by Vicki Phipps

Created on: February 06, 2011   Last Updated: February 07, 2011

The reasons why Christianity and Socialism go hand in hand are many, but socialism is a word that’s become a political way to make many American Christians cringe with fear and dread any time the word is said.

Even so, socialism is not evil, but just a political and economic theory of social organization. The theory advocates the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be regulated by the community as a whole, according to the WordPerfect dictionary. In other words, no one living in a civilized society should be left out in the cold to survive on their own.

It’s not unlike the way any Christian church is organized and it’s based on the principle that when everyone does their part and tithes or pays their fair share of taxes, it benefits all involved and the church or state as a whole. Like the Christian religion, Socialism strives to follow the golden rule that says,"Do unto others as you’d have them do unto you." 

Ironically, to  be called a socialist these days would appear to be rude, when in fact, it would mean that you give more than you receive. You’d be like Martin Luther King or John F. Kennedy and instead of asking what your country should do for you, you’d ask what you can do for your country, not to mention your fellow citizens. Still, if Jesus Christ ran for president of the United States today, many Christians would say that He was a bit too radically socialistic to fit in with their moral values, as if being socialistic was a sin. It’s just confusion that blinds Christians from the truth.

Then again, any political theory can become corrupt by people who don’t behave in Christ like ways. God has nothing against Christians becoming rich, but as the Bible taught Christians long ago, it’s difficult for the rich to enter the Kingdom of heaven, due to human greed.

Of course, a perfect example of the confusion regarding the word, "socialism," came like a rude awakening when the president of the United States tried to pass a compassionate act through congress that would make it illegal for people to be denied medical insurance due to a pre-existing condition, among many other civilized ways to behave. The theory was based on the fact that the more options we provide, the more equal our rights and the lower the cost to all of us. The plan claims that  it should be a human right to survive any treatable disease.

The problem came in when Americans realized the plan is

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