Yes...yes, it IS redistribution of wealth.
And the Lord didn't just advocate it--He commanded it. Mark 10 verse 25:
It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
Mark 19 verse 24:
I'll say it again--it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person
See? You can try to contort the text all you want just like the rich Dominionist Republicans do and try to claim that it doesn't apply to you (feel free to substitute rich Democrats if it makes you feel good here), or that it REALLY means that that the Eye of the Needle was a gate somewhere in Jerusalem or that it really means the "poor in spirit," whatever that is, or that real charity is tithing ten percent so your church can get a parking lot expansion, or that what they're really talking about is how it's really just the love of money is the root of all evil, and not the money itself. Schafly, I'm looking at you here.
But if you want to accept the plain, literal words at face value, then you've pretty much got to accept that Jesus really, really hated rich assholes. Because money really changes people, and 90% of all of the problems we've ever faced came about because some wealthy fuckhead decided to start treating people as objects to increase their bottom line. And unfortunately, we're wired to do that naturally--unless we're willing to constantly work at it. And guess what the very rich and powerful DON'T have to do very much?
To paraphrase someone far more clever than me, sin is what happens when you start treating people as things. It gets more complicated than that, but that's where it begins.
