The Christian Communalism of Equality and Brotherhood and liberty from the tyranny of materialist exploitation and dehumanization

13Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. 14At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, 15as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”

(2 Corinthians 8:13-15)

The teachings of Christ entail that the strong need to bear with the weak, the rich must share with the poor, and all must learn from Christ to be humble and gentle and use whatever talents/resources they were entrusted with for the common good. Social Darwinism which in its many forms still dominates much of Western thinking says that it is normal for the strong survive at the expense of the weak and for the rich not to share equally with the poor. After all it is the weak who are poor and it is not our fault that they are not fit, smart or good enough to look after themselves properly in the scramble for the earth’s resources. It is no wonder that many in the rich West have turned their back on Christianity or only adopt it superficially. After all it is much easier to justify one’s own greed and selfishness by apportioning blame upon the poor and the weak than to accept that Christ’s way is indeed the right way to live and take responsibility for changing our ways to His way.