I guess you could say they had communist ideas with the give all of your shit to people who are poor.
Well Yes. I think Maoist Rebel news had a lot of quotes that certainly suggested that. Edit: So I found these quotes from a while back. Matthew 21:12-14: 12 And Jesus went into the temple of God, and cast out all them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves, 13 And said unto them, It is written, My house shall be called the house of prayer; but ye have made it a den of thieves. 14 And the blind and the lame came to him in the temple; and he healed them. Gospel of Luke (1:49-53): 49 For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name. 50 And his mercy is on them that fear him from generation to generation. 51 He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts. 52 He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree. 53 He hath filled the hungry with good things; and the rich he hath sent empty away. Matthew 19:16-24: 16 And, behold, one came and said unto him, Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life? 17 And he said unto him, Why do you ask me about what is good? there is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments. 18 He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, 19 Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 20 The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? 21 Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. 22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions. 23 Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. 24 And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
Christian socialism existed long before Marx and was the dominant brand of socialist thought during the late 18th/early19th centuries
No, he didn't. The only 'Anti religion' quote he wrote was 'Religion is the opium of the masses'. However, he meant that in a different context to how it is widely interpreted. At the time of writing it, Opium was just becoming widely used as a painkiller, and was not yet used as drugs are today (Entertainment). So basically, by 'Religion is the opium of the masses' he meant that religion is the painkiller, or medicine of the masses, and not that religion is a delusion, as is widely interpreted (mostly by anti communists) today.
Eh, I meant contextually the British had just subjugated the entire nation of China by feeding them Opium, so I'd have to call into question him using the term Opium as a positive. Also if you look at the context of what he was saying, it really wasn't speaking of religion in a very positive fashion: The abolition of religion as the illusory happiness of the people is the demand for their real happiness. To call on them to give up their illusions about their condition is to call on them to give up a condition that requires illusions. The criticism of religion is, therefore, in embryo, the criticism of that vale of tears of which religion is the halo http://marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1843/critique-hpr/intro.htm
Kautsky wrote a good book about it (more so in the sense of his historiographic approach rather then the relevance of his assertions which we now know are based on fairly faulty evidence). Nevertheless if your interested: http://www.marxists.org/archive/kautsky/1908/christ/index.htm
Jesus didn't advocate any gosh darn form of government. He preached love, peace, helping others, etc. He wasn't there to be a leader for any philosophy, not even Christianity. He just talked about love and helping others. Communism sure doesn't talk about that more than any other philosophy.
Marxism can't co-exist with Christianity as in the Communist Manifesto it says, "[communism] abolishes all religion..." so if all the people saying that Marx didn't say no to religion could read his manifesto first it would be a real help.
Well using Machiavellian logic a theological based nation is one of the most stable and easily controlled. It's very possible if you can get the propaganda machine going efficiently enough . I certainly wouldn't be in favour of such a nation as personally it makes me want to throw up in the mouth a little.
Marxism is not the same as communism so what Marx believed is kind of irrelevant to the discussion. Take a gander at some of the work of F.D. Maurice, Henry Scott Holland, and R. H. Tayney if you want to read about how compatible some of Jesus's teachings (especially his Semon on the Mount and his final sermon) are with a socialist ideal. Or go to thecsm.org.uk for the biggest currently operating Christian socialist party. Some Socialisty passages for ya: Matt 5-7 Matt 25:35-40 Eccles 11:1 Lev. 25:36-7 John 13:31-35 Lev 25:9 Matt 19:16-30
