"Surely it is unchristian and unethical for some to wallow in the soft beds of luxury while others sink into the quicksands of poverty....
"Capitalism may lead to a practical materialism that is as pernicious as the theoretical materialism taught by Communism.
"We must honestly recognize that truth is not to be found either in traditional capitalism or in Marxism. Each represents a partial truth. Historically, capitalism failed to discern the truth of collective enterprise and Marxism failed to see the truth in individual enterprise. Nineteenth-century capitalism failed to appreciate that life is social and Marxism failed, and still fails, to see that life is individual and social. The Kingdom of God is neither the thesis of individual enterprise nor the antithesis of collective enterprise, but a synthesis that reconciles the truth of both.
"For so many Christians, Christianity is a Sunday activity having no relevancy for Monday, and the church is little more than a secular social club having a thin veneer of religiosity. Jesus is an ancient symbol whom we do the honor of calling Christ and yet his Lordship is neither affirmed nor acknowledged by our substanceless lives."
p.106-107, STRENGTH TO LOVE by Martin Luther King, Jr. (Fortress Press: 1963, 2010)
Thursday, July 10, 2014
"HOW SHOULD A CHRISTIAN VIEW COMMUNISM?"
"Surely it is unchristian and unethical for some to wallow in the soft beds of luxury while others sink into the quicksands of poverty....
"Capitalism may lead to a practical materialism that is as pernicious as the theoretical materialism taught by Communism.
"We must honestly recognize that truth is not to be found either in traditional capitalism or in Marxism. Each represents a partial truth. Historically, capitalism failed to discern the truth of collective enterprise and Marxism failed to see the truth in individual enterprise. Nineteenth-century capitalism failed to appreciate that life is social and Marxism failed, and still fails, to see that life is individual and social. The Kingdom of God is neither the thesis of individual enterprise nor the antithesis of collective enterprise, but a synthesis that reconciles the truth of both.
"For so many Christians, Christianity is a Sunday activity having no relevancy for Monday, and the church is little more than a secular social club having a thin veneer of religiosity. Jesus is an ancient symbol whom we do the honor of calling Christ and yet his Lordship is neither affirmed nor acknowledged by our substanceless lives."
p.106-107, STRENGTH TO LOVE by Martin Luther King, Jr. (Fortress Press: 1963, 2010)