{"id":851,"date":"2013-07-10T05:00:21","date_gmt":"2013-07-10T09:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/godonomics\/?p=851"},"modified":"2013-07-02T17:46:04","modified_gmt":"2013-07-02T21:46:04","slug":"why-the-pope-and-the-bible-think-socialism-is-evil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/2013\/07\/why-the-pope-and-the-bible-think-socialism-is-evil.html","title":{"rendered":"Why the Pope and the Bible think Socialism is Evil&#8230;."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=_b3s3aBZ86s\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Bill Cunningham Interviews Chad Hovind Part 2 of 2\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_b3s3aBZ86s?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I must admit that I always hated group projects. Though they were intended to teach work ethic, team dynamics, and interpersonal skills, I learned to despise them. \u00a0 Why? As an &#8220;A&#8217; student, I was always placed in a group with several unmotivated students who didn&#8217;t care about their &#8220;D&#8221; average in the class. \u00a0I ended up doing most of the work. At the end of the project, we all got &#8220;A&#8217;s&#8221; because 1 or 2 of us did all the work while the others reaped the benefits. \u00a0What lessons did I learn: Good students carry the weight for poor students. \u00a0Laziness can pay off if you latch on to motivated students. \u00a0Etc. Etc. \u00a0 \u00a0 Group projects are a case study of the problems with socialism.<\/p>\n<p>Throughout history, the pope has affirmed that socialism is evil. \u00a0 If the Bible teaches that socialism is evil (and it does), then why do so many seem to promote this idea. \u00a0Socialism violates human rights like liberty, right to property, and historically has lead to loss of life time and time again. \u00a0 \u00a0Socialism is wrong on multiple levels and contrasted sharply with Biblical free market capitalism.<\/p>\n<p>Consider this thought: If God owns everything (and He does) and God could accurately discern who is needy (which He can) and God had the power to take from one group and give to others (which He could), then why doesn\u2019t He? The one Person, who could ethically, morally, and accurately coerce others, chooses not to. How presumptuous is it to adopt a method that God\u2014the only One qualified for the job\u2014won\u2019t use?<\/p>\n<p>These rights, principles, and concepts were played out by a Christian moral philosopher named Adam Smith. In 1776, at the University of Glasgow, he wrote a book called \u201cThe Wealth of Nations.\u201d His book is the foundation and launching pad for modern capitalism. These new ideas launched a worldwide revolution in prosperity.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Prior to 1780, four-fifths\u00a0of the French expended 90% of their income for food to survive.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Even as recently as 1780 in\u00a0Germany, fewer than 1000 people earned more than $1000 a year.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>As the Reformers implemented biblical ideas on economics and liberty, a wave of prosperity was launched wherever they went.<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em>From 1800 to 1850, wages quadrupled.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>From 1850 to 1900 they quadrupled again.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>In the 19<sup>th<\/sup> century, actual wealth and income increased 16 times over. This was true in\u00a0England; but it was truer in\u00a0America\u00a0where free enterprise had its finest reign.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>~What if Jesus Was Never Born\u00a0by James Kennedy<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Adam Smith is known today as the \u201cFather of Modern Economics.\u201d He took biblical principles that were articulated by many before him and applied them in a comprehensive way.\u00a0If you want to look more into the background for these ideas, I\u2019d recommend 3 books:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cVictory of Reason\u201d and \u201cThe Rise of Christianity\u201d by Rodney Stark.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cWhat if Jesus had Never Been Born\u201d by James Kennedy<\/li>\n<li>\u201cThe Wealth of Nations\u201d by Adam Smith.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you\u2019d rather not read more books, maybe this story will help make the \u201ccomplex\u201dbecome more simple to understand.<\/p>\n<p>An economics teacher was trying to convince his class that capitalism produced incentive and socialism did not. He wanted them to see why capitalism was inherently better for society than Marxism. They didn\u2019t buy it. He devised a practical way to unbrainwash the class of their love for socialism. He waited for the first test. When the teacher passed out the tests to his class, everyone received a \u201cC+\u201d\u00a0Many students had studied hard and earned \u201cA\u2019s\u201d, while others had blown off the test and failed. The teacher said that he wanted to treat everyone equally \u2013just as they had suggested. He averaged the efforts of the class and gave everyone a \u201cC+\u201d!<\/p>\n<p>Well, guess what? On the next test, the A\u2019s students who had been robbed for their efforts, didn\u2019t study as hard. The F students continued their bad study habits since they were quite happy with the rewards of their lack of effort on the last test. At the end of the second test, everyone\u2019s averaged grade was a \u201cD.\u201d The class started catching on. They saw that treating everyone equally leads to a downward spiral. It robs the hard workers of the fruit of their hard work. It also rewards laziness and apathy as well.<\/p>\n<p>So what is Godonomics? It\u2019s the beauty of God\u2019s wisdom applied to economics. It is the power of His wisdom applied to a personal, family, and even national economy. It is the blueprint and framework for experiencing liberty, prosperity, and generosity<\/p>\n<p>For more information, check out\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.godonomics.com\/\" target=\"_blank\">www.godonomics.com<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.godonomics.com\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/www.godonomics.com\/images\/godonomics-header.png\" width=\"600\" height=\"162\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&nbsp; I must admit that I always hated group projects. Though they were intended to teach work ethic, team dynamics, and interpersonal skills, I learned to despise them. \u00a0 Why? As an &#8220;A&#8217; student, I was always placed in a group with several unmotivated students who didn&#8217;t care about their &#8220;D&#8221; average in the class.&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":353,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[67,58],"tags":[211,210,212],"class_list":["post-851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-capitalismsocialism","category-liberty","tag-pope-says-socialism-is-evil","tag-socialism-is-evil","tag-why-liberty-leads-to-prosperity"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Why the Pope and the Bible think Socialism is Evil.... - Godonomics<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why the Pope and the Bible think Socialism is Evil.... - Godonomics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"&nbsp; I must admit that I always hated group projects. Though they were intended to teach work ethic, team dynamics, and interpersonal skills, I learned to despise them. \u00a0 Why? As an &#8220;A&#8217; student, I was always placed in a group with several unmotivated students who didn&#8217;t care about their &#8220;D&#8221; average in the class.&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/2013\/07\/why-the-pope-and-the-bible-think-socialism-is-evil.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Godonomics\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-07-10T09:00:21+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2013-07-02T21:46:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/www.godonomics.com\/images\/godonomics-header.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"chadhovind\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why the Pope and the Bible think Socialism is Evil.... - Godonomics","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why the Pope and the Bible think Socialism is Evil.... - Godonomics","og_description":"&nbsp; I must admit that I always hated group projects. 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He graduated from Moody Bible College in Chicago, majoring in pastoral ministry and communication. His love for ministry and creativity can be seen in many forms: leading teams, expository teaching, acting, and video production. He has served as pastor at two high-impact churches in Georgia: Cumberland Community Church and New Community Church. Chad received an M.A. in Ministry from Moody Graduate School in 2008. He loves volleyball, movies, and hanging out with his wife Beth and their three children.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.godonomics.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/author\/chadhovind"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/353"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=851"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2719,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851\/revisions\/2719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/godonomics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}