04 May America’s 250th Birthday – Christianity, the Declaration and A Forever ‘NO’ to Socialism and Communism
Leftists—who despise the God of the Bible and detest Christianity because they hate the idea of an unseen moral and spiritual power and truth which they cannot contain or control—have always been frustrated that the Judeo-Christian nation that is America has consistently resisted the infiltration of socialism and communism.
So…they and their ignorant ‘adjacent’ friends periodically engage in the political sport of appropriating words and phrases from the Scriptures to make it appear that the Bible and Jesus somehow endorsed their ideas.
In this 250th year of American independence, it’s worth relearning the reasons why America’s birth certificate—the Declaration of Independence—stands squarely against socialism and communism in all their forms, and is in fact the inspired driver of individual freedom and societal prosperity on a scale the world has never seen or even imagined. Plus, a barely-more-than-superficial understanding of Christianity shows that it is actually foundational to freedom and free markets; it has nothing in common with socialism and communism.
_________________
Start with the Declaration:
- Atheism, so central to communism, is dismissed from the get-go by the express wording of the Declaration. Unalienable individual rights are—as a matter of self-evident truth—endowed by God.
- The Declaration further affirms that God created all men and women equal—i.e., they have the right to be treated under law with an assumption of equal individual dignity and worth. The Creator did not create or establish castes or classes of human beings, superior or inferior to other castes or classes. No bourgeoisie or proletariat; just individuals.
- The Declaration also flipped national organizational history upside down by starting fresh and making the individual citizen sovereign over the institution of human government—i.e., government by the consent of the governed. No more kings or privileged hierarchies or autocrats or ruling classes or ‘politburos’ on top, and everyone else below. Citizens are not subjects; they are in fact on top of the organization chart because created by God, and elected ‘representatives’ of those citizens are properly understood as their servants.
- And the real anti-socialism kicker of the Declaration, at least in an organizational sense, is that it profoundly proclaimed the primary, limited and only legitimate purpose of the institution called ‘government’ is to protect the citizens’ practice of God-endowed rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. By contrast, centralized government control of the lives of human beings—a concept at the core of socialism and communism—is simply a non-starter under the Declaration.
__________________
But is the Declaration just an organizational document that can accommodate wildly different economic systems within the nation it established?
No.
American freedom requires an economic system built around the idea of freedom and free markets; nothing else fits.
Specifically, the God-endowed unalienable individual rights to ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ necessarily include the right to acquire and dispose of private property.[1] And it is this right—including the right to donate private property for charitable, philanthropic or family purposes—that brings focus to the question of whether socialism or communism can prevail in America. They can’t and they won’t.
Seth Dillon—CEO of the Babylon Bee—recently explained why, simply and cogently. He wrote on X (paragraph breaks added for ease of reading):
“…Christianity does not promote or require socialism. And it is not at odds with capitalism. The idea that socialism is a biblical model requires you to ignore the difference between willing generosity and forced redistribution.
When the early church in Acts shared resources, it was voluntary; it wasn’t mandated by the state.
Peter acknowledged private property rights and so did the ten commandments. Stealing is only wrong if private property ownership is a given. Same with coveting.
All virtues require freedom, including charity.
Socialism removes the freedom and kills the virtue. If the state takes your wealth and gives it to someone else, you’ve been taxed. You haven’t been “generous” because it had nothing to do with your heart. (italics added)
Capitalism creates wealth — so there’s something to share — and respects our individual freedom to share it. The charity that results from the wealth that’s created is real charity; it’s actually an act of loving one’s neighbor. And it isn’t just theoretical or idealistic.
Free markets paired with Christian values have produced the wealthiest, freest, and most generous societies in history.”
Additionally, Jesus’ parables—while containing messages with multiple levels of spiritual and practical meaning—support concepts undergirding free markets. For example, Jesus’ parable of the talents[2] endorses initiative and industriousness; his parable of workers hired at different times but paid according to what had been promised them[3] endorses the freedom of independent contract. The operation of free markets depends on both of these ideas; neither matters much under socialism or communism.
And St. Paul stated: “…every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.”[4] He endorsed individual freedom and responsibility, not collectivism.
__________________
America’s Declaration of Independence is a practical and ideological barrier to socialism and communism. They just can’t be squared with America’s DNA. Neither can sharia. America’s 250th birthday celebration is a good time to relearn these truths.
Eric Georgatos
[1] Thomas Jefferson reportedly considered the phrasing of ‘life, liberty and property’ but ultimately chose the broader language. Historians argue about Jefferson’s thought process and its origins that led to his choice of wording, but not about his view that the right to acquire and dispose of private property was foundational to American freedom.
[2] Matt. 25: 15-30
[3] Matt. 20: 1-15 (to 1st ?)
[4] 1 Cor. 3: 8