Is Christianity fundamentally against basic income?

 So, interesting topic I feel like worth discussing found on the message boards again. Is Christianity fundamentally incompatible with basic income? Had you asked me this back in my angstheist days back when I first got into atheism and basic income, I would have said yes, absolutely, due to the ties between evangelical Christianity, the protestant work ethic, and American capitalism, but at this point, i think it's a lot more nuanced. 

In some ways, fundamentalist protestant christianity as practiced in the US is fundamentally against basic income. I cannot tell you how many times I've had the Bible verse quoted at me, as if it were the ultimate authority on the subject: "he who does not work shall not eat." There is a sordid history linking evangelical protestant Christianity to the protestant work ethic going back to the 16th century. And there is an argument to be had that the reason I became receptive to UBI and anti work ideology is because of my transition to atheism causing me to embrace a nihilistic worldview in which I realized most jobs are BS and pointless and that jobs exist in order to make things, not as grand callings for us to derive meaning of. I doubled down on this in 2016 when HRC ran for president and virtue signalled about how everyone has to live up to their "god given potential" (seriously, moderate democrats are just conservative lites, it makes me cringe). 

But, I've had a lot of discussions with Christians over the years, and I've come to realize that a lot of atheists will just knee jerkedly attack "Christianity" in broad strokes when their arguments only actually apply to American fundamentalists and protestants. Honestly, even catholicism can be a bit different on economics, and much more social justice oriented. I might despise catholicism on social issues and their general orthodoxy, but one thing I have some to respect of them is that unlike protestants they do care about the poor. Oh, and Pope Francis has actually embraced UBI. To quote on the Francis on the subject:

“Recognizing the value to society of the work of nonearners is a vital part of our rethinking in the post-Covid world. That’s why I believe it is time to explore concepts like the universal basic income (UBI), also known as ‘the negative income tax’: an unconditional flat payment to all citizens, which could be dispersed through the tax system.
The UBI could reshape relations in the labor market, guaranteeing people the dignity of refusing employment terms that trap them in poverty. It would give people the basic security they need, remove the stigma of welfarism, and make it easier to move between jobs as technology-driven labor patterns increasingly demand. Policies like the UBI can also help free people to combine earning wages with giving time to the community.”

 I mean, did Pope Francis actually advocate for the right to say no here? Holy crap. This sounds like something I would say. 

That's the thing about Christianity. Once you get away from the fundamentalist forms that former atheists like myself despise, it does open up to being more progressive on these issues. Honestly, you could argue anything can be compatible with Christianity. I've known moderate Christians who were pro choice and pro gay marriage. While Christianity does generally make people more conservative in a political sense, especially socially, eh, it's not necessarily fundamentally incompatible with UBI, no. 

Heck, there are actually radical forms of Christianity out there that are very leftist. I remember when I was a conservative there was a lot of fear mongering going around about Obama being radicalized by these forms of Christianity from preachers like reverend wright and "black liberation theology". 

That said, Christianity is all over the place ideologically. While in America I would argue there is a general link between conservatism and the dominant forms of protestant Christianity, there are many other forms out there, and they can be a lot more accomodating of progressive views.

Moreover, just to argue the opposite, I'd argue the right is secularizing and that they are losing a lot of their former religiosity with people like Trump being representative of the party. It's not making them any better. It's just making them more fascist, where they adopt similar views, but they justify them a bit differently. 

Just because in my own political history conservatism and Christianity went together and liberalism and atheism did, does not mean it has to work that way. I am just a product of being born in America to a protestant conservative family, and breaking free of that causing both a political and existential shift in my worldview simultaneously. There are rather secular conservatives, and quite religious progressives. The correlation just happened to exist from the 1970s to the 2010s, and now is receding due to the fact that we're undergoing a party realignment. 

If anything thinking about this makes me fear for the future because of how scary the republican party is getting as it slowly abandons religion. They're not embracing reason. They're embracing fascism. But I digress. This is a side point. 

The fact is, as demonstrated left wing strains of Christianity can be very anti work, anti capitalism, and pro UBI. Only American protestant conservatives are obsessed with work and earning a living, due to the protestant work ethic and the spirit of capitalism.