According to a minister who adamantly supports President Donald Trump, Jesus wasn’t a socialist and his message that all should have enough to survive in no way resembles socialism.
During a debate regarding the religious beliefs of the Democratic presidential candidates, St. Paul Reverend Dee Dawkins-Haigler noted that many of the things Jesus preached would now be considered socialist:
“We believe in things like, what did you do to the least of them? You fed the hungry, you clothed the naked, you went to see those who are in prison.”
But evangelical pastor Robert Jeffress, who has resolutely defended Trump no matter what he says or does, demanded that what Jesus taught wasn’t socialist:
“You do not have to be a socialist to be a Christian! Socialism is antithetical to Christianity and if they nominate Bernie Sanders, they are not going to be able to attract any faith voters.”
Dawkins-Haigler responded:
“I totally disagree. People would have said that Jesus was more of a socialist than anybody we’re talking about today.”
That didn’t well with host Pete Hegseth, who remarked:
“Why was Jesus a socialist?”
Rev. Dawkins-Haigler explained:
“Because Jesus did not sit with the establishment, he overturned tables of the tax collectors, he sat with people who were lepers. He made sure he healed people who people thought should not have been healed.
“So we have to be very careful how we use this language and try to take ownership of who God is.”
An indignant Jeffress raised his voice as he boomed:
“No! Jesus was not a socialist! He said render unto Ceasar the things that are Ceasar’s and to God the things that are God’s. He was compassionate. Church is to be compassionate, but you don’t have to believe in socialism, which is nothing but communism light and is absolutely is opposed to everything that is Christian.”
Sounds like Pastor Jeffress needs to go back and read the New Testament. It’s filled with numerous examples of what is now labeled as “socialism” or “communism,” including the early Christian church, where believers contributed what they owned to a collective pot of funds that were used to provide necessities — food, shelter, clothing — for all church members. That’s collectivism, and that alone is a form of socialism.
It’s amazing how so-called Christians who would have us believe their savior was a guy in a three-piece suit who does trades on Wall Street during the day and socialized at night with the rich and famous. Maybe that’s because their real god is money and their actual lord is named Donald Trump.
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