this post was submitted on 15 Apr 2025
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Christ's teachings were an inspiration to Marx
Yes, in the same way that Marx’s teachings were an inspiration to Hitler — as a convenient source for plagiarism and fertile grounds for the delusion that each of them had found the one piece of the puzzle that everyone before them missed: that if only you went and killed all the Pharisees, the Kingdom of God would materialize on earth without all that annoying and painful self-sacrifice.
Not at all, Marx thought Jesus' idea of feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and tending to the sick was a good goal and envisioned a pathway to achieve that IRL.
But Jesus already showed the path and there were many saints who came after him who can attest to its efficacy.
Meanwhile, everyone who attempted to put Marx’s ideas into action has ended up killing millions of people and driving their entire country into misery and poverty.
Have you ever read Tolstoy?
His The Kingdom of God is Within You discusses how communism without religion is doomed to fail due to the lack of a moral compass beyond instituting communism. I thought it was very moving and persuasive.
I have not. But that’s an interesting thesis, because it contradicts Marx’s central belief that “religion is the opium of the people”, and that it would become unnecessary once communism was fully established.
I think Marx's stance on religion is the greatest factor that has prevented communism from widespread acceptance. Religious communes have been operating for centuries, and (as shown by the OP), their morals align very well. Christians should have been Marx's greatest allies, but instead he chose hard-line atheism.
That, and his stance that the use of violence is not only permissible, but necessary in order for the revolution to succeed.
Christian ethics are essentially voluntarist in nature; Jesus spent a lot of time trying to convince people to set aside their differences and work together, but ultimately he leaves it up to everyone’s free will.
Marx thought that he could shortcut this whole process by simply forcing everyone to participate, and that’s where he departed from Christianity. “All who take the sword will perish by the sword” (Matt. 26:52) was not part of his philosophy.