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Socialism Violates the 10 Commandments
“Socialism violates at least three of the Ten Commandments: It turns government into God, it legalizes thievery and it elevates covetousness. Discussions of income inequality, after all, aren’t about prosperity but about petty spite. Why should you care how much money I make, so long as you are happy?” — Ben Shapiro
I’ve never heard socialism described this way, and it makes sense: anyone who is supposedly religious can’t subscribe to both socialism and religion. Well, of course, they can, but it must be difficult to ignore the cognitive dissonance.
How often have you heard Progressivism described as just another religion? Since Progressivists adhere to socialism (whether they admit it or not), they can’t legitimately engage in a religion, certainly not a theistic one.
Shapiro’s comment about socialism approving of thievery is also true; anyone who believes that you can take others’ money and give it to others who have less money violates religion, too. Everyone is entitled to have as much wealth as they desire — but they must earn it themselves. And covetousness is a precise description, too; isn’t socialism truly about desiring what others have and insisting you are entitled to have as much as the people who have actually worked to earn their wealth?
No matter how they try to justify it, socialists are violating the Ten Commandments, the moral foundation of our Judeo-Christian system, when they insist that socialism would be good for this country; it is neither moral nor ethical. Yet these folks expect us to join them in their efforts to steal from us and they are angry when we don’t.
When they can’t get what they demand, socialists/Progressives are unhappy people.
And those of us who work for a living — their unhappiness is our fault.
Do you see other violations of the Ten Commandments by people who believe in socialism?
Published in Politics
Pope Francis probably isn’t subscribing to The Daily Wire anytime soon over this….
This ^ ^ ^ ^ is exactly what is going on.
Funny that they do not realize that just because they feel generous to the poor who struggle to get beyond the southern border, they have not contributed a single thing to another’s well being. But they don’t realize it one bit, and so they feel smugly superior to those of us who don’t agree.
The whole idea of “social justice” distorts charity and makes it something else: redistribution at the point of a gun. Real justice applies to basic human rights and those rights are legitimately enforced by government authority.
When the scope of justice broadens from enforcing basic human rights into enforcing material equality, the Christian’s or Jew’s spiritual agency is co-opted. The agape that is both the motivation and product of individual acts of charity is destroyed when giving becomes a legal obligation. Furthermore, and this shouldn’t need repeating, when bureaucratically managed “social justice” reduces the obligation to “love thy neighbor,” voluntary social institutions wither and die.
Are Pope Francis and his Jesuit brothers not smart enough to understand this?
I think this argument is context dependent. Before Socialism takes control, people will covet what wealthier people have, wealth that was accumulated under a different system by thrift, hard work, or — depending on the government — perhaps even corruption. After Socialism takes the reigns of power, nobody except apparatchiks in the corrupt leadership will have anything left to covet.
This is a too-obvious argument and unnecessarily conflates religion with modern politics. Yes, of course Socialism is wrong!
To cite the Ten Commandments brings the argument into the realm of religious dogma cheapens the debate.
Theres a reason Moses came down with “commandments”. People in those days (and arguably now) lacked the ability to understand why these actions were wrong or why they caused societies and cultures to fail. So, just command people from God and threaten them with punishment. That works for primitive societies.
Supposedly we know why socialism is bad and produces horrible results and should be able to explain it without having to resort to edicts from above and the ultimate “appeal to authority”.
I’m beginning to loathe Shapiro.
I guess Shapiro would say the Holocaust violates the First Commandment. End of argument. He’s not wrong. It’s just a bit pedestrian and doesn’t inform us, or warn us of the dangers.
I have heard too many sermons by Christian pastors who turn coveting from a sin into a virtue. These sermons have lamented that other people have material resources that if “we” (the pastor’s audience) had control of those material resources, would be put to “better” use (as “we” define “better” use). These sermons then assert that therefore “we” should be able to determine how the the material resources of other people are used so that they are used to further our desires and interests. In other words, we should covet our neighbor’s things.
By the way, I think presenting the “thou shalt not covet” line is likely to be more convincing for many people than is the “thou shalt not steal” line.
Slime like you should be banned from Ricochet.
You give them too much credit. The alleged “charity” of which you speak is nothing more than a Trojan Horse through which they can push through greater control of the economy. Just look at how they all but stopped caring about the poor once they discovered that environmentalism might be a more effective path to power.
I can’t find non-henotheistic anywhere. I don’t know what it means. There are Jews that live on kibbutzim, but most of them are no longer socialistic or communistic, because they figured out that it doesn’t work. Only a tiny part of the population live on them, and they are often capitalist enterprises. You could call them communal, but not socialistic or communist in the true definition of the terms. Not even close.
Jews never called themselves a special people. People like you did. As @kayofmt stated, we were to be an example to the nations of how to live a moral life. It’s a big responsibility and no Jew I know has ever pushed that they are special, but people like you use “special” to divide people, not unify them. We don’t force our morality or beliefs on anyone. In fact, it’s difficult to become a Jew, not because we don’t want others to be special, but because it’s a huge responsibility.
Yes indeed. If there is a a group of people who consider themselves special, it is the Progs!
Very well said, @tfiks. Particularly regarding spiritual agency and agency. Thanks!
Wow, @fullsizetabby! This argument is so bizarre. I had no idea. I’m still mulling it over. Thanks.
We’ve turned the argument on its head. Individual Christians are supposed to help individuals they see who need help including persons who need monetary support of some kind for some period. The examples are clear, individualist and short. It’s also clear Caesar doesn’t get to claim a piece. Socialists seek the power to take the money. Like Caesar, the power to take is key. Modern democracy has at least imposed the medium term necessisty of giving it to supporters, but it’s still Caesar, it’s still taking and if it goes to the right people it’s an accident and seldom short.
First, @franco, I think you already loathe Shapiro because he is not a full supporter of Trump. Second, he didn’t “conflate religion with modern politics”; supposedly those of us who are religious don’t abandon our religious beliefs within the realm of politics, although clearly lots of people do. Religion should guide everything we do, not just those areas where it’s convenient. To hold onto our religious beliefs and values when we’re in the muck is a challenge, but I believe we’re at least called to do so. Others, like Nancy Pelosi, think they can wave their religious banners and lie through their teeth. I think Shapiro’s reminding people that the commandments hold true beyond time and space is masterful. I’m sorry you think the commandments only work for “primitive societies”; that’s one way to deny their relevance today.
Not quite. There’s more to my thoughts than this interpretation.
I don’t like Shapiro because he’s overly judgmental and just too moralizing for my sensibilities. He’s arrogant and smug. His show is overly commercialized. I think he’s wrong to infuse so much moralism into politics.
I’m not asking anyone to abandon their religious beliefs. I just think the Ten Commandments are basically politics 101.
I think socialism violates all Ten Commandments. So?
I think it’s a stupid argument.
They underpin our Western Civilization.
Again it’s dumbing the argument down. The holocaust violates the First Commandment, but then so does the death penalty for serial murderers. So it’s not a very good argument by itself is it? Unless you are also against the death penalty for egregious crimes, which I am not.
There’s no truth to that, Skyler.
I like Jews. Most of them. Lenny was a schlemiel, but if Lenny woke up one morning magically transposed into an Episcopalian, he still would have been a schlemiel.
OK… I’ll take @skyler’s comments as more than mere trolling.
This is very lazy thinking.
For starters: racism needs race. Judaism is a faith system, and Jews come in every color and race.
Do we think every culture and belief system is equally valuable and good? No. But only a fool thinks that.
Nonsense. Name a Jewish Holy War where we forced people to convert or die. Jews are easily the most tolerant of all “real” religions. We are far more tolerant, even on Ricochet, than are even pagans. Jews in history have shown more toleration of OTHER people than any other religion I can think of. Do you have a counter-example?
This is just silly. Israel was partially founded by communists, and they started kibbutzim. Kibbutzes are communist – but they are voluntary – you can enter and you can leave. Are you opposed to people voluntarily choosing to live in communes?
Most kibbutzes were not religious and anti-religious. Prominent Zionists were the FIRST to say that they were not about Judaism. So I don’t have to say it: Herzl said it.
It is NOT possible to be a fully practicing Jew and not be a nice person. The central commandment of Judaism is to love your neighbor as yourself. Ours is the first religion in history to prioritize loving the outsider.
Many born Jews have been communists. Virtually none of them have been Torah-observant.
A core idea of communism is control – and the big difference between kibbutzes and communist countries is that a person can CHOOSE to be in or out of a kibbutz.
Are there any kibbutzes outside Israel? Zionism, communism and Israel were integrally linked. So when you rail against kibbutzes, this is about Israel.
“Racism” requires “race.”
Doesn’t it?
Anyone who really wants to can become a Jew, or leave Judaism. That is not racial superiority. It is nothing more or less than believing that the Torah is a divine document and so adherents are definitionally closer to G-d.
Do you believe that all cultures and people are equal? No sane person believes that, I think. Does that make ALL people racist?
I’ve avoided getting into this discussion, but there was a big 1970’s movement in the US called communes, where various men and woman, some even being married, would share things together. They were mostly gone by the 1980’s, a 10 year cycle. The same issues broke up many kibbutzes in Israel, and very few exist there today.
It takes wisdom to understand why this happens. And I don’t use the word wisdom flippantly.
I wonder if Nancy Pelosi was Jewish and someone accused her of “waving religious banners” and lying if they would be accused of anti-Semitism. But I agree entirely regardless.
“I’m sorry you think the commandments only work for “primitive societies”; that’s one way to deny their relevance today.”
You are really bad at interpreting what I think. I can barely do it myself…
I didn’t say that. Nor am I denying these ancient laws their modern relevance. I’m saying the argument is unpersuasive and introduces unnecessary religiosity into an argument that ( I believe) is being addressed to people who ( mostly) have antipathy toward religion. Does Shapiro think he’s telling people like us anything new? I don’t think so.
So here is another reason I don’t like Shapiro. I think he’s a poor messenger for the conservative cause, and he’s definitely not fighting socialism by his opposition to Trump. I wouldn’t go so far as saying he’s violating any of the Ten Commandments ( or three of them) by his failings…There’s no commandment telling us we must prevent these things from occurring.
Is there a commandment saying slavery is wrong? That’s the one socialism violates the most.
The Socialists’ First Commandment is: Truth is that which advances the Cause.
And their Second is: Thou shalt not have goods thy neighbors covet.
The original Fifth Commandment, “Honor thy Father and Mother,” doesn’t fit in with Socialist dogma at all. Not only is honor an utterly bourgeois notion, but to the Left, the whole concept of children revering their parents is completely backwards. Instead, parents should revere their children since they have not yet been tainted by any of society’s irrational and oppressive prejudices.
The Sixth Commandment – Thou shalt not kill – is deeply problematic to the Left as demonstrated by its support for abortion and euthanasia. To the Left, the value of any life must be judged by its use to Society weighed against its environmental impact and carbon footprint.
The Eighth Commandment, Thou shalt not steal, implies respect for private property – another regressive and dangerous bourgeois concept. When property is “stolen,” the fault lies not with the individual who takes it, but with the elitist property owner whose greed created an inequitable distribution of material wealth in the first place.
The Ninth Commandment – Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor – is overridden by the Socialists’ First Commandment. Since truth is whatever advances the cause, lies told about one’s neighbor may be “true” depending upon the ends that the false witness intends to achieve.
Edit: I got my Commandment numbers wrong. I thought Thou shalt not kill was #1.
Wow, 8 years of catechism and memorizing Catholic dogma rendered meaningless after 50 years!
All of your arguments are fair arguments. I think you understand my point. Shapiro is being ridiculous, so I was being just as ridiculous with as much attachment to the truth as he had. Thank you for getting it.
For those who can’t understand that, well, read more carefully.
Start with the opposite:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henotheism
“We’re the ones we’ve been waiting for.”
It goes back much further than that…there’s a long history in the US of voluntary communes of one sort or another, many of them religion-centered. Check out the Oneida Community (ancestor of today’s Oneida silverware)
They even had a form of *sexual* communism, although with more sex for the leader, natch.
Funny how often that happens.
I grew up down the road from there! The “Mansion House” of Oneida is a beautiful building which still stands today. They currently rent out apartments and use it for banquets, restaurants, etc. The Oneida Community pops up quite a bit in history. John Humphrey Noyes, who founded the community, was a first cousin to 19th POTUS Rutherford B. Hayes. And Charles Guiteau, who assassinated President Garfield, spent some years in the commune before they kicked him out.