by Keith Miles
Perhaps it is interesting at this time when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ to contrast him with the ‘patron saint’ of communism Karl Marx.
Jesus was born in very humble circumstances whereas as Marx was born in comfortable circumstances.
Jesus of Nazareth has been called the Prince of Peace and it can easily be contrasted with Marx’s proposal of violence. It is said that you can tell someone by their friends and supporters.
Jesus was supported by his disciples and the two Marys. All of whom with the exception of Judas ( and even he quickly regretted his action) were admirable people and dedicated their lives to promoting the peaceful gospel of Jesus Christ.
Marx had as a friend Engels and admirers such as Lenin, Trotsky and Stalin. We know of the killings of the Bolsheviks and Stalin’s crimes, not to mention later violent types like Mao Tse-tung, Tito and Pol Pot. Then more recent ones such as Castro and Chavez.
Jesus’s family had to go into exile as did about 1 million Russians after the Communist revolution and millions of Chinese escaping Mao. More recently Chavez and Maduro have driven between 3 and 4 million Venezuelans into refuge overseas, and Castro drove just over 1 million Cubans to seek refuge overseas.
Marx of course was thrown out of three countries because of his unacceptable behaviour but was lucky enough to find refuge in tolerant England.
You can also tell people by their character. Jesus was humble, honest, tolerant, and trustworthy. Bearing in mind the time he lived in, he was also well disposed to women and tolerant of sinners.
Marx was arrogant, dishonest, untrustworthy, deceitful and did not treat his wife very well. His friend and wealthy benefactor Engels led a double life ; a partly secret revolutionary and at the same time being part of the good life of bourgeois society in Manchester where his family were shareholders in a successful factory. There is by the way no record of his having been very exemplary in dealing with his workers during the industrial revolution in Britain. He had an unusual family life and spent a fortune supporting Marx and his family and their various hangers-on.
By contrast Jesus Christ never had wealth and Christian families in industrial Britain such as the Frys, Rowntrees and Cadburys were much better than Engels at looking after their workers.
In contrast to the orgy of death that has surrounded Marxism, Jesus Christ has inspired great philanthropic work, great works of art in painting, literature, sculpture, architecture, and music. Jesus Christ also inspired men and women to devote their lives to good causes such as medicine and relief of the poor. Many great world renowned hospitals were founded as Christian institutions such as in London; St Mary’s Paddington, St Bartholomew’s City, St Guy’s Southwark, St Thomas’s Westminster Bridge and many others. Jesus Christ showed that true social power came from example and faith; not as the communists said from capital.
Marx and Engels and Lenin used words like forcible overthrow, violent revolution and suppression as their methods whereas Jesus Christ only used the words of peace. A re-reading of the beatitudes from the Sermon on the Mount shows Jesus’s moral teaching striking a dramatic contrast to communist methods.
So when we remember at Christmas the birth of Jesus of Nazareth we should be grateful that he left with us words of wisdom and peace.
Happy Christmas to all readers.
Keith Miles is an academic, retired financier and a publicist. He is the honorary president of the Slovenian-British Friendship Association. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in finance and a Master’s degree in philosophy (MA) and worked for over 40 years as a financier and auditor in both the public and private sectors, primarily in the UK.