âThe early church was a socialist church.â
So said Rev. Raphael Warnock in 2016, four years before the citizens of Georgia elected him a U.S. senator.
Itâs a strange statement, least of all because the description âsocialist churchâ is an oxymoron. Not only would the Church fathers be puzzled by it, but so would socialismâs fathers.
âEveryone must be absolutely free to ⦠be an atheist,â wrote Vladimir Lenin, âwhich every socialist is, as a rule.â
âReligion and communism are incompatible, both theoretically and practically,â noted Nikolai Bukharin, founding editor of Pravda. âCommunism is incompatible with religious faith.â On behalf of the Bolsheviks, he insisted: âA fight to the death must be declared upon religion. We must take on religion at the tip of the bayonet.â