Last week, an avowed socialist—communist, really—won the mayoral seat of America’s number one city, New York, the home of Wall Street and the largest Jewish population in the world outside Israel. Muslim socialist Zohran Mamdani promised a lot of free stuff—although his supporters had to pay for their own drinks at his victory celebration.

With the incredibly terrible track record of communism (which Karl Marx himself naively defined as "scientific socialism"), how could a free people today willingly support socialism? Easy. Through ignorance of history—promoted in our schools, our media, our songs, our culture, and sometimes even the pulpit (primarily through its silence on such things as how socialism contradicts important biblical teachings).

Unfortunately, to the ignorant, it would appear that the Bible promotes socialism.

In a recent article titled “Gov. Newsom Uses Bible to Slam Vance,” Dr. Bill Donohue, the president of the Catholic League, writes, “On November 9, California Governor Gavin Newsom called out Vice President JD Vance for allowing the poor to go hungry.”

Donohue quotes Newsom: “I mean, Old Testament, New Testament. What’s the fundamental thing that connects every—I mean, from John to Matthew to Proverbs? It’s this notion of hunger, feeding the poor, the sick, the tired. It’s not an option, it’s central to advancing God’s will.”

Certainly, the Bible does command us to help the poor. But nowhere does God say that the immense confiscatory power of government is to be used to help the poor. In fact, the Bible says we shall not steal nor covet our neighbors’ goods. Those two prohibitions comprise 20% of the Ten Commandments.

Although capitalism and free enterprise have proven to lift the quality of life for many millions of people in our country and all over the world, lately many young Americans have been led to clamor for socialism over capitalism. In some cases, they basically define socialism as simply "sharing."

But critics note that socialism involves the force of the government. It isn’t sharing that is practiced. Instead, it is the forcible confiscation (stealing) of property from one citizen to give it to another—while charging society a hefty administrative fee in the process of such redistribution of wealth.

Furthermore, socialism undermines productivity and actually hurts the recipients who are supposedly the beneficiaries of "charity."

Take the welfare state as an example. This form of government has led to the breakdown of the family. This abuse of government power says in effect, “Dad, if you get out of the house, that will give mom more money.” But fatherlessness contributes significantly to poverty, as well as to a number of other maladies. Why do young men join gangs? They’re reportedly seeking surrogate fathers.

Meanwhile, the church is often at the forefront of truly helping the poor on a voluntary basis.

The Bible says the family is ultimately responsible for the care of the needy and the poor. The Apostle Paul writes, “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel." Now certainly, Paul’s not talking about those who cannot provide for their family, but those who refuse to do so.

Last year, I had the privilege of interviewing Charlie Kirk about his book against Wokeism for a radio segment. I mentioned to him that after reading major portions of his book Right Wing Revolution, I found it amazing that people in modern times still turn to Karl Marx, the father of Communism, for inspiration and marching orders. Here’s a portion of our dialogue.

Jerry: “Why should Karl Marx have the final say in this world? Karl Marx couldn't even reconcile his own bank account. Karl Marx forced his family into utter poverty. What a loser. And yet this guy's ideas have poisoned the minds of millions and led to the deaths of tens of millions. Amazing.”

Charlie: “Yeah, and Marx was engaged in the demonic, and Marxism is from the pit of hell. Marxism seeks to destroy people's connection to God, people's connection to the family, and people's ability to own property—three things that are biblically based and mandated. And so Karl Marx shouldn't have the final say, and that's why believers need to identify what Marxism is, where it comes from, and our need to rise up against it. But right now, it seems that the church largely is indifferent toward the rise of Marxism in the West.” (For more from Charlie Kirk, click here.)

In contrast, NYC mayor-elect Mamdani sees big government as the solution. He said, "We will prove that there is no problem too large for government to solve, and no concern too small for it to care about." Instead, I agree with President Reagan, who viewed government as often the problem, not the solution to problems. Our 40th president said the scariest words we ever hear are “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.”

Let’s be blunt, socialism is simply a means by which many politicians are basically trying to buy votes—and they’re charging us for the bill.