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buying and selling

Member
Hi ya'll. I spent a bit of time reading the "chip666" thread until it veered off onto something about the two witnesses.

I felt a bit dissatisfied with the lack of attention people were giving to the phase "buy and sell" so I am starting this thread in the hopes that we can get into the nitty gritty of why buying and selling is connected to the Mark.

My personal feeling is that a microchip implant is the most likely candidate for being the Mark of the Beast.

I understand some people say that the Mark will not be a literal chip for buying and selling, because the ultimate point of the Mark is about worship.

I agree with the worship part, but I see a very clear link between money and worship.

Whatever medium we may be using (gold coins, paper money, cheques, smart cards, or microchip implants) the point of "buy and sell" is still the same; it represents the concept of money.

What better way to control the world, than to tell people they can no longer buy food, clothing, or pay any of the numerous bills they have? We won't even be able to sell our services for paid employment anymore.

It's obviously a very clever and effective strategy for turning people away from God. If they want all the luxuries, conveniences, and comforts that money can provide, all we need to do is accept the Beast and his system as our provider.

That is where the worship part comes in. In the gospels Jesus gave some teachings about money which are much the same as the Mark of the Beast prophecy. He said that we cannot serve two masters without hating one or the other. He said one master is God and the other master is mammon (money and the things money can buy). Matthew 6:24

The verses following go into great detail about how God does not want us to be like the pagans of the world running around thinking that they cannot live without working for money, and that we should seek God's kingdom first and then God, as our employer, will help us to get the things he knows we need.

The two teachings are extremely similar, but the Mark represents a final showdown. As it is now, Jesus told us to stop working for the purpose of making money, and to start working for his kingdom of Love, but all kinds of convenient doctrines have slipped into the church to explain why Jesus didn't really mean what he said; why it's all just a big misunderstanding.

But when the Mark comes, it will be like a kind of liberation for people who are really serious about promoting the kingdom of Heaven. No more games or masks. If our faith is in God, we will reject the Mark and start working for the Kingdom.

If our faith is in money then we will reject the Kingdom and trust the beast to provide for us.

So, what do you all think?
 
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Active
The merchant system does not need us to take a mark.The future merchants will use biometrics,facial and voice recognition and in the not to distant future machines will simply sniff your DNA for identification.
We will all be marked by the world system with or without our consent.

My big issue with this line of though is that the scriptures would not have any significance to all those who read the scriptures for 2000 years.
I would have to believe that all "end time" scripture had no meaning for anyone until the last generation.

If our faith is in money then we will reject the Kingdom and trust the beast to provide for us.
I agree,that is a kingdom principle and not based "end time "speculation.
I know a man who lost a 125,000 a year job because he refused to find an important client a hooker.As far as I'm concerned he refused to take their mark and was punished.
 
Member
All this speculation about what the mark is is an exercise in futility until such time as you establish the identity of the beast.
The OP is quite correct, that the issue is about worship. But worship of money is hardly the offence which brings down the most fearful wrath of God in the history of mankind. Man have been worshiping money since it was first created....nothing new there....why would it attract so much attention form heaven now?
The money or buying and selling issue is merely the incentive (for some) or disincentive (for others) to accept the mark. The mark itself is a sign, seal, or stamp of authority. To accept it you are surrendering yourself to the authority of he who claims it as theirs.
And because the mark is a form of worship, then you are surrendering yourself to the beasts form of worship, which it establishes in the earth in opposition to the true worship of God.
Satan however is at the back of all this remember. So do not expect a clear cut choice between an obvious error and the truth. This final days worship is a form of deception.....it is a counterfeit form of worship of a counterfeit God. But to be effective, for the plan to succeed, for this counterfeit to attract even the elect,it must be as close as possible to the real thing, therefore must be a quasi Christian form of worship. Thus the beast himself, the Antichrist, is professedly Christian. And that my friends fits nicely with the baseline meaning of the word 'antichrist'....in place of...in the room of....or in Latin, vicarius filii dei.
V=5......F=0........D=500
I=1 ......I=1.........E=0
C=100...L=50.......I=1
A=0......I=1
R=0.......I=1
I=1
U=5
S=0

112 + 53 + 501 = 666

So who in the religious world goes by the official title vicarius filii dei...vicar of the Son of God? Answer that and you are on your way to identifying the beast. The simple task then is to discover what his mark is.
 
Loyal
The merchant system does not need us to take a mark.The future merchants will use biometrics,facial and voice recognition and in the not to distant future machines will simply sniff your DNA for identification.
We will all be marked by the world system with or without our consent.

My big issue with this line of though is that the scriptures would not have any significance to all those who read the scriptures for 2000 years.
I would have to believe that all "end time" scripture had no meaning for anyone until the last generation.

I agree,that is a kingdom principle and not based "end time "speculation.
I know a man who lost a 125,000 a year job because he refused to find an important client a hooker.As far as I'm concerned he refused to take their mark and was punished.

Not all of scripture applies to everyone at all times. The old testament is still scripture, but we are no longer under the law of the OT, we are under grace now. Obviously Christ had not been crucified yet in the time of Abraham, and Isaac, yet they believed that God was going to provide a way of salavtion for them, and their faith in something that didn't happens until hundreds of years after their death was counted to them as righteousness. (Heb 11:1-10)

The people of the old testament believed a Messiah was coming, but he came thousands of years later for some of them. The orthodox Jews are still waiting for their messiah.

The end times and the beast may not apply to us "today" or even in our generation, it may happen in the future.

Rev 13:15 And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the beast, so that the image of the beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the beast to be killed.
Rev 13:16 And he causes all, the small and the great, and the rich and the poor, and the free men and the slaves, to be given a mark on their right hand or on their forehead,
Rev 13:17 and he provides that no one will be able to buy or to sell, except the one who has the mark, either the name of the beast or the number of his name.
Rev 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has understanding calculate the number of the beast, for the number is that of a man; and his number is six hundred and sixty-six.

But it will happen at some point. If the Bible says the sign is in your forehead or right hand, then thats where it will be. It will be something that is a conscious choice, a conscious decision, it won't be something that can happen without you knowing it, or something that can be accidentally duplicated. You can't control how your face looks or how your voice sounds, but you can control what kind of mark or chip or tatoo goes on your forehead or right hand.

The second coming/rapture may not occur in my life time, but it will happen, even if I'm not on the Earth when it happens.
 
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Member
My big issue with this line of though is that the scriptures would not have any significance to all those who read the scriptures for 2000 years.
I would have to believe that all "end time" scripture had no meaning for anyone until the last generation.

I think the mistake you are making is trying to separate the "end time" from the testimony of Jesus.

The opening line of the Revelation says that it is a revelation OF Jesus, and later, in Revelation 19:10 an angel says that the spirit of prophecy is the testimony of Jesus.

In other words, Jesus confirms prophecy and prophecy confirms Jesus. There is no need to make them two separate issues.

For example, in my OP I made a very clear connection between the LESSONS both Jesus and the Revelation were making about man's loyalty to money Vs their loyalty to God.

Even now, when the Mark is not officially in operation, the lesson of choosing God over money is still a valid lesson.

The merchant system does not need us to take a mark.The future merchants will use biometrics,facial and voice recognition and in the not to distant future machines will simply sniff your DNA for identification.
We will all be marked by the world system with or without our consent.

But biometrics and DNA sniffing is not necessary for buying and selling. Granted, microchip implants are also not necessary for buying and selling, BUT along with the words of the prophecy and the spiritual lesson, it is also helpful to look at actual world events as well.

From gold coins, to coins of lesser value, to paper money, to cheques, to credit cards, to debit cards, to smart cards, the general concept of money has gone through a lot of evolution. Each step along the way has made it easier to handle money, easier to accumulate more money, and easier to spend more money.

Based on what is actually happening in literal world banking around us, microchip implants is fast becoming the most likely next step for the evolution of money.

We could debate what "mark" actually means as it could have a lot of different meanings, and that's why I feel the main identifier should be what the Bible actually says will be the purpose of this Mark; buying and selling.

We can eliminate almost all the other theories out there which do not conform with what is happening in world banking these days. Micorchip banking is the most likely candidate, based on what is happening the the world around us, and what the prophecy says about it.

The OP is quite correct, that the issue is about worship. But worship of money is hardly the offence which brings down the most fearful wrath of God in the history of mankind.

Well, I dunno if it's really a contest about which worship, other than himself, makes him most angry. Like, if we worship a spouse or child will that worship make God any more or less angry than if we worship a computer or pet?

However, I gave some fairly strong evidence in my OP that God really DOES have something against our dependency on money. Could you respond to those points I made?

The money or buying and selling issue is merely the incentive (for some) or disincentive (for others) to accept the mark.

Yeah, this is basically what I am saying, except that I am taking it a step further and saying that the MEANS of buying and selling IS the Mark.

Satan however is at the back of all this remember. So do not expect a clear cut choice between an obvious error and the truth.

Good point and one which I feel actually supports my claim that the Mark will be a microchip implant.

There is nothing overtly religious about microchip implants, and yet, a microchip implant is able to fulfill all the requirements mentioned in scripture about the Mark.

It's just another way to buy and sell; what's so wrong with that? The majority of people will be looking for some kind of religious or "satanic" Mark, probably because they never took the warning about "buy and sell" seriously.

The simple task then is to discover what his mark is.

Yeah, I've heard the thing about the Pope being the Beast. I tend to lean more in favor of him being the false prophet. The Pope has an awful lot of credibility to lend as well as fitting the description of the beast with horns of a lamb (perhaps pretending to speak on behalf of Christ) but who has a dragon's mouth (while actually uplifting the Beast).

The thing about "discovering" the Popes Mark, according to what you've mentioned here, is relating it back to the issue of buying and selling.

I think the usual thing that comes up, when discussing the possibility of the Pope being the Beast, is that his Mark will be Sunday worship. Is that what you are getting at?

Anyway, my point is, how does it relate back to buying and selling?

But it will happen at some point. If the Bible says the sign is in your forehead or right hand, then thats where it will be. It will be something that is a conscious choice, a conscious decision, it won't be something that can happen without you knowing it, or something that can be accidentally duplicated. You can't control how your face looks or how your voice sounds, but you can control what kind of mark or chip or tatoo goes on your forehead or right hand.

Thank you BAC; excellent point. Whatever form the Mark may eventually take, the entire context of the lesson suggests a choice between God and the Beast.
 
Active
It will be something that is a conscious choice, a conscious decision, it won't be something that can happen without you knowing it, or something that can be accidentally duplicated. You can't control how your face looks or how your voice sounds, but you can control what kind of mark or chip or tatoo goes on your forehead or right hand.
Thats my point,the merchant doesn't need us to make that decision any more.They won't need a bar code or chip anymore.It must be something that we have control of.Maybe they could offer a discount to those with a chip but I don't see the advantage to the merchant.

Not all of scripture applies to everyone at all times.
I respectfully disagree,scripture comes from out of time and tells us of patterns and cycles that will eventually manifest in linear time.
Old testament saints were counted righteous for having faith that God would provide a Savior.
John 8:56 Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it, and was glad.

2 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and
is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

There is so much more to all of this than just an end time event.
The name Cain translates to metalsmith or merchant.
Man without the spirit of God is a beast.

Matthew 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

The forehead speaks of the mind and it's focus(apple of the eye).
The hand speaks of our dealing with society,the right hand being authority or works and the left hand being mercy.
I think the mistake you are making is trying to separate the "end time" from the testimony of Jesus.
Actually I believe Jesus is the end of time.The day of the Lord. The last day.The day,the way,the light,the truth and in him there is no day/night cycles.

For example, in my OP I made a very clear connection between the LESSONS both Jesus and the Revelation were making about man's loyalty to money Vs their loyalty to God.
That is what I was saying.It's been an issue since the Garden and applies to each believer(micro) and the world eventually(macro).
 
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Member
Actually I believe Jesus is the end of time.The day of the Lord. The last day.The day,the way,the light,the truth and in him there is no day/night cycles.

Hi THC, I think you are still missing something. Martha said much the same thing to Jesus when he asked her if she believed that Lazarus would rise again from the Dead. Martha said she knew he would rise again at the last day.

But Jesus corrected her technicality. He said "*I* am the resurrection". In other words there is no rule we can nail God down on and Jesus' influence is not limited to a single event, or day, or prophecy etc.

It's the same with lessons from prophecy. You started out by saying:

My big issue with this line of though is that the scriptures would not have any significance to all those who read the scriptures for 2000 years.
I would have to believe that all "end time" scripture had no meaning for anyone until the last generation.


The LESSONS are significant, because all those lessons reflect the teachings of Jesus from the Gospels. The lessons from prophecy CONFIRM what Jesus came to teach us, even if those prophecy are not literally fulfilled in our life time.

Otherwise, what is the point of any prophecy?

So, even thought the Mark of the Beast was not fulfilled in the life time of many, many Christians, the lesson of choosing between God and mammon is still there.

Jesus teachings from matthew 6:24 and the Mark prpophecy about buying and selling are two teachings which confirm one another, but since Jesus is the ultimate subject of the Revelation it is HIS teachings from the gospels that get the preeminence while the Revelation is there as a witness to his teachings.

Know what I mean?
 
Member
V=5......F=0........D=500
I=1 ......I=1.........E=0
C=100...L=50.......I=1
A=0......I=1
R=0.......I=1
I=1
U=5
S=0

112 + 53 + 501 = 666

So who in the religious world goes by the official title vicarius filii dei...vicar of the Son of God? Answer that and you are on your way to identifying the beast. The simple task then is to discover what his mark is.

:disagree:<!-- / message --><!-- sig -->
 
Member
No one knows what the mark is and will be like, this is one of the things the bible doesn't explain in great detail.

The 666chip is something that won't happen for a VERY long time. Yes we may have the technology now, but not the time, money, and power to control 6 billion people with it.

It's safe to assume that it will be something of strict biblical status. Something really big and by a higher power. Something man cannot put out on its own.

No one knows.
 
Member
No one knows what the mark is and will be like, this is one of the things the bible doesn't explain in great detail.

I understand that people will have differing opinions on this, but I think it extremely interesting that the single most ignored point about the Mark of the beast is buying and selling.

I've been on heaps of forums and it's almost always the same. There seems to be some spiritual conspiracy happening to keep people from taking a long hard look at what the implications of no buying or selling means.

In the quote above Fraction claims that the bible doesn't give any hint of what the Mark "will be like". But we DO know something of what it will be like. It will be the only way people will be able to buy or sell. Why would fraction miss something as significant as buying and selling? The thread itself is titled "buying and selling".

Brakelite suggests that the Mark's real purpose will be to show who worships the Beast. In part I agree with that, but brakelite makes the suggestion in such a way as to totally separate buying and selling from the Mark, as though buying and selling is incidental to it's REAL purpose.

Other people claim that it's not buying and selling that's the problem but UNvirtuous buying and selling that is the problem.

Some people say that it's really a special day. Some people say it's just about thinking of or handling money.

In all these scenarios, the issue of buying and selling becomes pointless. What is it about money, that people find so difficult to accept regarding the Mark prophecy?
 
Member
My point was that no one knows what the mark is and what it does. How would it work? Not what it actually allows us to do and not to do. How does it do that?

I didn't miss anything. This isn't even that significant to be honest. The bible says it's going to be like this and it will. This is also supposed to be a very hard time for the entire world as a whole.

The mark will obviously have several purposes. It might be able to keep track of peoples money and locations. It could restrict them from buying or selling certain things or going to certain places. There is a lot we do not know, because it's not that important for us to know or God would have told us.

The more significant topic is the second coming as a whole and the greater good of it. Details are just details. The bigger picture is much better and a lot less gloomy and fear-mongery.
 
Member
The more significant topic is the second coming as a whole and the greater good of it. Details are just details. The bigger picture is much better and a lot less gloomy and fear-mongery.

1. If you want to talk about the second coming, I'm sure there are plenty of other threads about that. This thread is about buying and selling, no matter how much you'd rather avoid that topic. That's why it's called "buying and selling".

2. Buying and selling IS significant. If you feel otherwise, let me know in a week how you've done without doing either of the two...

3. A choice between working for God and working for money isn't gloomy fear-mongering at all. The gloomy part is that God would even need to put us into such a position in the first place. When we should be promoting the values of the kingdom of Heaven by working for love, we're too busy forcing others to pay us for our help because we've been conned into believing that money is the real source of life.

My point was that no one knows what the mark is and what it does.

And my point, for the third time, is that we DO know what the Mark will do. It will regulate buying and selling. If you want to buy or sell, you must take the Mark. The particular physical form of the Mark makes no difference whatsoever to the LESSON.

If we want to buy or sell, we must align ourselves with the Beast. Whether we consider that to be a religious experience or a purely economic necessity will make little difference to God.

You can't wish that away with positive thinking or allegations that uncomfortable truths are nothing more than fear-mongering.

The real question is, what is it about buying and selling that makes people so desperate to ignore it being mentioned as something unsavory to God?
 
Member
1. If you want to talk about the second coming, I'm sure there are plenty of other threads about that. This thread is about buying and selling, no matter how much you'd rather avoid that topic. That's why it's called "buying and selling".

2. Buying and selling IS significant. If you feel otherwise, let me know in a week how you've done without doing either of the two...

3. A choice between working for God and working for money isn't gloomy fear-mongering at all. The gloomy part is that God would even need to put us into such a position in the first place. When we should be promoting the values of the kingdom of Heaven by working for love, we're too busy forcing others to pay us for our help because we've been conned into believing that money is the real source of life.



And my point, for the third time, is that we DO know what the Mark will do. It will regulate buying and selling. If you want to buy or sell, you must take the Mark. The particular physical form of the Mark makes no difference whatsoever to the LESSON.

If we want to buy or sell, we must align ourselves with the Beast. Whether we consider that to be a religious experience or a purely economic necessity will make little difference to God.

You can't wish that away with positive thinking or allegations that uncomfortable truths are nothing more than fear-mongering.

The real question is, what is it about buying and selling that makes people so desperate to ignore it being mentioned as something unsavory to God?

You should calm down and not get so offended over the internet about other peoples opinions. lol

Okay, I suppose that I have to explain a little more to you. -.-

1. I never said I wanted to talk about the second coming, I said its a more worthwhile and more important topic. This is definitely the case for believers. We will know all we need to know when the time comes, and we will be perfectly fine. I don't want to AVOID the topic, I am not afraid of it or something. I addressed your topic head on. I did assault the topic of what the mark of the beast actually is though.

2. Buying and selling is meaningless in the bigger picture. You can't take money and goods with you after you die. There are MORE significant things than the fact that buying and selling will be controlled and altered by this mark of the beast, and the evil behind the control as well.

3. Not everyone thinks the way that you think they do. You should stop grouping humanity together as a whole when it comes to personal opinions on God and money. I didn't say that was gloomy either. The entire topic of having money and trade be controlled is gloomy. Do you understand how messed up and corrupted the world would be at this point? Imagine the amount of suffering for a second. It is gloomy and is a topic that has been used to scare people. Even you can't deny that.

You don't have to tell me your point a third time. I have seen it the other two times. It's actually trivial to me, so you don't have to remind me AGAIN. What lesson? You don't seem like a teacher at all. No offense. I am not ignoring or trying to avoid anything. I am not trying to cover it up or forget about it either. It's going to happen.

That's a good question you asked, a very good one.
 
Member
1. I never said I wanted to talk about the second coming, I said its a more worthwhile and more important topic.

Why would you lecture about how there are more worthy or significant topics and then say that you don't want to discuss those topics? What's the point of even bringing it up in the first place? Do you often go from thread to thread letting people know that they could be discussing something more worthwhile, but that you yourself don't want to? It's weird.

We will know all we need to know when the time comes, and we will be perfectly fine.

Can you elaborate on this? Who is the "we" and what do you mean by "perfectly fine"?

2. Buying and selling is meaningless in the bigger picture. You can't take money and goods with you after you die.

Well, *I* am not talking about what happens after we die, and the Mark prophecy regarding buying and selling is not talking about what happens after we die, so why are you? That doesn't sound like a head on confrontation of the topic; it sounds like side stepping.


he entire topic of having money and trade be controlled is gloomy. Do you understand how messed up and corrupted the world would be at this point? Imagine the amount of suffering for a second. It is gloomy and is a topic that has been used to scare people. Even you can't deny that.

It is not the use of money that is frightening people. It is being told they they must choose between it and God that is scaring people. I believe this is because people have come to believe that money is the source of all life. People have come to believe that they would die without money, even though money itself has never done anything. People do all the work, but they refuse to do it without money.

That is why the Beast will try to use money as a means to control the world and turn people away from God. He will exploit people's fear of living without money. That's why the prophecy says the Mark will be about buying and selling.

You don't have to tell me your point a third time. I have seen it the other two times. It's actually trivial to me, so you don't have to remind me AGAIN. What lesson? You don't seem like a teacher at all. No offense. I am not ignoring or trying to avoid anything. I am not trying to cover it up or forget about it either. It's going to happen.

Buying and selling is trivial? So, God decided to tell us something trivial about how the Beast will control the world? Is anyone else seeing this?

See, that's the thing about how the Beast will be able to deceive so many people, because it won't look like something religious. It will look like ordinary, trivial, buying and selling.
 
Member
waterRock,Once again I admire your zeal, But please speak to us plainly. What about the UN? What about vestigial celestials?

Vaxing verbose? Veak vlainly.
 
Member
Hi all, Just reminding people that the issue of buying and selling is till around.

I initially introduced this thread as a subject regarding what prophecy says about the Mark of the beast, i.e. that people will not be able to buy or sell without it.

However, I also suggested that this teaching, from the Revelation, bears a striking resemblance to a teaching of Jesus, from Matthew 6:24 - 24.

In that teaching, Jesus says that we cannot work for God and money without cheating on one or the other. He says God is one master and mammon (money and the things money can buy) is the other master.

He even went so far as to say we will love one and hate the other. He said that we should consider the birds of the air and the flowers of the field, precisely because they do not work for money, and yet God provides for them.

He said that, in the same way, anyone who seeks his Kingdom FIRST, will be provided for.

He told us not to be like the heathens who chase after money, and that we should seek his Kingdom first. He made a very clear distiction between working to get more money, and working for the Kingdom of Heaven.

Notice that in both cases we must work, but the question is who we are working for and why.

The LESSON here is extremely similar to the lesson from the Mark of the Beast. Without it people will not be able to buy or sell. It is the method that the AC will use to decieve the world into worshiping him. We don't need to be satanists show disloyalty to God.

All we need to do is to trust in Satan's system. That is why he will use "buying and selling" as the means to pervert people away from God.

People like "fractal" suggest that buying and selling is a trivial matter, barely worthy of discussion, and yet, when challenge to not buy or sell for even a week, he stays quiet on that issue.

There are a host of reasons for why buying and selling is not really the issue, and yet, it is still there in black and white right there in the Bible. I have yet to see anyone actually confront that issue head on.
 
Active
MLP,I follow what your saying,in fact I could take it much,much farther than that.

In post #6 I suggested that the connection starts in the book of Genesis:
There is so much more to all of this than just an end time event.
The name Cain translates to metalsmith or merchant.
Man without the spirit of God is a beast.
Capitalism is a form of slavery,it is preferable to the normal kind of slavery only in that we can choose(within limits) our master(occupation).
Even the rich man is in slavery to the merchant system and it's formulas and rituals.

I could say much more but I risk deluging your thread.

PS:Should I become a televangelist?They can say they depend on God for finances.
 
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Member
I could say much more but I risk deluging your thread

Aww c'mon TCH, I already explained that comment wasn't meant for you and that I'm sorry for the confusion. It was meant for Ozell cause he's in the habit of making many posts consecutively. I counted 10 in a row from him the other day. You gotta admit the description (i.e. deluging) does kinda fit him.

Anyway, thanks for sharing your comments re: buying and selling.

PS:Should I become a televangelist?They can say they depend on God for finances.

Ha now I know you are joking. But, I think you make an interesting point, because it's not just televangelists who say that they depend on God for their finances.

Most Christians make that claim when this issue of God or money comes up. And the problem is, well, who am I to say that they don't? And yet, the teachings of Jesus are still there, as well as the example of his followers.

Capitalism is a form of slavery,it is preferable to the normal kind of slavery only in that we can choose(within limits) our master(occupation).

Can you elaborate on what you mean by this?
 
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