![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.longkeshinsideout.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/12\/jes.jpg\" "\\"jes\\"")
<\/a>I have been a Christian socialist politically since I became a \u201cborn again\u201d Christian in January 1972.<\/p>\nWhile the Bible has been a core text in my life, it is the inspiration of the New Testament\u2019s Jesus Christ who is my greatest hero.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, over the centuries, especially in Ireland, mention Christianity and politics in the same breath and the stereotype image of the street corner hell-fire preacher, bellowing out extreme Protestant fundamentalism springs to mind.<\/p>\n
The Crusades of the Middle Ages do nothing to advance the Christian socialist cause, and the weird ideological concoction of Identity Christianity spewed out by the Ku Klux Klan in America does equal damage to the notion of Christian Socialism.<\/p>\n
The biblical Jesus Christ is the central pillar of a new ideology which I have spent the past year working on, and herein lies my hero of Jesus and the relationship to Christian socialism. Jesus Christ has inspired me to compose the ideology of National Republicanism.<\/p>\n
A recent opinion poll in Ireland by Millward Brown clearly showed that almost half of Irish voters would like to see a new political party being formed.<\/p>\n
Now is the chance for Christian socialism under the banner of my National Republicanism to strike. National Republicanism is seeking a return of biblical Christianity as a central core of republican thinking by getting republicans to focus on the New Testament account of the Sermon on the Mount by Jesus Christ, as told in St Matthew\u2019s Gospel, Chapter Five.<\/p>\n
It has been this Sermon by Jesus which has been the foundation stone of my political thinking since 12, and why Christ is my hero.<\/p>\n
In this aspect, Christ outlines a series of attributes, commonly known as The Beatitudes. There is a school of ideological thinking \u2013 to which I personally belong \u2013 which maintains that Marx based Das Capital on The Beatitudes, and his overt criticism of religion was merely a ploy to disguise the fact that he had pinched his ideas from the Bible, and the words of Jesus.<\/p>\n
In reality, Jesus Christ was the first real communist \u2013 not Karl Marx. National Republicanism\u2019s Christ and state ideology is, therefore, based on St Matthew\u2019s Gospel Chapter Five, verses one to 12. Many of the Beatitudes begin (using the Authorised King James translation): \u201cBlessed are \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
However, when the words of Jesus are taken in a modern context, they make the basis for a realistic political agenda for National Republicanism.<\/p>\n
Here are the key points which the Beatitudes highlight. The poor in spirit (verse three) \u2013 the need to restore national pride in society; those who mourn (verse four) \u2013 the need to remember and help the victims of the conflict in Ireland; the meek (verse five) \u2013 the need to help the working class, and for the rich to invest their wealth in helping those less well off in society; they which do hunger (verse six) \u2013 the need to combat growing poverty in society, and also provide a sound educational and health system for all; the merciful (verse seven) \u2013 the need for a fair and accountable justice system; the pure in heart (verse eight) \u2013 the need to restore the moral fabric of society, to encourage family values and implement the concept of society\u2019s conscience; peacemakers (verse nine) \u2013 the need for compromise and respect of people\u2019s views based on the concept of accommodation, not capitulation; the persecuted (verse 10) \u2013 the need for National Republicans to have the courage to stand up for their beliefs; when men shall revile you (verse 11) \u2013 the need for a free press with responsible regulation.<\/p>\n
National Republicanism is about the creation of the concept of<\/p>\n
Christian citizenship. Under this concept, compulsory voting \u2013 as exists in Australia \u2013 would be introduced to Ireland.<\/p>\n
Tragically, Christian socialism has become bogged down in recent years over theological debates about women clerics, translations of the Bible, abortion, gay marriage, relations with Islam, and even petty issues such as should women wear hats to church, and how \u201cloud\u2019 in colour should men\u2019s ties be before they can enter a church building.<\/p>\n
Christians have even \u201cgone to theological war\u201d with each other over the type of worship coming from the pews, with traditionalists favouring the old fashioned hymns and psalms from the 19th century, with modernisers (especially the Pentecostalist factions) opting for the 21st century lively tunes, often referred to as Hill Songs.<\/p>\n
Ironically, extreme Christian fundamentalists \u2013 particularly from the militant pro-life lobby \u2013 have coined the perfect rallying call which can see a rebirth of Christian Socialism.<\/p>\n
It is based on the abbreviation WWJD? \u2013What Would Jesus Do? Where Marxism can be accused of trying to remove religion from politics, Christian socialism seeks to put the teachings of Jesus back into political thinking.<\/p>\n
The big problem that I have long faced as a Christian socialist, trying to implement the teachings of Jesus Christ, is to find a political vehicle to expound those views.<\/p>\n
Being a Christian Socialist in Ireland is a tough challenge, given that the island of Ireland has been at war with itself for the past eight centuries, as two of the largest Christian denominations, Roman Catholicism and Protestantism, battle for supremacy.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n