Christian left Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
The Christian Left is the intersection of left-wing or socialist ideals and Christian belief.For much of the early history of anti-establishment leftist movements such as socialism and (social-)liberalism, established churches were led by a reactionary clergy who saw progress as a threat to their status and power. Most people viewed the church as part of the establishment. Revolutions in America, France and Russia were against the established churches and instituted a separation of church and state.
In the late 19th century and early 20th century, some began to take on the view that Christianity had much in common with a lefist perspective. There is an extremely strong thread of egalitarianism in the New Testament. Other common leftist concerns such as pacifism, justice, racial equality, human rights, and the rejection of excessive wealth can also be found in the Bible. In the late 19th century, the Social Gospel movement arose (particularly among some Baptists and Methodists in North America and Britain,) which attempted to integrate progressive and socialist thought with Christianity and produce social activism. Later, in the 20th century, Mikhail Gorbachev famously said that "Christ was the first socialist".
Some Christian groups were closely associated with the peace movements against the Vietnam War as well as the 2003 Invasion of Iraq. Religious leaders in many countries have also been on the forefront of criticizing any cuts to social welfare programs. In addition, many prominent civil rights activists (such as Martin Luther King, Jr) were religious figures.
The Christian Left has sometimes been viewed as a counterpart to the Christian Right, but in fact it is very different. While the Christian Right is almost uniquely American, the Christian Left is more global and multifaceted.
However, the Christian Left does not seem to be as well-organized or publicized as its right-wing counterpart. Opponents state that this is because it is less numerous; supporters contend that it is actually more numerous but composed predominantly of persons less willing to voice political views in a boisterous or vehement manner.
In the United States, most members of the Christian Left are associated with liberal faiths or peace churches; some are associated with the more liberal factions of the Protestant Mainline. They suggest that the early Church practiced socialism, or even something resembling communism ("they had all things common," Acts,) and that Jesus often seemed to advocate pacifism, while being opposed to the wealthy elite of his day.
One of the most important strains of Christian Left thinking has been in the developing world, especially Latin America. During and since the 1960s, Catholic thinkers who opposed the despotic leaders in South and Central America allied themselves with the Marxist opposition. Out of this alliance arose Liberation Theology, a wide ranging attempt to integrate Marxism and Catholicism. However, Pope John Paul II, a staunch opponent of Eastern European Communist states, decided against Liberation Theology and led the Catholic Church to officially abandon it.
The Christian Left sometimes differs from other Christian political groups on issues such as homosexuality. This is usually not a matter of different religious ideas, but one of focus -- viewing the prohibitions against killing, or the criticism of concentrations of wealth, as far more important than social issues emphasized by the religious right, such as opposition to homosexuality.
A related strain of thought is the Consistent Life Ethic, which sees opposition to capital punishment, militarism, euthanasia and abortion as being related. It is not specifically Christian (being subscribed to by Buddhists, Hindus, and members of other religions), but uses arguments broadly similar to those used by Christian leftists.
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