Pope Francis was not exhorting a philosophy of Marxism such as was intimated by radio show host Rush Limbaugh last week.
He was merely putting capitalism in its rightful place, which is a system that relies on the judgment of a society of free people who have the ability to make life here on Earth pleasant for others.
That does not conflict with the conservative capitalistic views of people who have excelled in building their personal economies to provide businesses that can support the livelihoods of others. There are capitalists, of course, who do not follow that path. However, those who can help others provide a good living for themselves and their families.
Marxism, on the other hand, is a philosophy which places all of the freedoms in the hand of government and none with the people who are at the mercy of the government that rules them. In other words, the government, whoever that may be, replaces God in deciding how the world should be run.
Thou shalt not kill becomes an irrelevant commandment in a Marxist society. Its political system places the importance of running countries in the hands of those who claim to act in the interest of the people but in reality can follow their own mandates in what benefits themselves without regard to the lives of other citizens in their country.A democracy run properly provides the ability for people to use their freedom to provide for themselves and for others in need. Pope Francis was addressing that right in putting such a future in the hands of the people.
Marxism rose as a political system in the 1930s and 1940s when the Russians gained some respect from the people in helping to topple the evil German empire. Their communist system may have united their people enough to help gain that victory.
But providing a life that lacks freedom of the people to follow their own consciences in helping others to have a better life is not the way to go. Government must allow the people to follow their own principals to the betterment of the world. And the people on the whole have the ability to do that without a Marxist government directing it.
That is what Pope Francis meant when he wrote in November that just as the commandment “thou shalt not kill” sets a clear limit in order to safeguard the value of human life, today we also have to say “thou shalt not to an economy of exclusion and inequality. That philosophy can be applied by people themselves without the help of a Marxist government.
Be the first to comment