Example of Db Post

Christian Ethics Project #2 1. From a Christian perspective, why did Marxist communism fail? From a Christian point of view, Marxist communism failed due to people not being offered a choice of whether or not to distribute riches to everyone. The author states: “Beginning in the Garden, God gave men and women the freedom to choose to do what is right. This is the heart of democracy” (Stapleford, 2009, p. 98). Clearly, it is Godly for people to have freedom of choice; communism was not Godly and therefore, failed. 2. Which is a more Christian form of government, democratic capitalism or democratic socialism?
Current history demonstrates that the majority of countries are progressively supporting democratic capitalism along with reduced government involvement (Stapleford, 2009). From a Christian standpoint, Mr. Stapleford writes: “the individual comes first – before the state or the social order” (Stapleford, 2009, p. 98). He goes on to say, “Christians are to resist the temptation to use the coercive power of the state to bend society into conformity with our view of the kingdom” (Stapleford, 2009, p. 98). Biblically speaking, we are advised not to be wasteful with what we have, and we should be happy to give freely to those in need.
Basic guidelines such as these give biblical confirmation to support democratic capitalism (less government involvement), as opposed to democratic socialism with much more government involvement. 3. What functions does government have to undertake because of fallen human nature? Due to the sin nature of human beings, government has needed to impose taxation on the people in order to implement government spending to help those in need. Government spending to help the needy may include giving food or shelter to the poor, discounted or free child care, health care for our seniors and the poor.

Again, Christians are called to help those in need. In this case, the government stepped in to do the same thing that we are commanded to do (Stapleford, 2009). 4. Should Christians concern themselves with the regulatory activities of government? If so, what areas of regulation are most significant? Yes, Christians need to be concerned with the regulatory activities of the government. One of the most significant areas of regulation is the prevention of (and prosecution of) discrimination based on economic status, “gender, race, ethnicity, or age” (Stapleford, 2009, p. 01). Secondly, a significant area of regulation is defending employees from business owners that may force them to work in harmful conditions or “would steal from their pension funds” (Stapleford, 2009, p. 101). Additionally, we need to ensure that the government is mindful of its regulation and does not over-regulate, as this would be catastrophic to our democratic society. Works Cited Stapleford, J. (2009). Bulls, bears and golden calves. (2 ed. ). Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. [pic]