Marxism, Communism and Christianity

Proposition: Christianity has communist attributes but is not marxist. Secular liberalism is Marxist but not communist. Christianity is authoritative but not Leninist. Secular liberalism is not authoritative but is Leninist.

Now some Definitions (my own):

Communism: the sharing of basic elements for living, the notion of from each what they can contribute and to each what they need. The ideal of Grace.

Marxism: The idea that there are different groups/classes of people and that there is one group that oppresses the other(s) and that the goal of politics is to overthrow the hegemonic group and usher in equality. The ideal of Equality.

Leninism: The idea that a relatively small cadre of determined people define what the society is to be and that their choices are independent of any authoritative source. They are their own Gods creating their own new civilization. The ideal of Revolution.

Authoritative (also could be called 'ethical' but that term is more value laden): institution with a fixed set of rules or precepts that pre-exist the institution and that the institution cannot radically change without undermining its legitimacy. The ideal of Constitutionalism.

And the key event that led to this dichotomy was the success of the Liberal project in appropriating 'social gospel' Christianity and unmooring it from it's authoritative religious roots. That allowed the left to innovate in countless ways that we see today.