<https://www.quora.com/profile/Alexander-Finnegan> Alexander Finnegan <https://www.quora.com/profile/Alexander-Finnegan> · October 16 <https://www.quora.com/q/gcndwijtiqnytmhy/Can-a-baptized-Catholic-become-a-communist> J.D. Law, Marxist Leninist
<https://www.quora.com/profile/Alexander-Finnegan> Alexander Finnegan <https://www.quora.com/profile/Alexander-Finnegan> · October 16 <https://www.quora.com/Can-a-baptized-Catholic-become-a-communist/answer/Alexander-Finnegan> Studied Religious Studies Can a baptized Catholic become a communist? <https://www.quora.com/Can-a-baptized-Catholic-become-a-communist> In the future, the only real Christians will be communists. Jesus was the first communist. The Sheep and the Goats 31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left. 34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ 37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink?38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’ 40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’ 41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’ 44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’ 45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ 46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” The Parable of the Good Samaritan 25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” 27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[c <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2B10&version=NIV#fen-NIV-25391c>]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2B10&version=NIV#fen-NIV-25391d> ]” 28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.” 29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 In reply Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 31 A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. 32 So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. 34 He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 The next day he took out two denarii[e <https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2B10&version=NIV#fen-NIV-25399e>] and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ 36 “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” 37 The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.” Blessed are the poor Luke 6: 20–26 “Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. 21 Blessed are you who hunger now, for you will be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you will laugh. 22 Blessed are you when people hate you, when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil, because of the Son of Man. 23 “Rejoice in that day and leap for joy, because great is your reward in heaven. For that is how their ancestors treated the prophets. 24 “But woe to you who are rich, for you have already received your comfort. 25 Woe to you who are well fed now, for you will go hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn and weep. 26 Woe to you when everyone speaks well of you, for that is how their ancestors treated the false prophets. Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have rusted, and their rust will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up for treasure for the last days. Behold, the wages of the labourers who mowed your fields, which you have kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in pleasure; you have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter James 5: 1–6 The early Christians lived communally. They lived as communists. In time the Church had become institutionalized after the adoption of Christianity by Constantine. But the Holy Spirit has a way of sharing grace.. The institutional Church formally supports the private ownership of the means of production. This means it favors capitalism. There have been some very conservative Popes. Recently, John Paul II and Benedict XVI were also in favor of capitalism and against communism. Pope Francis is more liberal, and appears to have taken a softer approach to political matters. But he is clearly not a Marxist. But his experience as a Jesuit priest from Latin America with its rich tradition of liberation theology and his experience growing up in Argentina must have influenced him. Pope St. John XXIII called upon the people of the Church to embrace the radical message of the Gospels. Jesus spoke more about the poor than any other topic. Jesus was a radical with a strong message of social justice and concern for the poor. The revolutionary character of the Gospel message leads its followers to pursue love for all people and justice. The early Christians lived as communists. Monasteries are communal. Thus convened Vatican II. From there, in Latin America many Jesuits and other members of the Church took John XXIII’s message very seriously. And the result was a wave of U.S. backed violence that left Archbishop Oscar Romero shot dead while saying mass, a number of Jesuits and nuns slaughtered by U.S. back death squads, and Operation Condor, a U.S. sponsored terror campaign to install right wing dictators sympathetic to neoliberal capitalism in the name of “defeating communism.” There should be a tension between the institutional Church and the Church body, of those who heed the radical and revolutionary call of the Gospels. The institutional Church acts as a ground that defines the boundaries of what it means to be Catholic. The people are there not to be spoon fed and blindly obedient, but to lovingly engage in dialogue. There should be a thesis/antithesis type dialectic. A temptation of the institutional Church is to become too institutionalized to the society around it. The role of the revolutionary followers is to keep the institutional Church centered on the radical message of Jesus. But at the same time, the institutional Church ensures that the followers do not take things too far. And if they do, the Church is there to mark the clear boundaries of faith. Without this relationship the Church would fragment into a million separate groups as seen in Protestant sects. I would encourage all Catholics to learn more about liberation theology. This is the synthesis of Christian (often Catholic but not always) theology and socioeconomic analysis). Conservative Catholics are among the most reactionary. They attempt to individualize one’s faith. But one cannot sandbox one’s faith. We are public beings. We attend mass in public. We are integrated with one another, and with the planet. To take seriously the message of Jesus we have to embrace social justice. You are your brother’s keeper. 1.2K views View Upvoters View Sharers 33 5 5
