The emergence of Bernie Sanders as one of two finalists for the Democratic presidential nomination has renewed focus on his self-identification as a “democratic socialist.” Although several pundits, including Paul Krugman of the New York Times, have argued that Sanders’s “socialism” is really a pale version of what most Europeans regard as socialism, many Americans – including those who identify as evangelical Christians – remain suspicious of Sanders’s ideology. Socialism, they argue, is somehow antithetical to Christianity. Some have even argued that capitalism is sanctioned in the scriptures. Jerry Falwell, one of the founders of the Religious Right, declared that “the free-enterprise system is clearly outlined in the Book of Proverbs,” and his son, Jerry Falwell Jr. recently said, “I believe in Jesus’ teachings to do what’s in the best interest of the corporation.”
Clearly, these evangelicals have never read the Acts of the Apostles.
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