Jeep Carrying Castro's Remains Breaks Down During Funeral Procession

It was ironic that the jeep carrying the ashes of Fidel Castro---communism's champion and socialism's voice---broke down in the middle of his funeral procession Saturday, forcing soldiers to push the vehicle until it could be repaired.

Symbolic to say the least--yet there are those in our country who are equally enthusiastic about Castro's ideologies, and are doing their best to push America in that direction.


Fox News reports, "The breakdown of the jeep in the midst of adoring crowds chanting 'Long live Fidel!' was symbolic of the dual nature of Castro's Cuba. While his legacy inspires fierce adulation by many of the nation's citizens, others continue to grumble about Cuba's autocratic government, inefficient bureaucracy, and stagnant economy."

The Wall Street Journal reported it like this: "After a final farewell early in the week at Havana's Revolutionary Square, the former president's remains, placed in a small glass encased casket, began moving east in a cross country cortege through towns, cities, and listless countryside. The state called it "The Caravan of Liberty' , the same name the guerrillas called the journey they made from Santiago to Havana to topple the Batista regime in 1959."

The WSJ also reported, "It didn't go well despite the state's attention to details: at one point, soldiers were forced to push the jeep towing the remains when it broke down, fitting for a country where vehicles creak along."

The Associated Press all but ignored the incident, but did mention in passing that the "Russian jeep carrying the ashes of the late Cuban leader Fidel Castro broke down and had to be pushed for a period Saturday."

Most all other news sources failed to mention the incident.

It is sad, but ironic as well when you consider how the global Left and the American media have mourned Castro, whose chief accomplishment was maintaining an iron grip on power for half a century in defiance of opposition from the United States. His human rights abuses, and his economic failures have hardly been mentioned by the media.

Winston Churchill once said, "The inherent vice of capitalism is the unequal sharing of blessings; the inherent virtue of socialism is the equal sharing of miseries."

Last year, John Hawkins wrote an article for Townhall titled, "5 Ways Socialism Destroys Societies."

The 5 ways he identifies are:

1. It Kills economic growth.
2. It stifles free speech.
3. It leads to an increasingly tyrannical government.
4. It creates strife and division.
5. Socialists believe the ends justify the means.

What does the Bible teach about socialism and capitalism?

Some years ago, Ronald Nash wrote an article laying out the biblical view on socialism and capitalism for the conservative Hillsdale College.

His article was later published by Summit Ministries as a part of their study materials on the matter.

I was first introduced to Summit Ministries in Manitou Springs, Colorado by Jim Dobson who sent his own kids to the summer session.

While my son was in high school, I sent him to Summit Miniseries 2 different summers to help him develop a biblical worldview through the teaching of Josh McDowell, Lee Stroble, founder Dr. Noble and other well-known conservative Christian leaders.

In his original paper on the subject, Ron Nash wrote, "Within the Christian church today, one can find a small but growing army of Protestants and Roman Catholics who have entered into an uncritical alliance with the political Left. The so-called liberation theologians not only promote a synthesis of Marxism and Christianity, but attempted to ground their recommended restrictions of economic and political freedom on their interpretation of the biblical ethic."

He continued, "A growing number of my own religious fellowship (those theologically conservative Protestants known as evangelicals) appear to stop just short of the more radical pronouncements of the liberation thinkers. These evangelicals of the Left are convinced that the biblical ethic obliges them to condemn capitalism and endorse the politics of statism and economics of socialism."

Nash's approach to a biblical worldview involves; First, a Christian should acquire a clear and complete picture of the Christian worldview---basic views about God, humankind, morality and society according to Scripture.

Secondly, he says, we should put our best effort into discovering the Truth about economic and political systems---discover what they really teach, not just what the propagandists say they are, and third we must compare our economic options to the standard of biblical morality.

I strongly encourage you to take some time and read through his teaching on the matter, including the "New Religion of the Left," which attempts to ground American liberalism or progressivism into the notion of social justice.

It was Ronald Reagan who said: "How do you tell a communist? Well, it's someone who reads Marx and Lenin. And how do you tell an anti-communist? It's someone who understands Marx and Lenin."

One of my greatest motivations in doing what we do is to see Christians become informed on the cultural issues of our day and understand them from a biblical perspective.

Be Informed. Be Discerning. Be Vigilant. Be Prayerful. Be Blessed.