Why Christian Maoism?

Our Principles

"Jesus was a communist. Jesus was a capitalist. Jesus was a Republican. Jesus was a Democrat.  Jesus was a liberal.  Jesus was a conservative. Jesus was an anarchist.  Jesus was a Nazi."

You name it, if there's a political position, faction, belief, or party, someone out there has claimed that that precise opinion came directly from God. 

While it is, of course, easy to refute the more abusive claims of Nazis, colonizers, and Kluxers to Christianity - and it is vitally important that we all engage in that particular culture war - it is also absurd to claim that the nuances of 21st century politics can map cleanly onto 1st century Judea, or vice versa.

One thing we can say for certain is that Jesus' struggle on Earth was a decolonial one - that God favors the poor and the downtrodden - the marginalized, the ostracized, and oppressed.

Red Star Ministry is a Maoist organization, but it should be clear that we do not make infantile and self-serving claims that Jesus thought precisely as Mao did, or even that modern Maoists think precisely as Mao did.

Maoism is a structured methodology - a feedback loop to keep a revolutionary organization rooted in the immediate needs of the people.  We at Red Star believe that this methodology is the best tool currently available for doing mass work, realizing Christ's vision, and creating the Kingdom of God here on Earth.

Jesus sought the liberation of the oppressed, and so do we.  We draw a connection between past struggles and our own.  We draw inspiration from the gospels.  We juxtapose Jesus' praxis to Mao's and Dr. Huey P. Newton's because it's imperative that we all reflect, not only upon the way that Jesus' ministry was received in His day, but also on how the lessons of his ministry are relevant to struggles today.  

However, dogmatic anachronism is irreligious, unproductive, and just plain silly. 

Jesus of Nazareth was not a Maoist, but He was without a doubt a revolutionary.  To follow Him, you must be prepared to wage a revolution.

Beyond that, it's up to us to root our cause in the immediate needs and concerns of the people.

We need to push back - not only against Christian dogmatism - but dogmatic tendencies on the Left as well.  Modern American Leftists, like modern American Christians, need to get over the idea that their every belief, thought, and idea is an identity.

Having correct ideas only matter to the extent that you can and do act upon them.

Jesus reached out to lepers not to make eternal statements on the nature of leprosy specifically, but rather, to unite and uplift society's greatest victims.  To practice Christianity is to do the same.  To wage a revolution is to do the same.  

We all have a responsibility to do the same.  To seek out the people whom our own society crucifies, and to join in their struggles.  To bring our own experiences, when applicable, as marginalized and oppressed people to the forefront of Christian witness.

To organize the lepers and unwed mothers of our day; and to topple Babylon.