Socialism

Socialism has been politicized as something bad. The practice of tithing is a form of socialism. This practice is to ensure that the least among us is taken care of. If you are familiar with the story of Ruth and Boaz...Ruth was gleaning in his field. Those with plenty was to always leave a 10th for the poor. Lets take a look into our civic and social responsibility to care for the poor and needy.

Transcript

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Hello, this is Bobby Simpson with another episode of Yup, It's In There. And today we're going to cover socialism. If you recall, we covered capitalism, and I wanted to make certain that I kind of closed the gap for you on the difference between the two, what they are, and if in fact they could be found in Scripture. And so maybe not directly, but in practice, most certainly. So today I want to take a look at socialism. And when you hear the term socialism, you don't tend to understand that to be exploitation. So I'm going to define it with a working definition that we can use. So as I go through the definition and I share the details and how it has been used in practice, you understand where I'm coming from. And so the definition of socialism in a very general sense, no exploitation by one or the other, not owned, owned by any one person. And so it really goes along with the whole idea or ideal of democracy. And I meant idea and ideal, and that's why I said them both. But dictionary.com defines socialism this way. It is a political and economic theory of social organization, which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole. And so again, dictionary.com, in a longer definition, pretty much gave governance by the people. And a working definition for democracy is governance by the people. And so I'm going to go ahead and read what dictionary.com has to say about socialism and how it is defined on dictionary.com. And it's defined as a political and economic theory of social organization, which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole. And we hear capitalism and socialism thrown around quite a bit during election time. We have some people who are hell-bent on capitalism, and that espouses, by the very nature of that word, that it is a free market open to all, which in fact we know that isn't true, especially with how it has been practiced in the US. And so when you hear the terms capitalism and socialism, and I think capitalism functions under the quotes, and I can't recall, so I'm going to say this quote, the author is unknown, but I'm sure when I quote it, you guys are going to know exactly who I'm talking about, but it escapes me at this moment. But it is whoever dies with the most toys wins. And that is how capitalism has been practiced in the US. And so when you consider regulation and who's regulating, these folks have been attempting to gather everything and to take everything in an attempt to win the game of life. While socialism, on the other hand, has been accused of being a welfare system because of the fact that it has welfare programs. Social Security is always on the chopping block in politics. These programs came about during FDR Franklin Delanore Roosevelt's presidency in 1936. This was during the Great Depression. These programs included Social Security, Child Welfare, and the Housing Act of 1937, as recorded in FederalSafetyNet.com. It appears that when you are in need, you understand the necessity for help. Socialism is nothing new in Scripture. The tithe was born out of taking the 10% off of the top to feed the poor. This practice, in this most graphic sense, can be seen in the life of Boaz and Ruth. Everyone has heard about handfuls on purpose. That is the story Ruth and Boaz. Boaz told his men or his gleaners to make sure that you leave extra for Ruth, and that is the term handfuls on purpose. And so after the harvest completed, excuse me, after the harvesters completed their harvesting, the poor would go and glean or pick what was left. There was a requirement to leave at least a tenth, and Boaz's harvesters were instructed to leave more or handfuls on purpose for Ruth, who had no husband and was a foreigner. And so it really didn't start with FDR. And so when you consider the mandate as far back as the life of Boaz and Ruth, you understand that God, in fact, made provision. This is what you do. You take care of people who can't take care of themselves. And I want to go ahead and read Deuteronomy 28. Excuse me, Deuteronomy 14, verses 28 through 29. Again, that's Deuteronomy 14 verses 28 through 29. It says, at the end of every third year, you should bring the tenth part of that year's grain into your towns. And the Levite who has no share of what is given to you, and the stranger and the child without parents, and the woman whose husband has died, who are in your towns, may come and eat and be filled. Then the Lord your God will bring good to you in all the work done by your hands. And I wanted to share those particular verses because while it does not say that it was a socialist system, we clearly understand and we can see by way of practice that it was in fact a socialist system where you took care of people who could not take care of themselves. And when you consider the welfare program as well as uh the Social Security program, those community of people, which is oftentimes the children, welfare was established so that children wouldn't go hungry, and so you're taking care of the most vulnerable, the very young and the very old. Well, season one of Ya, it's in there, it really gives you a variety of issues whereby you can select from and make a decision concerning where you stand morally and ethically. Believers and many Christians who find themselves in a battle when going to the voting booth, they go because they've been given little information with regard to a standard in the word of God on particular issues. And so we've covered several issues and topics. I encourage you to listen to all of uh season one of Yah, it's in there, and that will better serve as a guide for you. And I'm also uh working on a uh website that I have available as well. That information is forthcoming. So, again, thank you for taking the time to listen to Yah, it's in there, and so we'll see you next time.