that Jesus was a Marxist. Among other things, he said that you should love your enemies, do good to those who harm you, and other such related teachings. That doesn't strike me as the kind of thing Marxists advocate or are known for. He also freely associated with people like tax collectors and did not seem interested in confining his ministry to a particular class of people. And then there is that tiny issue of Marxists being atheists. Jesus wasn't an atheist -- seriously, check it out if you don't believe me. Nor was Jesus a materialist; again, check it out if you don't believe me.

I don't think Jesus was a conservative either. Nor do I think he was a free market advocate.

The problem is this: I don't think Jesus saw the world in ideological terms. Modern people find that difficult to understand because our tendency is to think ideologically; that is one of the characteristics of modernity. It takes effort to put aside ideology and step into another way of viewing the world. Such effort is clearly beyond the capacity, or even the desire, of the authors.