Michael Moore: “Would Jesus be a capitalist?”
Though its $5 mil weekend is already being spun on some sites this morning as disappointing, fact is, Capitalism: A Love Story is already ahead of Sicko’s opening numbers — and Sicko was in theaters back when people used to have money for a movie ticket. Michael Moore emailed his disciples overnight with a reminder to “compassionate conservatives” to check their consciences. Or rather, as a reminder to the rest of us that the lack of compassion in real-life capitalist “values” might cause Jesus to lose faith in the status quo — and convert to Socialism:
For Those of You on Your Way to Church This Morning
…a note from Michael MooreSunday, October 4th, 2009
Friends,
I’d like to have a word with those of you who call yourselves Christians (Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Bill Maherists, etc. can read along, too, as much of what I have to say, I’m sure, can be applied to your own spiritual/ethical values).
In my new film I speak for the first time in one of my movies about my own spiritual beliefs. I have always believed that one’s religious leanings are deeply personal and should be kept private. After all, we’ve heard enough yammerin’ in the past three decades about how one should “behave,” and I have to say I’m pretty burned out on pieties and platitudes considering we are a violent nation who invades other countries and punishes our own for having the audacity to fall on hard times.
I’m also against any proselytizing; I certainly don’t want you to join anything I belong to. Also, as a Catholic, I have much to say about the Church as an institution, but I’ll leave that for another day (or movie).
Amidst all the Wall Street bad guys and corrupt members of Congress exposed in “Capitalism: A Love Story,” I pose a simple question in the movie: “Is capitalism a sin?” I go on to ask, “Would Jesus be a capitalist?” Would he belong to a hedge fund? Would he sell short? Would he approve of a system that has allowed the richest 1% to have more financial wealth than the 95% under them combined?
I have come to believe that there is no getting around the fact that capitalism is opposite everything that Jesus (and Moses and Mohammed and Buddha) taught. All the great religions are clear about one thing: It is evil to take the majority of the pie and leave what’s left for everyone to fight over. Jesus said that the rich man would have a very hard time getting into heaven. He told us that we had to be our brother’s and sister’s keepers and that the riches that did exist were to be divided fairly. He said that if you failed to house the homeless and feed the hungry, you’d have a hard time finding the pin code to the pearly gates.
I guess that’s bad news for us Americans. Here’s how we define “Blessed Are the Poor”: We now have the highest unemployment rate since 1983. There’s a foreclosure filing once every 7.5 seconds. 14,000 people every day lose their health insurance.
At the same time, Wall Street bankers (“Blessed Are the Wealthy”?) are amassing more and more loot — and they do their best to pay little or no income tax (last year Goldman Sachs’ tax rate was a mere 1%!). Would Jesus approve of this? If not, why do we let such an evil system continue? It doesn’t seem you can call yourself a Capitalist AND a Christian — because you cannot love your money AND love your neighbor when you are denying your neighbor the ability to see a doctor just so you can have a better bottom line. That’s called “immoral” — and you are committing a sin when you benefit at the expense of others.
When you are in church this morning, please think about this. I am asking you to allow your “better angels” to come forward. And if you are among the millions of Americans who are struggling to make it from week to week, please know that I promise to do what I can to stop this evil — and I hope you’ll join me in not giving up until everyone has a seat at the table.
Thanks for listening. I’m off to Mass in a few hours. I’ll be sure to ask the priest if he thinks J.C. deals in derivatives or credit default swaps. I mean, after all, he must’ve been good at math. How else did he divide up two loaves of bread and five pieces of fish equally amongst 5,000 people? Either he was the first socialist or his disciples were really bad at packing lunch. Or both.
Yours,
Michael Moore
Jesus delivers a bail-out of Biblical proportions
Noah R. says:
Sunday, October 4, 2009 at 11:16am
Let’s face it, Jesus would be considered a far-left activist by today’s standards. That’s why Pasolini’s Gospel According to St. Matthew is so effective. It’s a revolutionary film in many ways. Last Temptation deals with this to a lesser extent.
J says:
Sunday, October 4, 2009 at 11:18am
I don’t think it needs much thinking. Socialism and Christianity go hand in hand. Some ideas, like leaving behind your belongings and sharing everything with the poor, are not just socialism, but pure communism. Capitalism can be seen as Darwinism’s survival of the fittest on the socio-economical level. So as a non-American, conservative America really baffles me. How can you find the evolutionary mechanism in nature completely ridiculous, though actively praise its use in society, all the while allegedly heavily following Christ’s ideas? That’s like waaaay too many contradictions to be able to live consciously.
Pat says:
Sunday, October 4, 2009 at 12:07pm
I have to give some credit to Michael Moore for writing a pretty crafty essay. But it does not strike me as entirely sincere, as it has an insulting tone to it. I believe most of his language insults the intelligence of his readers, here and everywhere. It also engages in the same pieties and platitudes he claims have burned him out. I saw an interview with him several days ago, where the interviewer asked him if he was a socialist. His response: “I’m a Christian.” That answer is not responsive to the question asked, and I believe Michael Moore knows that. But I believe he thinks his audience of critics is too narrow and dense to see the difference. Michael is wrong. If he thinks his critics will be convinced, even a little, by his words in that interview or in this essay, he is mistaken.
J, in an earlier post, says that “leaving behind your belongings and sharing everything with the poor are not just socialism, but pure communism”. I agree with J, if what he says is coming from the perspective of a (heavy-handed) government directive or requirement. When an entity or party in political or governmental power requires such redistribution of wealth by law, socialism and communism take hold.
I personally do not believe religion works its directives and requirements in the same way, especially in societies that respect the freedom of worship. (Perhaps Mr. Moore and I would disagree on this point. But he likely thinks I’m not bright enough to see a difference.) Organized religion has its problems. But I live in a community that allows me the join or leave organized religion as a matter of individual right. As I see it and live it, the morality that comes from Christianity or from other religions/theologies does not come only from the outside (e.g., some established set of laws or principles). It comes also from inside the individual. Socialism and communism, in their governmentally and economically imposed regulations, are very much external to the individual. Christians who share worldly goods do so not only because a tenet of their religion encourages it, but also because their personal morality calls them to it. These motivations are very different from the ones we see in socialist and communist systems. As a result, Christianity and Socialism do not go hand in hand. At least not where I’m from.
I make this post here knowing that I’m in a likely minority of AD readers who are tired of Michael Moore. His messages are not as powerful as they should be, or as they used to be. And I don’t blame the message (even when I disagree). I blame the messenger.
Bilbo Baggins says:
Sunday, October 4, 2009 at 12:29pm
I don’t post here very often, but I must say that despite anyone’s feelings towards the man, despite what facts he might spin, lie about, fabricate, whatever…the fact is every time I finish a new Michael Moore movie, it makes me want to be a better person, and there’s very few filmmakers I can say that about.
allen says:
Sunday, October 4, 2009 at 12:33pm
yeah, it is ironic that the right has the most religious christian people, shouldn’t it be the other way around?
Princess of Peace says:
Sunday, October 4, 2009 at 12:41pm
Jesus was a socialist and the religious right would hate him if he lived today.
Haha says:
Sunday, October 4, 2009 at 12:52pm
as Christians we need to focus less on social issues and more on world issues. Jesus would be a communist. But a communist-humanist and not one to be dictatorial like most communist regimes are today (if not ALL) :deal:
Biggles says:
Sunday, October 4, 2009 at 2:08pm
Nope. Jesus would not be a capitalist.
BUT, whenever anyone points out the contradictions between conservative stances and religious morals (who would Jesus bomb? etc), this is my answer: We live in a sinful world. So, gall darn it, if we are going to make this world function properly, we need to do things that may not be considered “Christian-like.” If we “turned the other cheek” every time our country was attacked/threatened, then we’d be living under the likes of Hitler. If we handled poverty by simply “giving to the poor,” then many people would take great advantage of that rather than attempt to serve society.
Put simply, there is a difference between sin (punching someone because you don’t like them) and a result of sin (wearing clothes in order to hide our shame – a sin, but something we gotta do). You might say capitalism is a result of sin.
J says:
Sunday, October 4, 2009 at 2:54pm
@Pat: Though I fully recognize Moore’s ability to be obnoxious, if I were living in America and were a socialist, I would also think twice about saying so. The reporter was probably just fishing for something to frame him for, since the word socialist has heavy connotations in America, whereas in the rest of the industrialized world, large socialist parties simply have the name National Socialist Party or some variant without anyone breaking a sweat. For instance, we don’t really understand the fuss about the ‘Obama Socialist’ poster debacle. Moore knows that anyone admitting to be a socialist is automatically put on the ignore list.
Also, though I don’t fully understand what you mean with external and internal, one of the ideas of communism is that individual property does not exist. That can be seen not only as a regulation from above, but also as an individual point of view. See it as an extended version of the family situation, where you don’t consider a kitchen knife to be exclusively yours either (I hope so). Though I’m far from a communist, the idea that some creature marks its territory, like a dog peeing around the neighbourhood, and claims a part of the planet or some physical object his can still be a bit laughable and perhaps useful in interactions with other members of the same species, but otherwise meaningless. Of course, in no way am I denying that Communism is anti-religuous.
@Biggles: Those ‘but’s you mention were also true two thousand years ago. It’s that Christianity considers earthly possessions meaningless and suffering good that make those ‘but’s disappear.
Magically Delicious says:
Sunday, October 4, 2009 at 2:58pm
I wanted to see the movie this weekend. But despite the fact that I live in a state capital, it was not playing within 50 miles of my home. Thanks, Louisiana.
J says:
Sunday, October 4, 2009 at 3:14pm
Whoa. Was there a bug, did I accidentally press the delete button or did I just get censored?
Maui Keith says:
Sunday, October 4, 2009 at 4:23pm
If Jesus lived today the mobs would demand his execution and would give the real criminals a pass.
Seem like deja-vu all over again!
Markku says:
Sunday, October 4, 2009 at 4:38pm
If Jesus were alive today, (if he existed at all) he’d be locked up in some mental institution in no time. And nobody would never hear about him again.
I LOVE the picture at the beginning of the article. WASPy Wall Street Jesus must some people’s wet dream.
John says:
Sunday, October 4, 2009 at 6:42pm
You’re all wrong. Jesus’ beliefs and practices are libertarian capitalist. Michael Moore’s film is anti-corporatism by title, not anti-capitalism. Capitalism is more than having people make money. Its about choices. Moore is portraying a far left view of capitalism in which he isn’t even debasing capitalism, but the left itself. He doesn’t understand what capitalism is and how it operates, and how capitalism did not bring about the financial collapse.
Tom says:
Sunday, October 4, 2009 at 6:53pm
After reading the comments about Jesus I’m appalled.
Jesus was against the oppression of the people. He would NOT be a communist or a dictator.
Jake G. says:
Sunday, October 4, 2009 at 6:53pm
“You’re all wrong.”
well, that settles that.
How can I become a Libertarian?
“For the reasonable fee of $25 per year, you can become a Sustaining Member of the Libertarian Party and a real, card-carrying Libertarian. After you join, you will receive our monthly publication, LP News, along with regular updates on our national activities.”
For the same 25 bucks you can become a member of The National Geographic Society, and have the same amount of clout.
Christopher says:
Sunday, October 4, 2009 at 7:50pm
I finally found Jesus. He was behind the sofa all the time.
Frankly, I wonder if we should have someone write an essay on “Would Gumby be Capitalist?”
IMO it would equal the relevancy of this article.
That said, I love Moore and wish the news was as good at investigating things that are important to society.
Daniel says:
Monday, October 5, 2009 at 1:05am
I actually didn’t know that Moore was a Catholic. Go figure.
I can’t help but think all this talk about whether Jesus would be a righty or lefty is slightly ridiculous. I’m pretty sure Jesus would take the best of both sides, not limit Himself to the point of view of one. I mean if you read the Gospels there’s several different groups with different points of views living during that time (Pharisees, Sadducees, etc.) and when they ask Jesus questions about which belief system is right He doesn’t take the side of one particular group. He gives an answer that transcends the opinions of all of them.
Bernardo S says:
Monday, October 5, 2009 at 9:35pm
“After reading the comments about Jesus I’m appalled.
Jesus was against the oppression of the people. He would NOT be a communist or a dictator.”
Since when did Communism become a synonym for dictatorship? Oh…right…Stalin. Before you start claiming that Communism advocates for oppression (quite the opposite, actually, as it advocates for the elimination of social classes) I’d advise you to read the Communist Manifesto.
Neither the Soviet Union nor Cuba were/are Communist states