Youth Group on Marxism

[YungTrev]

Hello, I am new to this sight and my first thread has to do with my church. I am an atheist but my family goes and my youth groups has been speaking on different worldviews. They have already done post-modernism, Islam, and humanism. In three weeks they are discussing Marxism. My youth leader knows I'm a communist. And to my knowledge an knowin the church they we most likely pic socialism and communism apart. Anything I could do to persuade my youth leader that its not so bad as they make it seem. Many of my peers either don't care or know about politics or communism or they hate it. I don't want them being given a biased perspective. Thanks

[Synergy]

I'd probably just let it go since you're most likely going to hurt your relationship with the group. But if you're determined to do so then just tell them the truth about capitalism (with solid statistics) and then explain what most communists actually stand for (with historic examples). That's about all you can do.

[Spectre of Spartacism]

They will equate socialism and communism with the Soviet Union. Explain to them that the Soviet Union was not a socialist society. It only claimed to be. If they contest that, ask them if they believe that anybody who describes themselves as a Christian is actually a Christian.

[blake 3:17]

I think the Book of Amos is pretty much an argument for communism, or at least a radical egalitarianism. I like a lot of the Old Testament but probably the other parts than you're being taught.

How did it go with post modernism, Islam and humanism?

You might be interested in Cornel West, probably my favourite American philosopher, who is both a Christian and a Marxist.

http://nymag.com/news/features/cornel-west-2012-5/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwPCJ9WpH7E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xfD3X3f5C_w

[YungTrev]

Thanks guys! And pretty much with the previous topics thy poked it apart. Like how Islam is a violent religion, humanism offers no absolute right or wrong etc. I believe they will probably say man kind is evil at nature so communism won't work because of sins and greed

[Heretek]

Thanks guys! And pretty much with the previous topics thy poked it apart. Like how Islam is a violent religion, humanism offers no absolute right or wrong etc. I believe they will probably say man kind is evil at nature so communism won't work because of sins and greed

If they are the kind of group you are describing (xenophobic and racist anti-intellectuals), it would be likely to your own good to distance yourself and save the violence. I'm all for that in the end, but a fight you're bound to lose is just foolish. This youth group sounds like one of the indoctrination cults american churches seem to bleed.

[odysseus]

. I believe they will probably say man kind is evil at nature so communism won't work because of sins and greed

You could point out that god obviously doesn't think that since he sent his only son to us to preach a gospel of loving each other, and then enacted the greatest form of love himself by dieing for all our sins.

[willowtooth]

Thanks guys! And pretty much with the previous topics thy poked it apart. Like how Islam is a violent religion, humanism offers no absolute right or wrong etc. I believe they will probably say man kind is evil at nature so communism won't work because of sins and greed

my first thought was talk about various christian communalist groups, but it seems like your going to a place where they "discuss" different world views by describing how awful the "different" worldviews are, and how your church is perfect, blessed, and all knowing

my suggestion is just start talking about atheism outside of this class to your parents and pastor/preacher/whatever

Other than that, just shut your mouth and take notes on how they shit on everyone else like muslims, and jews, so you can use that info against a muslim or jew later on in life, I find the best arguments against a religion is usually made by people of other religions not by atheists/agnostics, because they are usually trying to be "fair" to all the shitty religions out there

[Spectre of Spartacism]

my first thought was talk about various christian communalist groups, but it seems like your going to a place where they "discuss" different world views by describing how awful the "different" worldviews are, and how your church is perfect, blessed, and all knowing

my suggestion is just start talking about atheism outside of this class to your parents and pastor/preacher/whatever

Other than that, just shut your mouth and take notes on how they shit on everyone else like muslims, and jews, so you can use that info against a muslim or jew later on in life, I find the best arguments against a religion is usually made by people of other religions not by atheists/agnostics, because they are usually trying to be "fair" to all the shitty religions out there

If the argument he is hearing is that Islam is a violent religion, then no, I would not use that at a later date. That is a liberal and actually quite bigoted argument that doesn't understand religion to be the living out of a set of ideas, rather than ideas in abstraction.

[The Idler]

I think it may well prove futile but you could try and introduce some of the ideas from this
http://www.amazon.com/The-Gospels-Jesus-Christ-Revolutions/dp/1844671763
or even share copies of it

[Црвена]

I think a really important thing to keep in mind is that communism is very (duh) radical and very misunderstood, and it's a lot to ask to sweep away all these misconceptions that your peers are bound to have about communism in one session. So I guess what may be helpful is fighting them on their own turf a bit. Instead of, for example, arguing that human nature is an unjustifiable abstraction or that communism doesn't require "selflessness," as it is working-class self-emancipation, try to persuade them that humans are "naturally good," and cite something like this study: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/scientists-probe-human-nature-and-discover-we-are-good-after-all/ . Maybe that will even steer the discussion away from communism a bit, which might be a good thing because I don't think anyone will be able to convince anyone else either way about communism and there will be so much straw-manning that discussing it is likely to leave you very frustrated.