Last night I watched a short interview with Tony Campolo on CBC here in Canada.
Campolo is a left-of-centre evangelical Christian, taking his principles from the New Testament, in particular the words they consider to have been spoken by Jesus himself, for example the sermon on the mount. It's fascinating to see that such people do manage to exist in a pretty bleak neo-con religious environment. Then again, as a socialist I shouldn't be.
This history of socialism is the history of (usually dissenting) Christians across the ages, and religious belief still brings many people to the British Labour Party such as Tony Blair, Gordon Brown, our previous and current Prime Ministers to name but two. It is the basic belief in fairness, justice and in a fundamental duty of responsibility to others ('Love your neighbour as yourself') that bring people to the movement.
Not all socialists are Christians, though after 14 years of a British Catholic education (from 5 to 18) I do wonder how a Christian can be anything other than socialist in outlook. Myself, whilst I hold to those same principles of fairness, justice, and responsibility, my personal justification in holding them is more humanist in nature. I believe there are fundamental rights and responsibilities that as citizens, we all hold, and are all responsible for.