Can a Catholic not like his communist Pope?

[saintmichaeldefendthem]

__________________________________________________________
​

Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
St. James 4:4

___________________________________________________________​

Because I'm more than a little frustrated with my Pope. Already infamous for his many comments demonizing capitalism, he now proceeds to attack free speech and throw his weight behind the global warming cult.

WTF, your holiness?

Capitalism is the greatest engine to human freedom and prosperity in the history of mankind, global warming is nothing more than a wealth redistribution scheme with aims on global government, and when Islam kills people for insulting their pedophile prophet, the proper response is not to tell Christians to work harder not to offend Muslims.

Now the Bible passage I posted is a very appropriate rebuke of Pope Francis. Christians are not called to be friends with the world, to promote worldly values, and to mimic the demonic bigotry of worldly political correctness. Trying to win popularity among reprobate humanity by necessity requires abandoning Christ and our obligation to be the Light of Christ to the nations. Jesus calls us to be light in darkness, not to join the darkness. Jesus warned us that if our salt loses its saltiness, it becomes worthless, something to be thrown out as refuse. But most of all, Jesus said his kingdom is not of this world. We do not promote earthly kingdoms or international agendas, we are ambassadors of the kingdom of God.

But to put things in perspective, Catholics pray for the Pope, that he may benefit from a special grace, a pouring of the Holy Spirit to guide him. Historically, some Popes have demonstrated through their actions a deep, pious faith that indicates they operate through the Holy Spirit, but others have been corrupt, or sometimes outright evil. There's no need to post a list of bad Popes throughout the history of the Church. I consider myself blessed that I've been a contemporary to one Pope who was truly God's servant, the late Pope John Paul II, and even if he's the last righteous Pope I see in my lifetime, I would not consider myself robbed. Still it's disappointing to know that we have a corrupt Pope in office. I had such high hopes for him.

 

[TheOldSchool]

__________________________________________________________
​

Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
St. James 4:4

___________________________________________________________​

Because I'm more than a little frustrated with my Pope. Already infamous for his many comments demonizing capitalism, he now proceeds to attack free speech and throw his weight behind the global warming cult.

WTF, your holiness?

Capitalism is the greatest engine to human freedom and prosperity in the history of mankind, global warming is nothing more than a wealth redistribution scheme with aims on global government, and when Islam kills people for insulting their pedophile prophet, the proper response is not to tell Christians to work harder not to offend Muslims.

Now the Bible passage I posted is a very appropriate rebuke of Pope Francis. Christians are not called to be friends with the world, to promote worldly values, and to mimic the demonic bigotry of worldly political correctness. Trying to win popularity among reprobate humanity by necessity requires abandoning Christ and our obligation to be the Light of Christ to the nations. Jesus calls us to be light in darkness, not to join the darkness. Jesus warned us that if our salt loses its saltiness, it becomes worthless, something to be thrown out as refuse. But most of all, Jesus said his kingdom is not of this world. We do not promote earthly kingdoms or international agendas, we are ambassadors of the kingdom of God.

But to put things in perspective, Catholics pray for the Pope, that he may benefit from a special grace, a pouring of the Holy Spirit to guide him. Historically, some Popes have demonstrated through their actions a deep, pious faith that indicates they operate through the Holy Spirit, but others have been corrupt, or sometimes outright evil. There's no need to post a list of bad Popes throughout the history of the Church. I consider myself blessed that I've been a contemporary to one Pope who was truly God's servant, the late Pope John Paul II, and even if he's the last righteous Pope I see in my lifetime, I would not consider myself robbed. Still it's disappointing to know that we have a corrupt Pope in office. I had such high hopes for him.

Well there are hundreds of "feel good" churches that branched off of Catholicism for you to convert to if you want. Hell you can start your own church if you'd like. All you have to do is cherry pick your favorite parts of the bible and ignore whatever you don't like!

 

[Grendelyn]

How is it that your God allowed Pope Frank to ascend to the top position that he now occupies if he truly is as you say he is? Surely your God does not allow for a communist pinko to lead Catholic in the free world now does He? ~ Susan
PS If Popes really gave a crap about any poor person one would think that anyone of them throughout history would have sold off an old master painting, or two of the many that are locked in the Vatican vaults to relieve that person's suffering, would one not? Money . . . it drives our economy and that, too, the economy of the Vatican. Can you imagine a Pope plucking off a valuable ring off of one of his fat little fingers to relieve the suffering of one of his sheep? Nawww . . . totally impossible as we all know if we had the courage not to delude ourselves.

 

[Two Thumbs]

quite the conundrum Catholics find themselves in.

The Pope is infallible, to them, every thing he says is right and should be followed

but

he is a fucking communist

tough call, freedom and hell or slaves and heaven

 

[TheOldSchool]

quite the conundrum Catholics find themselves in.

The Pope is infallible, to them, every thing he says is right and should be followed

but

he is a fucking communist

tough call, freedom and hell or slaves and heaven

Many people would say Jesus was a communist. Would you abandon him just as easily?

 

[saintmichaeldefendthem]

quite the conundrum Catholics find themselves in.

The Pope is infallible, to them, every thing he says is right and should be followed

but

he is a fucking communist

tough call, freedom and hell or slaves and heaven

Many people would say Jesus was a communist. Would you abandon him just as easily?

Jesus was not a communist and I defy you to prove otherwise.

 

[saintmichaeldefendthem]

__________________________________________________________
​

Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
St. James 4:4

___________________________________________________________​

Because I'm more than a little frustrated with my Pope. Already infamous for his many comments demonizing capitalism, he now proceeds to attack free speech and throw his weight behind the global warming cult.

WTF, your holiness?

Capitalism is the greatest engine to human freedom and prosperity in the history of mankind, global warming is nothing more than a wealth redistribution scheme with aims on global government, and when Islam kills people for insulting their pedophile prophet, the proper response is not to tell Christians to work harder not to offend Muslims.

Now the Bible passage I posted is a very appropriate rebuke of Pope Francis. Christians are not called to be friends with the world, to promote worldly values, and to mimic the demonic bigotry of worldly political correctness. Trying to win popularity among reprobate humanity by necessity requires abandoning Christ and our obligation to be the Light of Christ to the nations. Jesus calls us to be light in darkness, not to join the darkness. Jesus warned us that if our salt loses its saltiness, it becomes worthless, something to be thrown out as refuse. But most of all, Jesus said his kingdom is not of this world. We do not promote earthly kingdoms or international agendas, we are ambassadors of the kingdom of God.

But to put things in perspective, Catholics pray for the Pope, that he may benefit from a special grace, a pouring of the Holy Spirit to guide him. Historically, some Popes have demonstrated through their actions a deep, pious faith that indicates they operate through the Holy Spirit, but others have been corrupt, or sometimes outright evil. There's no need to post a list of bad Popes throughout the history of the Church. I consider myself blessed that I've been a contemporary to one Pope who was truly God's servant, the late Pope John Paul II, and even if he's the last righteous Pope I see in my lifetime, I would not consider myself robbed. Still it's disappointing to know that we have a corrupt Pope in office. I had such high hopes for him.

Well there are hundreds of "feel good" churches that branched off of Catholicism for you to convert to if you want. Hell you can start your own church if you'd like. All you have to do is cherry pick your favorite parts of the bible and ignore whatever you don't like!

My Catholic faith does not predicate on any pope. I will be a Catholic until the day I die not because of any pope, but because of the universal Church that has weathered good popes and bad and still remains to this day faithful. This pope too shall pass, but the holy Catholic Church will remain true until the day Christ returns.

 

[saintmichaeldefendthem]

quite the conundrum Catholics find themselves in.

The Pope is infallible, to them, every thing he says is right and should be followed

but

he is a fucking communist

tough call, freedom and hell or slaves and heaven

He's infallible when he speaks ex cathedra, but everything else is just the opinion of a flawed individual. Papal infallibility is often misunderstood. In truth, it has a very narrow application. He promises to publish an encyclical promoting his communism, misguided belief in global warming, and urging Christians to not offend Muslims. I won't be taking it very seriously at all.

 

[saintmichaeldefendthem]

Francis & Political Illusion

There is a great temptation today to confuse sociological evolution with spiritual progress, and Christians are the first to succumb to that temptation. Nevertheless, the Bible expressly tells us that the history of mankind ends in judgment. It does not give place to the Kingdom.
Jacques Ellul, False Presence of the KingdomConformity to the world is expressed by the passion for politics, by the politicizing of Christian thinking, manners and action.
Jacques Ellul, Hope in Time of Abandonment

In the cap and bells of Flip Wilson’s Church of What’s Happening Now, Pope Francis is readying an encyclical on climate change. He will address the world’s latest mutation of the grail quest: human ecology. Abandoning nuance for apocalyptic alarmism (“If we destroy Creation, Creation will destroy us.”), Francis has signaled the tenor of his utterance.

It comes as no surprise. Handwriting has been on the wall along the Viale Vaticano from the get-go. At the beginning of his pontificate, Francis revealed himself to be fastidiously attuned to image. He refused to give communion in public ceremonies lest he be photographed giving the sacrament to the wrong kind of sinner. So, when he agreed to pose between two well-known environmental activists and brandish an anti-fracking T-shirt, we believed what we saw.

It was a portentous image. Press toads hopped to their keyboards to correct the evidence of our lying eyes. Francis was neither for nor against fracking, you see. Nothing of the sort. He was simply using a photo-op to assert blameless solidarity with the victims of ecological injustice. (Both a decisive definition of such injustice and its particular victims went unspecified.)

If that restyling were true, then the more fool Francis. But Francis is not a fool. He is an ideologue and a meddlesome egoist. His clumsy intrusion into the Middle East and covert collusion with Obama over Cuba makes that clear. Megalomania sends him galloping into geopolitical—and now meteorological—thickets, sacralizing politics and bending theology to premature, intemperate policy endorsements.

Later this year, Francis will take his sandwich board to the United Nations General Assembly, that beacon of progress toward the Kingdom. Next will come a summit of world religions—a sort of Green Assisi—organized to lend moral luster to an upcoming confederacy of world improvers in Paris. In the words of Bishop Marcelo Sorondo, chancellor of the Vatican’s Pontifical Academy of Sciences, Francis means “to make all people aware of the state of our climate and the tragedy of social exclusion.”

There is a muddle for you. The bishop asserts a causal relation between two undefined, imprecise phenomena. His phrasing is a sober-sounding rhetorical dodge that eludes argument because the meaning is indeterminable. Ambiguity, like nonsense, is irrefutable. What caliber of scientist speaks this way?

Ronald Gunther. Soap Box Orator (c. 1935). Washington State Historical Society, Tacoma.

Conscientious concern for the environment is not at issue. Man’s stewardship of the earth’s resources is to be taken with great seriousness. But debate as how best to effect that stewardship is intricate and ongoing. There are hazards in unraveling divergent, often contradictory, ideas and undertakings bundled together by the media as a coherent movement.

Francis serves an environmentalist mindset that, unlike the traditional ethos of conservation, views man as a parasite (Western man in Francis’ marxisant variant) and understands wealth in pre-modern terms as a zero-sum game. It discards the West’s great discovery—realization that wealth can be created. The endgame is transfer of wealth from productive nations to unproductive ones.

Boris Kustodiev. Festivity for Opening of the 11th Comintern Congress (1920). Russian State Museum, St. Petersburg

Orthodox environmentalism resents human sovereignty over the earth we inhabit. It begrudges ingenuity in the transactions we invent with nature and with each other. Its radical form, which beckons Francis and Vatican academics, is atavistic, even animist. Discount the gospel gloss. What matters is the spectacle of the Church imitating the world by justifying political agendas based on still-contended data and half-baked Gramscian dogma. Jacques Ellul, writing in the post-war decades, cautioned against introducing political morals into the Church as a springboard for unexamined action:

Proof is of no avail in the face of the sociological trends which bring Christians irrevocably to do what everybody else is doing, and to think what everybody else is thinking.

Man cannot destroy “Creation.” It is not within his power. Nor is “Creation” a willful entity with Doomsday on its mind. Francis sullies his office by using demagogic formulations to bully the populace into reflexive climate action with no more substantive guide than theologized propaganda. Francis’s loaded abstractions—a planet “exploited by human greed,” a vague “economy of exclusion,” and that old goblin, “the god of money”—echo Reverend Wright’s “A world in need is run by white folks’ greed.” Explicit racial component is absent from Francis’ denunciations. Nevertheless, hearers know which world—First or Third?—prompts papal hostility.

The world is what it has been and will remain. Satan is still the prince of it. And Francis is imprudent.

Francis Political Illusion Maureen Mullarkey First Things

 

[Pogo]

__________________________________________________________
​

Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
St. James 4:4

___________________________________________________________​

Because I'm more than a little frustrated with my Pope. Already infamous for his many comments demonizing capitalism, he now proceeds to attack free speech and throw his weight behind the global warming cult.

WTF, your holiness?

Capitalism is the greatest engine to human freedom and prosperity in the history of mankind, global warming is nothing more than a wealth redistribution scheme with aims on global government, and when Islam kills people for insulting their pedophile prophet, the proper response is not to tell Christians to work harder not to offend Muslims.

Now the Bible passage I posted is a very appropriate rebuke of Pope Francis. Christians are not called to be friends with the world, to promote worldly values, and to mimic the demonic bigotry of worldly political correctness. Trying to win popularity among reprobate humanity by necessity requires abandoning Christ and our obligation to be the Light of Christ to the nations. Jesus calls us to be light in darkness, not to join the darkness. Jesus warned us that if our salt loses its saltiness, it becomes worthless, something to be thrown out as refuse. But most of all, Jesus said his kingdom is not of this world. We do not promote earthly kingdoms or international agendas, we are ambassadors of the kingdom of God.

But to put things in perspective, Catholics pray for the Pope, that he may benefit from a special grace, a pouring of the Holy Spirit to guide him. Historically, some Popes have demonstrated through their actions a deep, pious faith that indicates they operate through the Holy Spirit, but others have been corrupt, or sometimes outright evil. There's no need to post a list of bad Popes throughout the history of the Church. I consider myself blessed that I've been a contemporary to one Pope who was truly God's servant, the late Pope John Paul II, and even if he's the last righteous Pope I see in my lifetime, I would not consider myself robbed. Still it's disappointing to know that we have a corrupt Pope in office. I had such high hopes for him.

Dood, you sure went through a lot of blatant fallacies just to try to politicize religion.
Erleichda already. Give it a fucking rest.

 

[Pogo]

quite the conundrum Catholics find themselves in.

The Pope is infallible, to them, every thing he says is right and should be followed

but

he is a fucking communist

tough call, freedom and hell or slaves and heaven

Many people would say Jesus was a communist. Would you abandon him just as easily?

Jesus was not a communist and I defy you to prove otherwise.

Read Acts.

I'm familiar with one particular religious group --very familiar actually -- who's not Catholic but bases their entire social structure on common ownership. Nobody has any personal property other than their clothes. They live in a house built by the colony, all their work is entirely for the colony, which owns everything... they act as a collective in every way, eat together in a common building, etc. They do all of this based on their emphasis of Acts II. In other words they're what the poster above referred to as "fucking communists". The concept of individuality is almost incomprehensible to them. And they got all this from the Bible and they live it every day.

And I tell you what, they're the most self-sufficient and self-confident people I've ever seen. In their entire history they've had a total of I think one murder and two suicides. In five hundred years.

 

[Care4all]

quite the conundrum Catholics find themselves in.

The Pope is infallible, to them, every thing he says is right and should be followed

but

he is a fucking communist

tough call, freedom and hell or slaves and heaven

The Pope is infallible, to them, every thing he says is right and should be followed

FYI, that's NOT true. In another thread of Pope Bashing by another right wing Catholic upset with this Pope of their Church, posted a cut and paste of Catholic Church Doctrine on the infallibility of the Pope, and this is regarding Catholic Church Doctrine, whomever is the Pope of the Church, has the final say basically, on interpretation...with using Tradition and Precedence of the Catholic Church...

ONLY those who are not Catholics, claim Catholics think:
''The Pope is infallible .... every thing he says is right and should be followed.''

 

[JakeStarkey]

stmike is as uninformed about communism as he is about Catholicism.

This will help him.

com·mu·nism
(noun\ˈkäm-yə-ˌni-zəm, -yü-\
: a way of organizing a society in which the government owns the things that are used to make and transport products (such as land, oil, factories, ships, etc.) and there is no privately owned property

Not only is mike bad mouthing the Pope, mike is also demonstrating he has no more clue about his faith than he does about American law or political and economic philosophy.

 

[Pogo]

stmike is as uninformed about communism as he is about Catholicism.

This will help him.

com·mu·nism
(noun\ˈkäm-yə-ˌni-zəm, -yü-\
: a way of organizing a society in which the government owns the things that are used to make and transport products (such as land, oil, factories, ships, etc.) and there is no privately owned property

Not only is mike bad mouthing the Pope, mike is also demonstrating he has no more clue about his faith than he does about American law or political and economic philosophy.

Clearly his goal coming in was to politicize the Pope in order to then attack. And to do that he had to engage a dozen fallacies to set it up.

I really don't get this obsession some people have with politicizing everything as if the whole world is some giant bug that must be sterilized. Lighten up, damn.

 

[Agit8r]

Naturally, the Council of Cardinals picked a guy who would speak for the interests of the church body--most of whom are poor. It is not merely a mission of this present pope:

"The collapse of the Communist system in so many countries certainly removes an obstacle to facing these problems in an appropriate and realistic way, but it is not enough to bring about their solution. Indeed, there is a risk that a radical capitalistic ideology could spread which refuses even to consider these problems, in the a priori belief that any attempt to solve them is doomed to failure and which blindly entrusts their solution to the free development of market forces... For such a task the Church offers her social teaching as an indispensable and ideal orientation, a teaching which, as already mentioned, recognizes the positive value of the market and of enterprise, but which at the same time points out that these need to be oriented towards the common good"
-- Pope John Paul II, from Centesimus Annus

 

[JakeStarkey]

All good and true Christians admire the Pope.

Those who don't suffer from errors (heresies) in their belief that separates them from Jesus on these principles.

 

[Two Thumbs]

quite the conundrum Catholics find themselves in.

The Pope is infallible, to them, every thing he says is right and should be followed

but

he is a fucking communist

tough call, freedom and hell or slaves and heaven

Many people would say Jesus was a communist. Would you abandon him just as easily?

no one actually thinks that, it's just a leftist attack that's complete and utter bullshit

and you know it

 

[saintmichaeldefendthem]

Naturally, the Council of Cardinals picked a guy who would speak for the interests of the church body--most of whom are poor. It is not merely a mission of this present pope:

"The collapse of the Communist system in so many countries certainly removes an obstacle to facing these problems in an appropriate and realistic way, but it is not enough to bring about their solution. Indeed, there is a risk that a radical capitalistic ideology could spread which refuses even to consider these problems, in the a priori belief that any attempt to solve them is doomed to failure and which blindly entrusts their solution to the free development of market forces... For such a task the Church offers her social teaching as an indispensable and ideal orientation, a teaching which, as already mentioned, recognizes the positive value of the market and of enterprise, but which at the same time points out that these need to be oriented towards the common good"
-- Pope John Paul II, from Centesimus Annus

Communism doesn't lift people from poverty, it only increases and systemizes poverty into a cruel, inescapable life. JP fought against communism his entire life, showing solidarity with the Polish people who cried out under the cruel boot of communism. It also needs to be noted that JP gauged his words carefully, not attacking free market capitalism, but rather reminding those who've succeeded of their obligation to help the poor. There's a quantum leap between the Church's social justice teaching that prevails upon us to be mindful of the needy and to help them and communism which simply redistributes wealth and in doing so destroys it so that everyone is equally in dire poverty and the brink of starvation. Social Justices does not lend to communism, it lends to righteousness, the kind that all Christians should aspire to.

 

[saintmichaeldefendthem]

quite the conundrum Catholics find themselves in.

The Pope is infallible, to them, every thing he says is right and should be followed

but

he is a fucking communist

tough call, freedom and hell or slaves and heaven

Many people would say Jesus was a communist. Would you abandon him just as easily?

Jesus was not a communist and I defy you to prove otherwise.

Read Acts.

I'm familiar with one particular religious group --very familiar actually -- who's not Catholic but bases their entire social structure on common ownership. Nobody has any personal property other than their clothes. They live in a house built by the colony, all their work is entirely for the colony, which owns everything... they act as a collective in every way, eat together in a common building, etc. They do all of this based on their emphasis of Acts II. In other words they're what the poster above referred to as "fucking communists". The concept of individuality is almost incomprehensible to them. And they got all this from the Bible and they live it every day.

And I tell you what, they're the most self-sufficient and self-confident people I've ever seen. In their entire history they've had a total of I think one murder and two suicides. In five hundred years.

If you actually read the New Testament you'd see that certain parts of the church were forced underground by persecution and had to create a commune in order to survive. However even this came with problems that Paul had to address. When Paul said, "If anyone won't work, he won't eat" (2Thess 3:10) it was because communism produces a very serious problem in that when people are deprived of the fruits of their labor, they lose incentive to work.

This was the central problem with the Jamestown and Plymouth Rock colonies where an attempt at communism led to mass starvation and death. People were not allowed any stake in their own labor, or to hold private property and so people worked just hard enough not to be lashed and the results were devastating. At issue is human nature that doesn't value work that doesn't elevate one's own prosperity, that doesn't produce tangible results they personally own.

There is a problem with thinking that the Bible is perfect in every way, even to the point of thinking that the Bible lays out a perfect economic system. Acts was a recording of events, not a blueprint for social systems binding upon all Christians. The very fact that the New Testament plays out the problems that arose with the decisions that were made by leaders should indicate that they hadn't achieved utopia by any stretch. The "Bible Only" philosophy of Christian fundamentalists holds the Bible so sacrosanct that it's taboo to think outside of it, to examine it critically and to keep in mind that even the saints were flawed individuals who didn't always get it right.

 

[Pogo]

quite the conundrum Catholics find themselves in.

The Pope is infallible, to them, every thing he says is right and should be followed

but

he is a fucking communist

tough call, freedom and hell or slaves and heaven

Many people would say Jesus was a communist. Would you abandon him just as easily?

Jesus was not a communist and I defy you to prove otherwise.

Read Acts.

I'm familiar with one particular religious group --very familiar actually -- who's not Catholic but bases their entire social structure on common ownership. Nobody has any personal property other than their clothes. They live in a house built by the colony, all their work is entirely for the colony, which owns everything... they act as a collective in every way, eat together in a common building, etc. They do all of this based on their emphasis of Acts II. In other words they're what the poster above referred to as "fucking communists". The concept of individuality is almost incomprehensible to them. And they got all this from the Bible and they live it every day.

And I tell you what, they're the most self-sufficient and self-confident people I've ever seen. In their entire history they've had a total of I think one murder and two suicides. In five hundred years.

If you actually read the New Testament you'd see that certain parts of the church were forced underground by persecution and had to create a commune in order to survive. However even this came with problems that Paul had to address. When Paul said, "If anyone won't work, he won't eat" (2Thess 3:10) it was because communism produces a very serious problem in that when people are deprived of the fruits of their labor, they lose incentive to work.

This was the central problem with the Jamestown and Plymouth Rock colonies where an attempt at communism led to mass starvation and death. People were not allowed any stake in their own labor, or to hold private property and so people worked just hard enough not to be lashed and the results were devastating. At issue is human nature that doesn't value work that doesn't elevate one's own prosperity, that doesn't produce tangible results they personally own.

There is a problem with thinking that the Bible is perfect in every way, even to the point of thinking that the Bible lays out a perfect economic system. Acts was a recording of events, not a blueprint for social systems binding upon all Christians. The very fact that the New Testament plays out the problems that arose with the decisions that were made by leaders should indicate that they hadn't achieved utopia by any stretch. The "Bible Only" philosophy of Christian fundamentalists holds the Bible so sacrosanct that it's taboo to think outside of it, to examine it critically and to keep in mind that even the saints were flawed individuals who didn't always get it right.

Bullshit.

I certainly don't think the Bible is anywhere near "perfect in every way" or even most ways -- I'm simply relating how a communistic society is derived from it, and works. There's simply no such thing as "personal prosperity" -- you're assuming that as a given from your own culture. It isn't a given in the first place.

The religious colonies I'm talking about (Hutterites) work as a collective, simply because that's the mindset they believe in. It's simply not possible to stand by and watch someone else work. Doesn't happen. If there's even a smell in the air of work to be done, they descend on it en masse, because not doing so would be unthinkable. So yes Acts is very much a blueprint. It drives literally everything they do. The "individual" exists in terms of family and socially, but does not exist in terms of materialism. There is no materialism as such. Because there's no need for it.

"Incentive to work" is inbred from birth. They have no hierarchy other than the Minister, who operates as a collective-cooperative (as opposed to authoritarian) manager. That's it. And he's in there working just as hard as everybody else, for the same reason -- not participating is simply not an option. It's inconceivable. Because for them the objective of Work is not personal -- it's collective. If one didn't work he wouldn't be depriving himself --- he'd be depriving his Colony.

How does it work out? Well their neighbors in the Dakotas and Montana view them with much trepidation as these colonies can and do grow much faster than they as individuals can, they can afford the capital investment they need sooner than their neighbors can as individuals, and simply run their operations more efficiently. They simply don't fart around competing with each other personally so that I as an individual must acquire a better car than you as an individual or have to acquire the latest iPad simply because it exists. There's no such thing as commodity fetishism in their culture. Doesn't exist. Everything revolves around the Colony.

As for persecution, well that's actually how they got here. They migrated (back) to the Dakotas from Canada, where they fled after our government persecuted them during WWI (a couple were tortured and died at Leavenworth); and they originally came here from Russia where they were persecuted out of there, and they came to Russia from elsewhere in eastern Europe (Romania I think?) where they were persecuted, etc etc, every time because they are devout pacifists who refuse to serve in any war or wear anybody's uniform. Inevitably in their history whatever government they've been under has driven them out for pacifism -- yet they take a stand and have never wavered from it. That's one of the most admirable traits I've ever seen in a human culture. And it teaches something about human organizational nature.

And that's how communism works for them, and has for five centuries.