If Judas Iscariot was walking the earth today, he would make an ideal presidential candidate for the Democrat party.  With the recent, hard left veer toward socialism, he would fit right in.  He was socialistic to the core.  He loved to spend other people’s money.  He loved to criticize how THEY spent THEIR OWN money.  He loved to act like he cared for the poor, all while using it as a ruse to line his own pockets.  And scarily, he had the ability to influence others toward his way of thinking.

Socialism is an evil political and economic ideology that tries to disguise itself as benevolence. It involves an ever expanding governmental control over virtually every aspect of a person’s life. Perhaps some people embrace it because they think it will be good for society. The idea is to take money away from those who earn it and give it to “the poor.” And while this might sound nice on the surface, there is nothing “Christian” about taking one person’s assets by force and giving them to someone else who didn’t earn them. It is a veiled form of thievery, and an overt form of bribery for politicians seeking to buy votes in exchange for free government goodies.

Some people espouse Socialism because they are well-meaning, but grossly ignorant of history. Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, and Adolph Hitler all held to some form of socialism; and the three accounted for the deaths of an estimated 180 million people in the 20^th century. It should be noted that all three also claimed what they were doing would “help the poor” but all it succeeded in doing was benefiting those who had political power, and killing and/or enslaving those who did not. Socialism always leaves a trail of rotting corpses in its wake. And 21^st century Americans would be wise to consider these lessons from history.

The Bible actually has more to say about these things than you might think. Judas is most well-known for being the betrayer of Christ, but he was also a thief. And, he claimed to have a desire to help the poor. On one occasion, when a women took some expensive perfume and poured it on Jesus to honor him, Judas became enraged, saying, “Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?” Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it.” (John 12:5-6) Judas was a typical socialist, and as such, he had a “brilliant” idea as to what could be done with someone else’s money. That’s the dirty secret to Socialism, it involves someone else’s money. Judas could have given of his own resources to “help the poor” but socialists don’t typically do that. They’d rather use your money instead.  And what’s more, Judas’s phony communistic kindness apparently had an effect on the other disciples, as Matthew’s gospel records that they too joined Judas in his subversive cause (Matthew 26:8).

One might think Jesus would commend Judas for thinking of the poor, but he does not. Jesus answered him saying: “Let her alone, so that she may keep it for the day of My burial. For you always have the poor with you, but you do not always have Me.” John 12:7-8) In other words, the perfume belonged to the woman and not to Judas, and as such she could do what she wanted with it. She chose to honor the Lord, and Judas didn’t like that. He acted like he cared for the poor, and he wanted to use someone else’s money to help them. In all honesty, he wanted to help himself to more money and power. Today’s politicians who espouse socialism are no different.

While people might disagree on economic and political issues, they should be united in the rejection of a system based on stirring up class warfare and stealing from one group to bribe another. Judas was an evil man, and one of the ways this could be seen was in his socialistic tendencies. Don’t be like Judas, who’s philosophical descendants have names like Bernie Sanders and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. They make promises based on thievery and dishonesty, and their policies lead to destruction. They claim to care for the poor, but their actions primarily help them to stay in power. Don’t be like Judas. Don’t be like Bernie. Don’t be like Cortez, people who use their power to bolster a diabolical system.  Jesus once called Judas a “devil.”  Many aspects of his life bore this out, perhaps none so blatantly as his views on economics.  Judas was a socialist, who would gladly rob you blind, while telling you it was for the “common good.”  Thankfully, Judas is no longer here, but his acolytes remain.  Be wise and beware.

Shane Kastler blogs at The Narrow Road.