The economy is never stagnant, either with respect to its performance (GDP growth, inflation, unemployment rate, etc.) or with respect to the level and degree of government direction (more or less socialistic, more or less market driven, etc.). Our economy is becoming more and more socialistic. One clear marker on this road to serfdom is The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare). The Affordable Care Act establishes new economic intervention and bureaucracy and taxes to support the involvement. On August 19th Professor Haymond pointed out the job destroying element of the Affordable Care Act.

President Obama has stated that Martin Luther King Jr. would support The Affordable Care Act. This is certainly possible, although we will never know for certain. Below is a quote from King’s The Strength to Love chapter 10. The quote is in reference to full-blown Communism, not the “kinder, gentler” socialism that is advocated by many Christians today. However, given that the economy is never stagnant but is currently becoming more socialistic, King’s warnings of the incompatibility of Communism and Christianity are worth reviewing.

First, Communism is based on a materialistic and humanistic view of life and history. According to Communist theory, matter, not mind or spirit, speaks the last word in the universe. Such a philosophy is avowedly secularistic and atheistic. Under it, God is merely a figment of the imagination, religion is a product of fear and ignorance, and the church is an invention of the rulers to control the masses. Moreover, Communism, like humanism, thrives on the grand illusion that man, unaided by any divine power, can save himself and usher in a new society–Cold atheism wrapped in the garments of materialism, Communism provides no place for God or Christ.

Second, Communism is based on ethical relativism and accepts no stable moral absolutes. Right and wrong are relative to the most expedient methods for dealing with class war. Communism exploits the dreadful philosophy that the end justifies the means. It enunciates movingly the theory of a classless society, but alas! its methods for achieving this noble end are all too often ignoble. Lying, violence, murder, and torture are considered to be justifiable means to achieve the millennial end.

Third, Communism attributes ultimate value to the state. Man is made for the state and not the state for man. Man has no inalienable rights. His only rights are derived from, and conferred by, the state. Under such a system, the fountain of freedom runs dry. Restricted are man’s liberties of press and assembly, his freedom to vote, and his freedom to listen and to read. Art, religion, education, music, and science come under the gripping yoke of government control. Man must be a dutiful servant to the omnipotent state.

I think Dr. King clearly outlines why Christians should not be supportive of Communism. The US economy is clearly moving in the direction of socialism. While you can find very few advocates of the type of Communism King argues against, the current direction of the economy is moving closer to something nobody really wants.