Jon Sanders quotes Barbara Ehrenreich of Nickel and Dime fame, in today?s feature article on Carolinajournal.com as saying:
?As for Jesus being a socialist, I take it back. He was actually a little to the left of that, judging from his instruction to the rich man to sell all that he had and give to the poor. If that?s what it takes to be a true Christian, believe me, it?s a hell of a lot easier to be a socialist: You have to dedicate yourself to working for the poor, just as a Christian should, but at least you get to keep your stuff.?
Ehrenreich is completely correct. To be a socialist all you have to do is be willing to use the coercive powers of the state to force others to give up their stuff with no personal sacrifice on the socialist?s part. While Christ had to be good at persuasion to accomplish his goals socialists have to be good at wielding and exercising political power, i.e., force. While the ethics of Christianity dictates that only peaceful means should be used, the socialist backs up all of her compassion with a threat of violence.
