A Christian Cannot Be A Marxist Or A Socialist

Small correction--Christianity, unlike socialism, is not an ideology but at its heart is a visible community of believers. But for the sake of assessing the truth or persuasiveness of my thesis, it's fair to look at the philosophical principles of each to see if they are compatible or incompatible.

To say that socialists and Christians each desire the common good might be true, but is not particularly helpful in determining their compatibility, since every major ideology, philosophy, religion, or political movement thinks they are seeking the common good, otherwise they could never gain any type of serious following. Both Republicans and Democrats desire the common good. Theists and atheists both desire the common good. Heck, I'm sure communists and climate change radicals and the ringleaders of CHAZ think they are seeking the common good. A better question would be to examine whether they these various groups are actually achieving the common good. The problem here, unfortunately, is that trying to determine this is extremely subjective. So as important as the question of the common good is, I will set it aside for now.

The point is--are socialism and Christianity compatible?

Your comment that "We go sideways when we introduce people into the mix," is an interesting one--and I think may unintentionally support my point. First, I would say that you cannot separate people--or the effect on people--from the evaluation of any program or philosophy. For instance, many say that socialism sounds good in theory, but is--and always had been--as disaster when put into practice. See, those pesky people got in the way and messed it all up! If that's the case perhaps the problem is not with the people, but with the theory itself. But again this is going down the road of judging the quality or effectiveness of socialism, which is not the question at hand....

But the people question, I think, does go to the point of why Christianity and socialism are incompatible--which is that they have radically different anthropologies. That is, their respective understandings of human beings and human nature are fundamentally different. Socialism is based in philosophical materialism and does not recognize any principle other than the material well being of people. While there have been attempts to form a so-called "Christian Socialism," in the end these movements will always prioritize the material over the spiritual. Christianity, on the other hand, recognizes the importance of both the material and the immaterial (or spiritual). Because Christianity gives primacy to the uniqueness and ultimate value of each individual person (as a child of God), it has a flexibility in practice that allows it to operate under many different forms of government and/or social conditions. The Christian doctrine of man's fallen nature (Original Sin) and its respect for free will also helps it to see that no human plans or projects (such as socialism) can ever bring about a perfect equality of outcomes or elimination of poverty. While we are called to seek the good of our neighbor, this must be voluntary and with respect for the rights of others to reject this help. Socialism, while seeking the good of neighbor, will ultimately subordinate the individual to the greater good, will not uphold the right of private property, and will use compulsion to achieve its aims.

Now much of the above might raise other questions for perhaps a different thread, but my thesis on the incompatibility of socialism and Christianity boils down to:

• different views of humanity and human nature
• different views on how to achieve the common good
• …..neither of which can be reconciled.