Occasionally I receive correspondence from those who are genuinely puzzled as to why a seemingly bible believing Christian such as your truly is not able to see the ‘obvious’ truth that Christianity and Capitalism are synonymous. Some are charitable enough to concede that I am genuine in my questioning of capitalism but just blinded by socialistic prejudice caused by having been brought up in a backward, liberal godless welfare state. Others question my ability to read – especially the bible, whilst others have the view that I am just plain dishonest, using Christianity as a platform to espouse the main aim of my life – the advance of socialism! Well its time to deal with some of this ignorance, prejudice and genuine concern.

Let me first begin by giving you an example of the correspondence I have received – it is a genuinely nice letter written by someone who obviously appreciates the Free Church website but is totally puzzled by the apparent socialistic bias of my column . My correspondent writes “support for progressive taxation plus larger government and opposition to a strong national defense go hand in hand with moral relativism and a weak work ethic without individual responsibility. Biblically, how can Free Church ministers appear to support a political party which advocates a homosexual agenda, abortion, drug legalization and opposes the death penalty? God's Word promotes hard work, absolute standards and individual responsibility coupled with individual acts of charity and outlines a 10% tithe across any income level as a beginning point for giving.”

Let’s untangle this.

1) It may be true that in some instances support for progressive taxation, plus larger government and opposition to a strong national defence, does go hand in hand with moral relativism and weak work ethic without individual responsibility. But, in the words of an old song, it ain’t necessarily so. I know people who are moral relativists who love the idea of less government, non-progressive taxation and are quite happy to have a strong national defence to protect their hedonistic godless lifestyle. Equally it is because I am a moral absolutist that I am opposed to Britain wasting billions on the immoral Trident system. It is because I am a moral absolutist that I believe regressive taxation is wrong and that the rich should pay more in tax whilst the poor pay less.

2) If my correspondents point is that I should not, as a Free Church minister, support the Labour party then I totally agree. However he has fallen into the worlds trap. It is possible to criticise one political party without endorsing the other. For the sake of clarity I should point out that I regard the Conservative and Labour parties as having a lot more in common than most people suppose. There are very few socialists left in the Labour party. Moreover I do not believe the bible endorses any one political system. It is biblically possible to be a Christian and a Conservative and it is also possible to be a Christian and a Socialist. I cannot personally endorse any of the left wing political parties in this country precisely because being left wing now just means endorsing social liberalism and has very little to do with economic justice. The left-wing is as market orientated as the right. A plague on both your houses!

3) It is true that Gods Word promotes hard work, absolute standards and individual responsibility and giving. But it also promotes a lot more – community life, community responsibility and community giving. It also promotes vigorously justice for the poor, punishment for those who exploit them, concern for the environment and a strong warning that we cannot serve both God and Mammon. Those who selectively choose parts of Gods word to support a particular political position are in grave danger of taking away from the Word of God. The words of Augustine are apposite – “If you believe in the Bible what you like, and leave out what you do not like, it is not the bible you believe but yourself”! The Christian political conservative who argues against homosexuality but ignores the environment is as guilty of hypocrisy as the Christian political liberal who argues against exploitation of the poor but ignores abortion.

4) I am always puzzled by the view that the Bible teaches that tax should be a tithe across any income level. Try as I might I cannot find any passage in the bible which states or even implies that the state must only tax a tithe. The tithe was for the Church in Israel and now for the Church throughout the world, but unless you are prepared to argue for a theocracy or for Erastianism there is no biblical warrant for arguing that we should only pay 10% tax. Indeed the radical teaching of Jesus seems to be that all the money with Caesar’s head on it belongs to Caesar. Let the government tax what it will. We have no right not to pay – unless that money is being used to break Gods law. The Christian should be concerned not with the amount of tax but rather the purpose for which it is used.

So let me now offer a brief criticism of modern day capitalism and why I believe as Christians we must distance ourselves from this oppressive and godless system or at least offer a prophetic critique. But before I begin let me disavow the notion that I am a socialist (equivalent to a Satanist in some evangelical circles in the US). A socialist is someone who believes in the public ownership of the means of production – I do not. In fact I don’t know which system is the best –I am more concerned with who works the system and how they work it. Perhaps one day I will write a critique of socialism. The reason I do not do so today is that capitalism rules and socialists are as rare as hens teeth!

So what are the evils of capitalism today?

1) Capitalism is based upon human greed. It is a system whose existence depends upon gluttony, consumer demand, economic growth, obesity and an advertising industry which creates and/or exploits felt needs. It also depends upon the gambling that takes place on the stock market. Can anyone explain to me why it is sinful to bet on a horse but ok to gamble on shares?

2) Capitalism encourages sin. It is fertile soil for human sinfulness. The industries that flourish the most in our rampant market capitalism are the drink, drugs, entertainments, sex and pleasure industries. There is very little room for any real morality – especially if it is a morality that would interfere in free trade.

3) Capitalism has no need for God- expect as a useful tool to exploit those oppressed by poverty. Mammon is God. In capitalism you worship it or you die. Shareholders do not care if you worship God or not – as long as your beliefs do not interfere with their profit.

4) Capitalism has triumphed not because of the advance of Christianity but rather because of its decline and because of the advance of social Darwinianism. The market is a jungle and the law of the jungle applies - Aggression and violence, success and winning, swallowing up the weak. These are what makes a successful capitalist. Recently a factory closed in my city. Not because it was inefficient – not because it was making products no one wanted, but rather because the ‘mother company’ was suffering in the American recession and shareholders on Wall St wanted to see some action and some pruning of jobs – so this sub branch of the American economy lost 150 workers. No discussion. No return of government money provided when they set up. No compensation. Goodbye and thanks.

5) Capitalism is ultimately destructive.

It is destroying democracy – it is more important in the so called democratic countries to own a newspaper than it is to win an argument. Image is more valued than truth. Even if one does get elected who is going to be brave enough to take on the multi-nationals? Big Business is as much a problem as big government – yet I hear very little critique of this from our right wing evangelicals.

It is destroying academia – Our universities are rapidly turning into research laboratories for multi-nationals. Apparently 30 Oxford dons are multi-millionaires. This not from inherited wealth but rather the business exploitation of academic work. Companies now pay fortunes to Universities to do research. My concern is that this will do away with the integrity of academic and scientific research. What do you do if your research is critical of the company that provides your livelihood? And what if you are in a field that yields little profit? In the future Universities in Britain will have less theology, philosophy and arts and more Islamic Schools (provided not because of a growing academic interest but because the Sultan of Somewhere donates £5 million,) biotechnology institutes and ‘our very first computer gaming centre’.

It is destroying sport – rather than being a refection of human effort and something that the community can share in sport is rapidly becoming the means to great riches for a few shareholders, owners and top stars. The only thing that matters is not the taking part, nor even the winning, but the financial rewards that go with the winning.

Forgive me. I am getting carried away. Forgive my anti-capitalist prejudice. It’s only my opinion. At least be thankful that I am not as extreme as Augustine who argued that no Christian should be a prostitute, a maker of idols, an actor or a businessman! I look forward to a robust, intelligent and biblical response from all my brothers and sisters out there who will still see all the above as a socialist liberal rant against the godly capitalistic system of the West. Send me a reply and convince me that Alan Greenspan is not the anti-Christ. Better still reply to the Free Church message board or to St Peter’s message board (www.stpeters-dundee.org.uk).

Yours in Christ

David

PS. Disclaimer – the above is not the official position of the Free Church on these matters (we do not have one) neither does it claim to be holy writ, nor is it an endorsement of one political position. I also realise that it is much easier to knock down something than it is to build it up. My prayer is that as we offer a critique of market capitalism, Christians will also be able to demonstrate a better way of living. Lets serve God and not the stock market.

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