There's 'dumb,' and then there's THIS - evils of socialism

[Burris]

Over at Visionary Womanhood, Wemmick Girl (?) has a new post up concerning the evils of socialism. In itself, that isn't a new topic for our favorite fundamentalists: They love Caesar's money and are loathe to part with one red cent of it when they believe it may go towards helping someone they consider unworthy.

 

WG takes that histrionic whining a step further, however, infecting the internet with a post called, “True of Forced Charity?â€

 

Here's how she begins:

 

 

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Heads up!

 

You will be tempted NOT to read this post! Why? It’s long and might look BORING! It’s about things like socialism, legalism, books with long names…

 

Snoozeburger with a side of yawns!

 

Please read it anyway.... But we desperately need to be informed too.

 

WG sees no disconnect at all between introducing her shoddy, fact-free ideas with that condescending back-hand while at the same time referring to other people as “guilt manipulators†later in her article.

 

 

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Chilton is making the case that Sider is being a legalist by wanting to, first of all, “guilt†people…and if guilt doesn’t work…to use the State to force people into living meager lives by giving away all but the basic necessities for living. If you know anything about history, that should sound really familiar. And spooky.

 

Why yes that does sound familiar. Now where have I read something like that before? Oh yeah!

 

 

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“Jesus said to him, 'If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.'†-- Matthew 19:21

 

Spooooooooooky.

 

 

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The idea of living like paupers, and believing everyone else should do the same, in order to give to the poor, sounds really loving and “Christianâ€. But what Sider was proposing in his book was simply glorified socialism.

 

*GASP* Not socialism. Why that's worse than homosexuality and Obama put together!

 

 

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Socialism has failed miserably in every large and small scale implementation of it.

 

I live in Canada and our hybrid economy seems to be working fairly well for us. The same is true for countries in Scandinavia and other parts of Europe. (WG fails to grasp here is that Communism and Socialism are not the the same thing; the two terms are not interchangeable.)

 

 

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And the bottom line is, no matter how honey sweet something “seems†(you can spin anything to sound fabulous…just watch the news. Can anyone say “propaganda�) if it isn’t an idea from God, it isn’t going to be successful.

 

Uh huh; because WG's piece has nothing whatsoever to do with propaganda. She's telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth – and objectively, too! (Writing like hers is part of the reason why the term 'Christian' has become synonymous with “pig-ignorant liar†for some people.)

 

 

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And He also makes it clear how we Wemmicks are to handle the poor, and it isn’t to aspire to poverty ourselves. We are to strive for productivity and fruitfulness, and out of what God entrusts to us, to give willingly, generously, cheerfully, and voluntarily, regardless of whether we consider ourselves to be rich, poor, or somewhere in between.

 

Biblical charity was not voluntary; it was compulsory. Put down the John Birch crap and actually read your Bible.

 

 

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It is not the jurisdiction of the state to force people to give of their property and possessions to care for the poor. This is tyranny.

 

No; arresting people and locking them up forever without charging them is tyranny. Genocidal policies are tyranny. Government censorship is tyranny.

 

Taxation is not tyranny. It's the buy-in people who can afford it must make to participate in the social contract with all its attendant benefits. And from this common purse - civil, state/provincial, and federal - we get roads, fire departments, police protection, military strength, public education, and the social safety net.

 

If you don't like paying taxes, don't pay them. Just work under the table. Steal the roads the rest of us pay for. Steal the police protection the rest of us pay for. Benefit by our humane social contract without contributing a damned thing to it. It's what Jesus would want.

 

 

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And it squelches all hard work, entrepreneurship, creativity and invention.

 

...which explains why Bill Gates and Warren Buffet both live in the slums without the benefit of indoor plumbing: They created so much, and then the tyrannical government took it all away. Amirite?

 

 

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After all, why would anyone work hard to create wealth or invent something for the good of mankind if it all gets confiscated anyway?

 

The only place in the West where that happens is in your fever dreams, dimbulb.

 

 

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Our topic this month is how we, as women, can be salt and light. One of the ways we are salt is by preserving a Godly culture.

 

And exactly how should one go about doing that? By making the poor beg and grovel as if they were subhuman and undeserving before they can have access to the pittance you may finally give them in your efforts to win brownie points with God.

 

Well of course you'll feel better about yourself, having found someone over whom you can exercise an inordinate amount of control by using the threat of starvation as a means to gain their compliance.

 

 

...or you could do the right thing, pay your tithe and your tax, allow the poor confidentiality and dignity in their request for help from social services, and just be thankful for you what you have (rather than being an ungrateful bastard and whining about how others are always getting the benefits you deserve).

 

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One thing is for sure. God is not a legalist. And the evangelical church is royally messed up right now when it comes to understanding what legalism really is…and what it is not. They are also very close to getting in bed with the socialists.

 

Yeah, right, The politicized religious right wing is one of the most mean-spirited, miserly, amoral, cramped movements ever to pollute the social discourse – and WG is solidly in their corner.

 

The economy of grace modelled by Jesus – i.e., he gave lavishly and daily without hope of return – is a kind of socialism. (If you don't like that fact, do the morally honest thing and quit claiming to be a Christian.)

 

WG then goes on to post a bunch of horseshit from a book called, “Productive Christians in an Age of Guilt Manipulators.†I don't have the patience to beat on some more empty rubber dummies right now, however, so I'll end this post here.

[Conuly]

(Writing like hers is part of the reason why the term 'Christian' has become synonymous with “pig-ignorant liar†for some people.)

Fun fact: The word "cretin" actually, I'm not making this up, really actually comes from the French word for "Christian"!

(Not so fun reality: Because the word "Christian" had come to mean "person" in primarily Christian areas and then, in some areas, something more like "poor dear" which then narrowed down to, well, cretin. So it's not actually insulting the intelligence of all Christians. But it's still funny, I think.)