What are those facts?
▪ Socialism has never had the capacity, incentives, or excess to constitute Babylon with all her merchants and herSo, if we want to discover who Babylon really is, and shift our paradigm and focus to the greater enemy, maybe we should ask some comparative questions, like:
merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. (New Testament | Revelations 13:12-13)▪ Socialism is not “clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! (New Testament | Revelations 13:16) Or as Nephi describes:
I also saw gold, and silver, and silks, and scarlets, and fine-twined linen, and all manner of precious clothing; and I saw many harlots. And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the gold, and the silver, and the silks, and the scarlets, and the fine-twined linen, and the precious clothing, and the harlots, are the desires of this great and abominable church. (Book of Mormon | 1 Nephi 13:7-8)▪ Socialism will never achieve the prosperity or opulence ascribed to Babylon.
▪ Socialism is essentially a national merchant with everyone working for the one (corrupted) merchant-state which, more often than not, presides over scarcity and rationing.
What economic system:
» has a surfeit of merchants?
» is known for its “abundance of delicacies” (as opposed to recurring scarcity and rationing)?
» owns malls, media, and markets that promise: “You can buy anything in this world with money” (and then offers it, no matter how depraved or trivial)?
» makes massive profits from perpetuating the myths of free markets, “invisible hand,” faux-personhood, meritocracy, trickle-down, and on and on?
» co-ops freedom and free-markets in order to amass private oligopolies, monopolies, and tyrannies?
» enslaves more persons worldwide (including faux-persons) with credit and debt?
» manipulates global markets, strategies, and governments?
» measures everything in terms of money and bottom-line?
» profits most from war and disease?
» traffics in (i.e., buys and sells with money) the souls of men (via HyPE2 contracts; perks; bonuses; loyalty demands; investments without accountability; promises of wealth, power, immunity; etc.)?
» sells to and buys up armies and navies, politicians and pundits, researchers and writers, publishers and performers, churches and colleges, actors and activists, lawyers and lobbyists, and on and on (as opposed to nationalizing / expropriating / confiscating, / prohibiting / threatening, etc.)?
» has a foundation and future that depends on perpetual, unsustainable growth and increasingly transitory stuff?
» best fits the description of John the Revelator in prophesying the nature and fall of Babylon:
Socialism (like every other economic system of the world) is administered by the Natural Man4 who will forever siphon-off the most and best of everything for self and let the common man portion out the remaining, minor percentage. Socialism may speak fine words (equity and justice for the working class), but just like Democrats and Republicans, Conservatives and Liberals, it all goes by the board when perks and privileges come knocking at the door of power-hungry leaders. Thus, we are sadly misled if we think that Socialism, with all its scarcities and rationing, is the great archenemy, which God defines as Babylon.5 We are even more tragically misled to think that the excesses and disparities of Babylon can be ignored or, even worse, praised and promoted as the inherent, just rewards of (what must surely be!) God’s economy.6… the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. (New Testament | Revelation 18:3)
the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: (Ibid. 18:11)
The merchants of these things,[3] which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate (Ibid. 18:15-19)?
When do we finally clue-in that God’s economy is not of this world? And if we don’t clue-in, is that the great deception?
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1. It seems in recent decades that Socialism (an economic system) has replaced Communism (a political system) as the great enemy. They are in fact linked because Communism manages its economics through an extreme form of socialism (or at least pretends to). But Communism / Socialism is as susceptible to the tendencies of the Natural Man (fn 4) as all other systems are, so we always find at the “classless” top of communist / socialist systems, a group of privileged elites who come nowhere near sharing the lot of the common man. Communism / socialism always descends into a pretense of itself, just as democratic / republican / free-market systems do.
2. (Highly Paid Employee)
3. [“the fruits that thy soul lusted after”; all things which were dainty and goodly” (New Testament | Revelations 18:14]
4. The Natural Man: Book of Mormon | Mosiah 3:19 ~ For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.
Book of Mormon | Alma 41:11 ~ … all men that are in a state of nature, or I would say, in a carnal state, are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity; they are without God in the world, and they have gone contrary to the nature of God; therefore, they are in a state contrary to the nature of happiness.
Book of Mormon | Alma 42:10 ~ Therefore, as they [mankind] had become carnal, sensual, and devilish, by nature, this probationary state became a state for them to prepare; it became a preparatory state.
5. Additional descriptions of Babyon:
» Old Testament | Isaiah 13:19 ~ And Babylon, the glory of kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, (See also: Book of Mormon | 2 Nephi 23:19)
» Old Testament | Isaiah 14:4) ~ … the golden city …
» New Testament | Revelation 18:3 ~ For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies.
» New Testament | Revelation 18:9-19 ~ And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, Standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas, that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man buyeth their merchandise any more: The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, And cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. The merchants of these things, which were made rich by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, And saying, Alas, alas, that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! For in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, And cried when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city! And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas, that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her costliness! for in one hour is she made desolate.
Compare with Book of Mormon, great and abominable Church:
» Book of Mormon | 1 Nephi 13:4-9 ~ And it came to pass that I saw among the nations of the Gentiles the formation of a great church. And the angel said unto me: Behold the formation of a church which is most abominable above all other churches, which slayeth the saints of God, yea, and tortureth them and bindeth them down, and yoketh them with a yoke of iron, and bringeth them down into captivity. And it came to pass that I beheld this great and abominable church; and I saw the devil that he was the founder of it. And I also saw gold, and silver, and silks, and scarlets, and fine-twined linen, and all manner of precious clothing; and I saw many harlots. And the angel spake unto me, saying: Behold the gold, and the silver, and the silks, and the scarlets, and the fine-twined linen, and the precious clothing, and the harlots, are the desires of this great and abominable church. And also for the praise of the world do they destroy the saints of God, and bring them down into captivity.
6. Do we think the word free in free-markets is the operative word? Or is this scripture more on point?
... freely ye have received, freely give. (New Testament | Matthew 10:8)See also: http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2013/12/gods-economy-christmas-perspective.html and http://dejavu-timestwo.blogspot.ca/2014/06/gods-economy-is-it-possible.html
