Religion and Morals
The left are very sympathetic to other cultures and religions, including Islam, Christianity and Judaism. It is, after all, part of the left wing culture to be tolerant and to accept freedom of religion. There is a strong empathy between socialism and Christianity - Jesus is often portrayed as a socialist. Many Anglican churches promote left-wing objectives and in Europe there is a Christian Socialist movement. Similarly, some versions of Buddhism have an appeal to the Left. Some versions even deny the existence of a deity.
On the other hand, many left wing people, particularly on the more extreme fringes, are atheists. After all Marx himself said that religion was the opium of the people and many people hold the view that belief in God and an afterlife is simply propaganda meted out to the masses to make them more compliant in this life. Communist Russia, China and North Korea are atheist states.
This gives rise to rather a dichotomy. Whist being tolerant of religion, the Left are actually opposed to anything with any real religious teaching. Christians and Jews who promote the Ten Commandments are considered extremists. Muslims who teach that men and women are different are condemned as sexist. I mentioned before (‘Passed Down Wisdom’) that even people high up in the Christian hierarchy appear to not have real belief in God. This is the kind of belief that the Left subscribe to.
The idea that Jesus was a socialist is a view, not surprisingly, espoused by
socialists. In the same way as every variant of Marxist explains that they are
carrying out the ‘real’ teachings of Marx, so every Christian says they are
carrying out the real teaching of Jesus. I heard a woman on the radio explaining
that Jesus would have supported her left-wing anti-government stance. How she
knew she didn't explain. On the other hand, right-wing religious fundamentalists
are convinced that Jesus would have supported their view.
One thing that we do know, and is ignored by many Christians, is that Jesus
was a Jewish prophet and followed in a long line of prophets in the Bible. Many
of these were not in the least left wing and appear to have a moral code that
is quite alien to Twenty-first century Westerners. This is often given as ‘proof’
that the Bible is not the word of God. On the other hand, it may be that modern
ideas of morality are rather limited. In Kings 2:23 – 25 the Prophet Elisha
is said to have cursed two children who made fun of his bald head. Subsequently
two bears came out of the woods and killed them. It is argued that as a prophet
he was totally ‘good’ and therefore, if this is true, couldn't have performed
such an evil deed. This assumes that all prophets are ‘good’. In fact, it may
simply show that he had great power that at certain times he was unable to control.
