Socialism is Not Communism

Last Christmas instead of the usual ward Christmas party with the turkey dinner and Santa Claus, my ward decided to do "An Evening in Bethlehem". We were asked to dress up as if we lived back then and for those of us who didn't (me included), they had scarves and lengths of fabric at the front door.

Each family was given 10 pieces of silver (pennies wrapped up in aluminum foil) by the government and led into the gym to Bethlehem. Several booths were set up selling food and other items. We were told that we would have to pay a tax on the money given but we were free to spend our money. I can't remember what the tax was but in the end, due to haggling and shop keepers who were willing to give family deals we were all sufficiently fed. In fact the food was good.

It was one of the few times in the ward when I felt equal to the other people.