The theological implications of Christian agape love on Economic ideology

[RGacky3]

I generally don't post here, because I consider faith to be a personal matter an something which has no place in public policy or economics perse.

However I think the CHristian concept of Agape love, which is the central idea of christian theology by almost all sects of christianity, has very direct implications on economic ideology and specifically the capitalist mode of production and markets.

Agape love is love by principle, as opposed to Romantic love, love based on friendship, or family love, thats where the notion of loving your enemy comes from for exmaple, its a love based on principle, NOT on the person being loved, in other words its love as a higher principle rather than a personal feeling towards other people.

Thats when you have the parable of the samariten, the person who showed love dispite having no personal connection to the other person.

Now when we have labor markets there are a few places society BANS markets in, essencailly, take prostitution, its seen as discusting to put an act that is seen to be based in love, and a symbol of love IN the market place.

If you have a thanksgiving dinner, the mother will make the dinner, and everyone there will eat the dinner, the mother will NEVER charge for the dinner or demand something in exchange, the same if you go to your friends house for dinner.

Yet if you go to a restaurant they will charge you, why is it NOT acceptable in the family or amung friends? But it is acceptable at a restaurant? Beceause there is no love or neighborly relationship in the restaurant.

Or take fixing a car or moving, if you call movers, or a mechanic, they will charge you for their services and it is totally acceptable, if a friend comes to help you move, you might order a pizza, but that is not a market exchange, its mutual aid, a market exchange would be considered unacceptable, the same if your buddy helps you with your car, you might share some beer, but no market exchange would EVER be acceptable, because, society consideres the market system to be unacceptable in situations where love is involved.

In the early church this was recognized, essencially markets were not allowed, private property was collectivised, and distribution was done based on individual need, missionaries were required to carry nothing and rely and the mutual aid of people they visited.

Now, of coarse this is a issue of christian community, i.e. markets are unnacceptable within the christian community because it is marked by the law of love and love is incompatible with markets.

Now if you claim, as many do, that you want to live in a country that focuses on christian values, or that is based on christian values, THE NUMBER 1 christian vlaue is agape love, based on principle, which would require markets to be dissmantled, restaurants serve their neighbors, services are given to your neighbor, society should be based on the notion of love, laws should be based on that notion, society who's economy is based on markets is essencially saying that the principle of love does not apply AT ALL.

Now keep in mind you can't say that it does'nt make sense because you love your family, and friends but you can't be expected to love people you don't know, well you can, that is the whole point of agape love as a principle, and if society was to be run as a christian society, that is the FIRST thing that would need to be changed.

[RGacky3]

Does anyone know the concept of agape?

[Zostrianos]

Unfortunately, "Christian values", as defined by many (if not most) people who want to impose them on society are contrary to this concept. If you present this to one of those rich fundies in the US, they'll call you an evil socialist (and lots of other stuff probably). For those people, "Christian values" doesn't mean following Christ's teachings, it means taking over laws, depriving the poor of benefits, supporting big business, restricting the rights of gays, atheists, and non-Christians, campaigning against contraception, and lobbying in favour of overseas wars. In short, the exact opposite of what Christ stood for.

I firmly believe that Christ was a socialist and I admire what he taught, but his self proclaimed successors perverted everything he stood for. I wouldn't rely on organized Christianity to spread the concept of agape in society (unless they're Lutherans, Unitarians, even Gnostics, or other liberal denominations, but those have very little power)

[RGacky3]

Well it does'nt matter what fundies say, what matters, if your a christian, is whats in the gospels and the acts in the early church. So those ARE christian values no matter what so called christian fundementalists say (I hate the word fundementalist, it implies your following the fundementals, which people who are called fundementalists absolutely do not.)

[Zostrianos]

Christian values as defined in the gospels and exemplified by Jesus are indeed very good values. Some of the first socialists in the 19th century were Christians, who saw Jesus' message as having potential for political change and social well being.

[RGacky3]

The first christians were also functionally socialists (not politically though, they were internally socialist, for the most part they were anti-political).

[Smyg]

While I nowadays reject most of what constitutes Christianity, I still hold Jesus to be one of the biggest badasses of all time, regardless of what actually transpired.