George,
Communism, as an imposed form of Marxism has been proved fundamentally flawed in its process. The 'evil' of this was reacted to via Macarthyism. Marxism, as with Capitalism is a Western development - both, however, are prone to being deeply flawed when taken as absolute ideology. A totally free market economy bears similar contradiction in establishment as does the Church with Christendom. A genuinely free market requires the imposition of political process, whereas the 'Church' needs to be devoid of it - and is essentially so.

For me 'repentance' in an old word, I guess now out of vogue for many - its original meaning carries with it a flexibility of mind and heart without which growth in spirit cannot occur. There a many view points in giving clarity to one truth - some, I find, are just more intelligible than others. Mine (from an early youth) has been derived through a Christian tradition - but in ignoring the view of others my 'repentance' would be severely lacking.

relda,
please believe me, you do not have to explain to me what Communism is, I had a first hand experience of it. It indeed is a "form of Marxism (that) has been proved fundamentally flawed in its process", perhaps like Nazism can bee seen as a form of patriotism that has been proved fundamentally flawed in its process, although in both cases this is a very mild description of the reality.

I am sorry if you do not like the word "repentant" but I think you missed my point. I was quoting Luke 23:43 just to show that the promise of Jesus is to each individual who wants to accept him, not to a nation, class or community (as are the promises of most ideologies and some oriental religions).

George,
Obviously my intent was not to be patronising - sorry if it sounded that way. Neither do I intend to gloss over the effects of a totalitarian run society - the reality of which eludes most of us in our relatively free and comfortable democracy.

My point is, as with 'repentance', there are many who simply do not understand nor even find the idea of 'paradise' appealing. Naturally, there are also many who believe in its appeal - but taken out of the context of both community (where a personal approach might be made) and its historical one, the promises in Luke 23:43 are generally quite meaningless. All who write in the forum come from a different perspective - none of us will ever agree. As you may understand, it is only through dialogue we'll learn from our disagreement.

As both Teilhard and Bohm give stong emphasis to a gaining of knowledge this quote, from eastern thought, puts it better than I'm able, "Love of goodness without love of learning degenerates into simple-mindedness. Love of knowledge without love of learning degenerates into utter lack of principle. Love of faithfulness without love of learning degenerates into injurious disregard of consequences. Love of uprightness without love of learning degenerates into harshness. Love of courage without love of learning degenerates into insubordination. Love of strong character without love of learning degenerates into mere recklessness".

relda,
The expression 'repentant criminal’ was of my choosing just to explain what the quote was about; I could have chosen another word because it had nothing to do with what I wanted to say. On the other hand, the term ‘paradise’ is not of my choosing; you can check e.g. on http://bible.cc/luke/23-43.htm that it is in practically all English translations of Luke 23:43. This is so, irrespective of whether many in the 21st century “simply do not understand nor even find the idea of 'paradise' appealing“. There are many who do not find the idea of ‘kingdom‘ appealing either, nevertheless the word stands in most of the English translations of Luke 23:42 symbolising, similarly to ‘paradise’, something that was apparently self-explanatory to the authors of NT (or the translators).

Of course, every time, including our own century, and people coming from all sorts of perspectives, will have their own interpretations also of this passage of the NT. My own interpretation, that you are free to disagree with, was that the Good News of the Gospels spoke to individuals not to communities. Irrespective of how you interpret ‘heaven’ (or ‘hell’), what I think is important is that it refers to hope (or hopelessness) for individual PERSONS, not communities.

I can only agree with your last paragraph. My ‘philosophical creed’, as displayed on my homepage:

LOVE of KNOWLEDGE complements KNOWLEDGE of LOVE, or the Yin in Yang complements the Yang in Yin.

George

I really must take issue with you here. While personal repentance and salvation are addressed in the gospels I think you make a grave mistake to dismiss the importance of community and social justice in the gospel message. To 'Love thy Neighbour' is surely about the importance of relationships in community. Note it is not 'Love your Wife.. or Children.. or Friends..'.
You surely cannot deny that the Gospels repeatedly use the metaphor of Kingdom to describe Jesus' purpose. Kingdom is social. The Kingdom of God describes a community which lives in concord with the will of God. I would venture to suggest that the emphasis of the Gospels is on Kingdom and not personal salvation.
Jesus also said that seeking your own salvation leads to death. This is surely an admonition against too great an emphasis on personal salvation.

Sorry, I was typing in a hurry.

"The Kingdom of God describes a community in which EVERYONE lives in concord with the will of God."