Several churches in New York City have been sheltering Occupy Wall Street protesters since the city banned sleeping in Zuccotti Park. Trinity Church even has a petition which states, "The faith community in New York City has been a critical source of support for Occupy Wall Street. And now that the occupiers are being prevented from camping in Zuccotti Park, that support is more critical than ever."

So...why are churches supporting the Occupiers?

The Occupiers are Socialists and they are at war with America, not the same kind of war that our military fights overseas, but war nonetheless. It is an internal, ideological war. They want to obliterate Capitalism and any church that helps them has taken sides with Socialism and is supporting our enemy.

I have heard this defended with the argument that churches are supposed to help people. So my question is helping what? These people are not starving, they are not freezing to death, they are not dying or sick. They have been kicked off property where they were disruptive and not respecting the rights of others. So what are these churches helping and why are they helping them? And why is that support "more critical than ever"?

A church that respects and values human life will not help a movement that is set on the destruction of Capitalism because it is the only system that allows life to thrive and flourish. This is because Capitalism respects property rights. As Ayn Rand said, "The right to life is the source of all rights -- and the right to property is their only implementation. Without property rights, no other rights are possible. Since man has to sustain his life by his own effort, the man who has no right to the product of his effort has no means to sustain his life."

Why would a church not instead support the only system that supports life? Do these churches not realize that without a respect for property rights, there can be no religious freedom either? Do they not realize that they are also aiding their own destroyers? And if churches are supposed to help people, where is some moral support for the Tea Party?

If a church truly wanted to help the Occupiers I would suggest that they tell them they can spend the night in their church provided they watch some videos or read some books that would educate them about the history and morality of Capitalism. Now that would be real help -- for them and for us.

The war we are fighting is a war of ideas: Capitalism versus Marxism. And we have to win it if we want to live. A movement that wants to destroy private property is promoting a system of misery and death. "The theory of Communism may be summed up in one sentence. Abolish all private property." (Karl Marx)

I think everyone who goes to church should do some investigating to see if their church is participating in this and then act accordingly. Either demand that they withdraw support or leave the parish and find one that understands the issues involved. We have to take an uncompromising stand when fighting for our country.

Charlotte Cushman is a Montessori educator at Minnesota Renaissance School, Anoka, Minnesota and has been involved in the study of Ayn Rand's philosophy since 1970