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New Christian SocialismChristian Socialists are concerned about how people are governed. They want to see a situation where there is a maximum of human flourishing - where the maximum of people can lead good, happy and productive lives.However this fortunate situation is not something which happens automatically. Individuals and groups in a population don't necessarily all work together for the good order of society and the common flourishing. There are many reasons for this, including people's selfish desires, their ignorance or delusion about reality or their blindness to the well-being of others. Sometimes a section of a population will purposefully organize itself and seek to rule over the rest of the population for the benefit of the in-group, rather than the whole of the people. In fact it is possible for quite a small group of people who are clever and determined to take control of a much larger number of people who are not geared up to resist them. This can lead to an awful situation for the subject population, who find they are being taken as slaves by those in power who use and abuse them. The subject population loses its freedom to pursue its own good ends, but instead must work to meet the ends of their masters. The subject population may be unable to attain what they need for a good life, they may be terribly ill-treated or else have their lives fore-shortened if their masters decide they have no need of them. SocialismSocialism is about 'alliance' - the alliance of large numbers of ordinary people to resist the abuse and despotism of a powerful few and instead institute a government that works for the common good.However attempts at Socialism can often go wrong. This happens because those who are pushing for it lack the right moral vision which would give them a clear understanding of how life works and what is the best path of action to take. In particular Socialists can often get too attached to a specific ideology - a rational mental construction - which doesn't fully account for all the complexities of real life and thus leads them astray. It is of course also the case that those taking part in a Socialist movement are not in fact all motivated to work for the common good. It may be that ordinary self-centred emotions get in the way, or they may have a tribal affiliation or may even be working for the Despots who the Socialist movement is supposed to be fighting against. Christian SocialismChristians have been dealing with the issues of Good and Evil, of morality, of values and virtues, for a long time, much longer than the modern socialist movement has been in existence. Christian Socialism is an attempt to marry the wisdom from this long Christian tradition with the agenda of Socialism.Good Christian ValuesChristian Socialists strive to have good Christian values. We are not mainly concerned for the outward details of a person's religious belief, what matters is that it leads to right understanding and behaviour which supports the production of the Good.How might we describe 'Good Christian Values'? Not a full list but included are: 1. Right Orientation to Reality - We need to relate to the world as it actually is , rather than according to some ignorant or deluded viewpoint. 2. Right Orientation to the Good - We need to have a desire to seek out the Good, or to seek to produce the Good, and perhaps not just a simple desire to support the Good but also the capability to do so. 3. Respect for Life - We need to have a basic respect for life and especially to respect the dignity of human life. In one sense all life is the same, it all comes from the same source. More particularly we can see that human beings are all made much the same, with similar capacity for joy and pain. 4. Humility - We need the humility to accept that the world is a larger place than us, and its workings are more complex than we can ever fully understand. Thus our ideas about it can never be taken as infallible. We need to keep our minds open to other possibilities. New Christian Socialist MovementOur aim is to create a 'Force for Good' , a movement which has the motivation and capability to overcome the forces of Despotism and other diversionary forces, and to support the institution of good government. Such a good authority will use its strength to support the production of the common good - the good order of life and the common flourishing of all.Our method is primarily one of education and mental conversion and character building - a Good Socialist movement depends on there being Good Socialists - people committed to the Good Agenda, and who have the right understanding, character and capability to play their part in the overall struggle for the common good. August 2025 |
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