Today, TGC carries my long-form article on why the world, and the church, are still haunted by communism even today:
You think communism is old news? I have two words for you: Colin Kaepernick.
On the first day he took a knee, Kaepernick gave a press conference wearing a T-shirt that glamorized mass murderer Fidel Castro. I don’t think my friends on the left understand how fundamentally this act, and his decision to defend Castro when challenged, sabotaged any possibility that his actions might lead to a constructive national dialogue on police brutality…
Let’s get down to it:
Communism is, at heart, the belief that human ingenuity by itself—without God—can destroy the world’s political and economic evils, if only we’re willing to make the necessary sacrifices. Marx’s complex theories of surplus value, economic determinism, and dialectical history don’t establish that human ingenuity by itself can fix our problems; they presuppose it. They’re built on the assumption that natural reason, without revelation, is capable of understanding human life in a comprehensive way. This involves the assumption that there is no supernatural element in human life.
Communism isn’t a political and economic theory that happens to be associated with atheism. It is atheism—atheism as applied to political and economic systems.
Like fascism, communism is an eschatological theodicy built on, and therefore an idolatrous worship of, political movements. Communism is essentially fascism for rationalists.
Alas, that doesn’t mean us anti-communists are off the hook:
Seeing the radical sharing of the early church in Acts 2–5, we should feel shamed by their standard of submission to God and love for God and neighbor, not pleasure that we can use the text to score debating points against communism. And we should feel challenged, in a grace-based way, to put this standard into practice today—not only in our own lives and in the life of the church, but as something we offer to the world around us as the only righteous standard of economic life.
Yes, my man Whittaker makes an appearance:
From Che Guevara posters and Hollywood movies glamorizing it to the endless conservative sermons against it, communism remains “the outrage and the hope of the world,” as it was called by Whittaker Chambers, a Soviet spy who was converted to Christ.
Practice radical sharing by sharing your thoughts on this not-at-all-divisive topic.