Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Empathy Mining

Home
Progressive Christian
Conservative Christian, Do You Stand with Jesus on Income Inequality?

Conservative Christian, Do You Stand with Jesus on Income Inequality?

Last updated on: July 5, 2019 at 12:21 pm by Shane Phipps

Conservative Christian, Do You Stand with Jesus on Income Inequality? 2019-07-05T12:21:18-04:00 Shane Phipps

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

I know, I know, this is supposed to be the “Empathy Mine”. I’m supposed to be looking for empathy. I’ve tried, God knows I’ve tried…but I’m running low on patience. If you’ve read much of what I have written, you know that I was once numbered among the ranks of conservative Christians. So, yes, I’ve been able to find some empathy for my conservative Christian friends. But it’s getting tougher and tougher to understand how any Christian can continue to support the direction we are going in this country under the Trump Administration. There are many themes around which I have tried to present a case to conservative Christians that they have been led down a path that long ago diverged from the example set by Jesus Christ, but I don’t think there is a more blatant example than that of our enormous income inequality problem.

I’ve been thinking a lot about income inequality lately. Anytime the subject is broached, the Right is quick to invoke that most dastardly of words, Socialism. Those on the right either intentionally misrepresent that word, or they are ignorant of its true meaning. They tie the word Socialism to tyrannical regimes in other countries of the past and completely ignore or overlook the socialist nature of our own country–and the vision Jesus Christ had for his followers. Our nation was partially founded on socialistic principles. All for one and one for all, unity, and social programs the common good. Socialism is stitched into our Constitution, for goodness sake.

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense (not offense), promote the General Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution…

The spirit of Socialism is written right there in the preamble–not the evil, bastardized tyrannical version–the true version.

Socialism is written all over the “words in red” in the Bible, as well. There is plenty of evidence to suggest that Jesus was basically a socialist of his times. He spoke in parables about the evils of greed, of how it is “easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God”, of how his followers should “sell all their possessions and give to the poor.” He said, “Truly I tell you, whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” Socialism…

On that note, it is a very real possibility that Jesus was a homeless drifter for much of his ministry, relying on the kindness of friends and strangers to offer him the necessities of life. He’d probably be on the watch list of many conservative Christians in modern times. But I digress.

The idea for this piece first landed in my brain after reading the last novel of the great Kurt Vonnegut, Timequake. In that book, which is as much a memoir as a novel, Vonnegut hit on a point I hadn’t considered. He was writing along a theme, much like I am here, about how socialism had become as dirty a word as Communism. He was poking fun at conservatives who railed against that word as if it were complete evil and then he said, “good luck with Socialism in the Afterlife.” I thought that was brilliant, simple but brilliant. It’s true, the people who scream loudest about the “evils” of Socialism are conservative Christians who are supposedly living their entire lives preparing to go to an ultimately socialist commune called Heaven. You know the one where everyone is equal and gets their own mansion. How ironic…

All of this anti-socialism talk has been a very effective shield to cover the real problem in this country, income inequality.

It was recently reported, and fact-checked, that the three richest men in America, Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Jeff Bezos, collectively hold more wealth than the bottom 50% of the domestic population of the United States, a total of more than 160 million people. The report also pointed out that “roughly a fifth of Americans have zero or negative net worth.”

That’s an enormous camel and a very tiny needle, if you ask me. And what of the least of these?

So, conservative Christian, I ask you once again, as you continue to support our amoral billionaire president, do you stand with Jesus when it comes to income inequality, or are you more concerned with doing battle with that mythical evil monster of your own creation, Socialism?

Multiple Perspectives

Previous Post

June 25, 2019

My Neighbor is a Sinner

Next Post

July 10, 2019 The Fog of War

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 150 word story 2nd Amendment AARP abortion addiction aging alcoholism Anderson Wigwam Andrew Jackson Appalachia Basketball bias bigotry Black Lives Matter Christianity Christmas, Constitution, Bill of Rights Civil War Clinton cloning confirmation bias Conservation Constitution Controversial Creationism Creepy tales David Bowie depression Dogs Education Election Electoral College Empathy Environmental Evolution exvangelical faith Family Family History Fantasy Genealogy Genesis George Washington Ghetto Global Warming Gun Control health care High School Basketball Hillary History Hockey homosexuality Hoosier Hysteria Hoosiers Hunting immigration income inequality Interview ISTEP Jurassic Park Kaepernick Ken Hamm Kids say the Darndest things LGBTQ Love MAGA Manifest Destiny Merit Pay Mike Pence Muhammad Ali Multiple Perspectives Music Music Review Nashville News media NHL No Child Left Behind NRA Paradox Parenting Pence Perspective Politics POTUS Poverty Predators Race Religion religious freedom Sci Fi Science Secret of Life sexual harrassment Short Stories Slavery Small Town Indiana Smashville Social Commentary social media sports Stress technology Terrorism Thomas Jefferson Trauma Trump Turning 50 Uncategorized war Washington DC White Privilege wooly mammoths words in red Writing Writing Process Writing, Writing Process Young Earth

Select a Month June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 August 2021 May 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does "Pentateuch" mean?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Five books Prophetic writings Wisdom literature Ten scrolls

Support this
Column