Interesting. I would classify socialism and communism as primarily economic theories, fascism as authoritative political-governmental especially with reference to expansionist foreign policy, and secularism as the opposite of theocracy.
A good example of the secular-theocracy tension is what is happening in Turkey. A trending back to an Islamic state away from the secular state devised by Kemal Attaturk. Which means we may be on the verge of losing an ally next to the middle east.
"Humanism" is the concept that human beings are basically good, capable of ethical/moral improvement and to a degree perfectable. It is closely related to Christian ethics and has similar approaches: feed the hungry, clothe the naked, educate the ignorant, heal the sick, reeducate the criminal. It can be an individual philosophy or a group approach. There is Christian humanism and there is secular humanism; two approaches with different foundations moving toward a common point.
I can see that socialism and communism are related to humanism, but so is Christianity. Strict practice of Christian ethics gives rise to a microeconomic system that is communist or socialist and probably democratic in political form. Were early Christian communities communist? Certainly some ascetic communities were. And some made decisions by pure democracy as well. All of which was in the early days before Christian theocratic states arose in the 300s.
What Mr. ________ does is to mix up religious concepts with economic and political concepts. But instead of realizing that strict Christian practice means a socialist or communist economic system, he goes the other way and espouses a Christianity that goes hand-in-hand with dog-eat-dog economic darwinism, where the "winners" in the economic struggle are somehow more godly as well as being more wealthy. As if the winner of a game of monopoly buys his way into heaven as first prize. It's an odd mix, but one actually preached today as Christian materialism where "blessing" means economic as well as spiritual benefit.
I don't mix up economic, political or religious concepts at all. IMO, you can have democratic communism or totalitarian capitalism. A theocratic state is necessarily more likely to be authoritarian, but it could blend in a considerable amount of democracy.
Mr. ______ is in good company when comes to mixing up concepts. Marx himself hated religion and the modern democracies and created a communism that was a hodgepodge of economic and political ideas. But strictly speaking, communism is an economic theory. It is humanist in the sense that in order for communism to function, human beings must be altruistic, which we (mostly) are not, and that is why pure communism fails: because it assumes that we are capable of always acting for the common good and not for our own pleasure or filled belly.
A good example of the secular-theocracy tension is what is happening in Turkey. A trending back to an Islamic state away from the secular state devised by Kemal Attaturk. Which means we may be on the verge of losing an ally next to the middle east.
"Humanism" is the concept that human beings are basically good, capable of ethical/moral improvement and to a degree perfectable. It is closely related to Christian ethics and has similar approaches: feed the hungry, clothe the naked, educate the ignorant, heal the sick, reeducate the criminal. It can be an individual philosophy or a group approach. There is Christian humanism and there is secular humanism; two approaches with different foundations moving toward a common point.
I can see that socialism and communism are related to humanism, but so is Christianity. Strict practice of Christian ethics gives rise to a microeconomic system that is communist or socialist and probably democratic in political form. Were early Christian communities communist? Certainly some ascetic communities were. And some made decisions by pure democracy as well. All of which was in the early days before Christian theocratic states arose in the 300s.
What Mr. ________ does is to mix up religious concepts with economic and political concepts. But instead of realizing that strict Christian practice means a socialist or communist economic system, he goes the other way and espouses a Christianity that goes hand-in-hand with dog-eat-dog economic darwinism, where the "winners" in the economic struggle are somehow more godly as well as being more wealthy. As if the winner of a game of monopoly buys his way into heaven as first prize. It's an odd mix, but one actually preached today as Christian materialism where "blessing" means economic as well as spiritual benefit.
I don't mix up economic, political or religious concepts at all. IMO, you can have democratic communism or totalitarian capitalism. A theocratic state is necessarily more likely to be authoritarian, but it could blend in a considerable amount of democracy.
Mr. ______ is in good company when comes to mixing up concepts. Marx himself hated religion and the modern democracies and created a communism that was a hodgepodge of economic and political ideas. But strictly speaking, communism is an economic theory. It is humanist in the sense that in order for communism to function, human beings must be altruistic, which we (mostly) are not, and that is why pure communism fails: because it assumes that we are capable of always acting for the common good and not for our own pleasure or filled belly.
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