Matt covered the insanity brought on by climate change protesters at the Democratic National Committee's summer meeting this week. But, it isn't just the party crashers who are saying truly outlandish things, it's also the invited speakers. Progressive Pastor Rev. William Barber challenged Republicans on whether or not socialism is moral. He even invited the debate, saying Jesus would support the economic system. Luckily, we have Texas Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw to explain to the preacher just how wrong he is.
"When we embrace moral language, we must ask does our policy care for the least of these? Does it lift up those who are most marginalized and dejected in our society? Does it establish justice? That is the moral question," Rev. William Barber said to applause.
"If someone calls it socialism, then we must compel them to acknowledge that the Bible must then promote socialism, because Jesus offered free health care to everyone, and he never charged a leper a co-pay," he added.
DNC Speaker Rev. William Barber: Socialism Endorsed By Constitution, Biblepic.twitter.com/jPA08RC87Z
— Ryan Saavedra (@RealSaavedra) August 24, 2019
"The Bible says a nation will be judged by how it treats the poor and the sick and women and the immigrants," Barber continued. "The Bible says that God makes it rain on the just and unjust alike. If you want to call caring for folks socialism, then the Constitution is a socialist document because it calls us to promote the general welfare and to establish justice."
This is something leftists love to do. They're all for separation of church and state, unless they can twist Christian scripture to support their agenda. Rep. Crenshaw, very simply actually, pointed out the fundamental flaw in Rev. Barber's argument.
"Deliberate misreading of Biblical principles by DNC to promote socialism," the freshman congressman tweeted. "The Bible teaches charity with one’s own time and money. Socialism teaches charity with other people’s time and money. So....not the same thing."
Deliberate misreading of Biblical principles by DNC to promote socialism. ??
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) August 24, 2019
The Bible teaches charity with one’s own time and money.
Socialism teaches charity with other people’s time and money.
So....not the same thing. https://t.co/9Z9bUQNntX
Perhaps Rev. Barber, since he is interested in a moral debate, should be reminded of what Roman Catholic Pope John Paul II had to say on the subject. Socialism, the now-Catholic saint argued, disregards the sanctity of individual life. That's why it's truly evil and always leads to poverty, famine, and death.
via Pope John Paull II:
The fundamental error of socialism is anthropological in nature. Socialism considers the individual person simply as an element, a molecule within the social organism, so that the good of the individual is completely subordinated to the functioning of the socio-economic mechanism. Socialism likewise maintains that the good of the individual can be realized without reference to his free choice, to the unique and exclusive responsibility which he exercises in the face of good or evil. Man is thus reduced to a series of social relationships, and the concept of the person as the autonomous subject of moral decision disappears, the very subject whose decisions build the social order. From this mistaken conception of the person there arise both a distortion of law, which defines the sphere of the exercise of freedom, and an opposition to private property. A person who is deprived of something he can call “his own,” and of the possibility of earning a living through his own initiative, comes to depend on the social machine and on those who control it. This makes it much more difficult for him to recognize his dignity as a person, and hinders progress towards the building up of an authentic human community.
But, Rev. Barber is correct in one sense. The 2020 election, and subsequent elections, will be focused on the "morality" of socialism. Conservatives better develop stronger moral arguments if we truly want to defeat it -- again -- in the United States. It won't die simply if President Donald J. Trump wins re-election.