Rescuing Faith from Capitalism: A Theological Response to Project 2025 - by Mike Rivage-Seul

Found here. Our comments in bold.

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This tarot card-reading "theologian" wants to tell us what the authentic Christian faith is. Really. Amazingly, while proclaiming another Jesus, he is somehow able to simultaneously determine when someone is being heretical. His theology is identical to the Left's political agenda, and his presentation is bumper sticker Leftist slogans.

As is typical for Leftists, the author does not write to inform or explain, he writes to serve The Agenda, the overthrow of the system. It has nothing to do with any form of Christianity, because it is a political agenda, not a faith agenda.

And, as far as a "theological response," there isn't one.

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Readings for 18th Sunday in Ordinary Time: Ecclesiastes 1:1-2, 2:21-23; Psalm 90 3-6, 13, 14, 17; Colossians 3: 1-5, 9-11; Luke 12: 13-21 (Scriptures quoted at the end.)

I've recently been invited to join the Arc of Justice Alliance (AJ A). It's a new progressive think-and-action movement designed to offer a coordinated, long-term alternative to the far right's increasingly authoritarian agenda. (As if such an organization didn't already exist. In fact, the Left has had machinations in place for nearly a century, and has made great strides in infiltrating government, education, media, entertainment, and education. 

Only in recent years has the Right gained some traction and been able to make some inroads against the Leftist onslaught. This is really what the AJA is about. The Left's stranglehold on the institutions of America is being threatened and they cannot allow that.)

No doubt you've heard of the Republican Project 2025. Backed by the Heritage Foundation and other major right-wing institutions, it's a blueprint for seizing executive power, dismantling federal regulatory structures, militarizing domestic politics, and further entrenching white Christian nationalism. (Well, no. The author's list is Leftist talking points. The document itself tells us what is its purpose on page 35: 

1. Restore the family as the centerpiece of American life and protect our children. 
2. Dismantle the administrative state and return self-governance to the American people. 
3. Defend our nation’s sovereignty, borders, and bounty against global threats. 
4. Secure our God-given individual rights to live freely—what our Constitution calls “the Blessings of Liberty")

It is as serious as it is terrifying.

The Arc of Justice Alliance is our answer. It recognizes a hard truth: for over 50 years, the U.S. right has invested billions into building a machine-- media networks, policy mills, judicial pipelines, and ideological training camps for candidates. Progressives, by contrast, have often been merely defensive, scattered and uncoordinated. (This is clearly preposterous. As mentioned, the Left has had a coordinated strategy to co-op America's institutions for nearly a century.)

That's changing now. AJA is bringing together scholars, activists, spiritual leaders, artists, and organizers to craft a long-term vision for democratic justice, human rights, and environmental sanity.

But here's something that may surprise you: one of the right's most potent weapons has been theology. (Likely because the Left has mocked, suppressed, and legislated the silence of Christianity. It's therefore no surprise that the Right has gained the support of Christians, simply by letting them exist in their camp.) 

The Republican machine has spent decades coopting the Judeo-Christian tradition, (Actually, the Left has spent decades vilifying, deplatforming, and persecuting Christians.)

turning it into a moral fig leaf for capitalism, nationalism, and even genocidal violence. Faith has been hijacked-- not just by televangelists, but by policy strategists who know how powerful religion can be in shaping hearts and winning votes. (Ironically, this is what the author proposes the AJA should do.)

The results? A public religion that celebrates guns over peace, capitalism over compassion, and settler colonialism-- in Palestine and elsewhere-- over human dignity. (A series of false binary choices.)

As a liberation theologian, (Ohhhh. So he's a theologian, and a liberal one. That is, he has a liberal bias and therefore interprets his religion through it. It's no surprise, then, that his theology is identical to Leftist political theory.)

I've been invited by AJA to help reclaim the authentic Judeo-Christian tradition. (We wait with bated breath for the author to tell us what this authentic Judeo-Christian tradition might be.)

To rescue the voices of the prophets-- from Moses to Jesus to Paul-- from those who've turned them into champions of empire. We're done letting Jesus be portrayed as a flag-waving American whose top moral priorities are deregulated markets, gun rights, and misogyny. (The Leftist slogans flow effortlessly from the author's word processor.)

This week's liturgical readings couldn't be more timely. They mock the cult of wealth accumulation and call for spiritual liberation from materialist obsession. (THAT'S what the author understands from these Bible quotes, a political position? What?)

Ecclesiastes calls it "vanity" to work endlessly, lose sleep over your earnings, and die before enjoying anything. (We can read it for ourselves, sir. Solomon calls it a "great misfortune" to work all of one's life only to die and leave one's wealth to someone who didn't earn it. 

Sounds like Solomon, who incidentally was the richest man to ever live, didn't like the idea of of people getting money without working for it.)

Psalm 90 reminds us life is brief-- we might not wake up tomorrow. (Tell us, sir, what did the Psalmist mean here: Ps. 90:17 ...establish the work of our hands for us — yes, establish the work of our hands? Solomon complained about people getting wealth they did not earn, and the Psalmist wants his hard work to be established. Please, do explain.) 

Paul tells us to set our minds on things beyond consumerism, (Again, we can read it for ourselves. Paul did not tell us about consumerism [which apparently is the gravest of sins in the author's mind], he told us what earthly things are: Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. That is, the works of the flesh, which we are to put to death. 

And by the way, perhaps the author can explain what "sexual immorality" might be since he supports the LGTBQ agenda.)

and Jesus, in the Gospel of Luke, outright laughs at the man who builds bigger barns while ignoring his soul. (He sort of get this right, at least superficially. But perhaps he might tell us how to be "rich towards God?" Yes, please tell us how the Leftist political agenda might help us here?)

These aren't just pious musings. They're indictments.

They expose what capitalism demands of us: exhaustion, anxiety, competition, disconnection. (Capitalism demands nothing. Capitalism is simply the voluntary, legal exchange of value. The author has a caricature of capitalism, based on his personal political bias.

Interestingly, he contrasts this caricature of capitalism with the Bible's counsel. But these Bible verses don't speak to this, rather, they speak of worldly pursuits as contrasted with seeking God.)

They also expose what it consistently fails to deliver: peace, community, purpose, or justice. (Again, the author expects capitalism to "deliver" things according to his political agenda. But capitalism isn't political, because it isn't a system constructed with goals. It's simply a natural expression of human behavior. And because it is this, it can be corrupted and perverted because mankind is corrupted and perverted.

The answer isn't an alternative economic or political system, because it isn't a systemic problem, it's a sin problem. )

Here's the deeper issue: capitalism isn't just an economy-- it's a theology. It teaches that your worth is your wealth. That you are alone, in competition, in a world of scarcity. That power, not compassion, is what keeps you safe. That "salvation" is financial security. (Capitalism teaches nothing. It's not an economic theory. The author continues to mistake capitalism for the excesses of evil men. Once again we quote Paul, that the problem is sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry... That is, sin.)

But the deeper tradition-- the one the AJA seeks to reclaim-- teaches something radically different. (??? What "deeper tradition" is this...)

It teaches that our lives matter not for what we earn, but for how we love. That justice, not greed, is the heartbeat of the universe. That our deepest wealth is found in community. That joy is a collective act of resistance. (...and why does it sound like emotive New Age gobbledygook?)

And crucially, it teaches (Ah, this "deeper tradition," yet unnamed, teaches.)

that we must name and dismantle the systems-- economic, political, and religious-- that keep us enslaved to fear and false gods. (Oh, there we have it. We thought he was wanting to tell us about true Christianity or something. But no, he's advocating for Marxism: 

...the proletariat, having nothing to lose but their chains, would unite to dismantle the capitalist system and establish a classless, stateless society. The ultimate goal is the establishment of communism, a system in which the means of production are communally owned, eliminating class distinctions and allowing for the free development of all individuals.

If the reader would venture to the provided link he would see that the author is simply regurgitating Marxist rhetoric dressed up in his peculiar brand of Christianity.)

That's why we're building the Arc of Justice Alliance. Not just as an intellectual exercise, but as a spiritual and moral response to empire. We are building a machine of our own-- not to mirror the right's authoritarianism, but to match its discipline and exceed it in vision.

So let's stop pretending the Gospel is about prosperity. Let's stop letting capitalism wear a halo.

Let's laugh, like Jesus did, at the absurdity of endless accumulation. Let's build networks of joy, resistance, and solidarity. Let's speak clearly, act boldly, and remember what freedom really looks like.

This is what the moment demands. And this is what the AJA stands for.

Please join us!

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Ec. 1:1-2 The words of the Teacher, son of David, king of Jerusalem: 2 “Meaningless! Meaningless!” says the Teacher. “Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless.”

Ec. 2:21-23 For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune. 22 What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? 23 All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.

Ps. 90:3-6 You turn men back to dust, saying, “Return to dust, O sons of men.” 4 For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night. 5 You sweep men away in the sleep of death; they are like the new grass of the morning — 6 though in the morning it springs up new, by evening it is dry and withered.

Ps. 90:13-14 Relent, O LORD! How long will it be? Have compassion on your servants. 14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

Ps. 90:17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest upon us; establish the work of our hands for us — yes, establish the work of our hands.

Col. 3:1-5 Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. 5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry...

Col. 3:9-11 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. 11 Here there is no Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all.

Lk. 12:13-21 Someone in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14 Jesus replied, “Man, who appointed me a judge or an arbiter between you?” 15 Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man’s life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.”

16 And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man produced a good crop. 17 He thought to himself, `What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ 18 “Then he said, `This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. 19 And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of good things laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’ 

20 “But God said to him, `You fool! This very night your life will be demanded from you. Then who will get what you have prepared for yourself?’ 21 “This is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich towards God.”