The story of the rich young ruler was not about rich people, thats a marxist interpretation. If you read the entire account, Jesus points out the true meaning and teaching of that scripture.
The apostles ask after hearing Jesus say its easier for a camel to go through an eye of a needle than a rich man to get to heaven, they ask, then how can one be saved.
The teaching....For man this is impossible.
The rich young ruler was used as an example because in Jesus day, the rich and powerful were thought to be blessed by God. This young ruler even claimed to be devout as well. This would have been the perfect example of someone earning their way to heaven...and Jesus came against that ideal.
With man this is impossible. Bottom line, God saves.
Marxism interpretations....probably not the best filter.
Conspiracy theories....I don't know why we even entertain them. They are the witness field of the inept, the foundations of the proud.
Conservative ideals rest a lot upon capitalism. We are not trying to build a social utopia, we try to earn a living. In that we employ those who can help us the most, qualifications over ethnicity race or sexual orientation.....another reason why this Obama fiasco has been such an experimental failure of the liberal principle Diversity is not the reason to pick advisers.
To claim conservatives are bigots by their ideology is hypocritical. Conservatives do not need racism and covetness and abortion to survive politically. Liberals cannot exist without them. Hence, to have political power, and the ideology that supports bigger government must be seeking power, these ideals the left claim to hate, they must not only exist, they must be increased.
Why not earn your life? The problem with liberal ideology is it encourages failure. It creates victimhoods and needs failure to exist as a political power.
Jesus said we will always have poor with us. Neither ideology will cure poverty but conservative ideals will lead to the least number of poor that is possible to have. Having life to be on each individual terms is an encouragement to succeed. Giving people stuff only creates liabilities and dependencies.
Now before you go to the liberal talking points of helping those who cannot help themselves, its not a conservative ideal to let the infirm, widow and orphan to just die. Conservatives give much more to charities than liberals do..
RealClearPolitics - Articles - Conservatives More Liberal Givers
Well now, let's just look at that rich man passage and see what it really says:
Matthew 19:
16Just then a man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?”
17“Why do you ask me about what is good?” Jesus replied. “There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, keep the commandments.”
18“Which ones?” he inquired.
Jesus replied, “ ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony,
19honor your father and mother,’[SUP]
c[/SUP] and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’[SUP]
d[/SUP]”
20“All these I have kept,” the young man said. “What do I still lack?”
21Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
22When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
23Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.
24Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”
25When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?”
26Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
27Peter answered him, “We have left everything to follow you! What then will there be for us?”
28Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, at the renewal of all things, when the Son of Man sits on his glorious throne, you who have followed me will also sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel.
29And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife[SUP]
e[/SUP] or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life.
30But many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first.
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So some guy comes up to Jesus, asks what he must do to get in, Jesus tells him to keep the commandments. He says he does all that, then Jesus tells him to give away all his wealth to the poor, which will buy him treasure in heaven. So the guy sulks away because he's a rich man, banking on the wealth of this world.
As he leaves Jesus tells His disciples how hard it is for rich people to enter the kingdom.
Who then can be saved? They ask. He says with God all things are possible. So even with the rich, it is possible.
So they say, we have given up everything up for You, what does that get us then?
He tells them that in the end they will rule over all. That all who leave everything behind for Him will receive a hundred times more in the eternal life. That those on the top will be on the bottom, and vice-versa.
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I don't know where all this falls in amongst the liberal/conservative scale, but I think this is all to say that if you're saving up treasure in this world, you're going to be regretting it in the next.
I agreed basically with 9 out of ten from the Liberal list, disagreeing with number 10 as contrary to numbers 1 and 4. 