Doug, I would agree with you -- except neither of us is inside the
tent -- and I think probably a majority of those inside the tent would
say the Good is Good because God says it is. Maritain bluntly states
that trying to show that God is Good leads to atheism. And in *The
Class Struggle in the Ancient Greek World* G.E.M. de Ste.
Croix demonstrates pretty convincingly that the religion some marxists
have praised, "Early Christianity," was much more a religion of slave
owners than of slaves.
Christians who (usuually for the same reasons as non-Christians) move
left can interpret their religion to fit their politics. But except for
radical
Pacifists (as my Mennonite friends), I doubt very much that religion
leads to left politics -- rather, left politics leads to a
reinterpretation
of the religion to fit the politics.
Of course I am skeptical that *anyone* moves left on the basis of
theory. In the beginning was the deed. One finds oneself involved
in political struggle and looks for a theoretical expression of that
struggle.
Carrol
Doug Henwood wrote:
> Actually I'm a bit mystified by the notion that religious people have
> no theoretical reasons for objecting to sweatshops. If you think God
> made us all equal (I don't - I don't know if there's a god, much less
> what s/he intended), then exploitation is morally wrong and the
> existence of poverty amidst plenty is a sin. It's harder for us
> seculars to come up with airtight theoretical reasons to condemn
> exploitation and polarization, though we can try to appeal to
> "science" or some such.
>
> Doug
