POINT TO PONDER: “The greatest advantage an enemy can have over you is to make you believe he does not exist.” –Sun Tzu, Art of War
How did we get to the place where so many doubt the Bible is true, or where people question whether God even exists? Why have so many become atheists, agnostics, and indifferent toward God in our culture? Have we become victims or are we willfully ignorant?
It is said that those who do not study history are doomed to repeat it.
Many who study history say it’s indoctrination that has polluted our cultures. Marxism and communism are at the heart of the matter. These are atheistic philosophies with no room for belief in God. Karl Marx, the founder of Marxism, viewed religion as the “opium of the people.” Marx admitted, “My object in life is to dethrone God and destroy capitalism.” He added, “The first requisite for the happiness of the people is the abolition of religion.”
It is a historical fact that wherever Marxists seized power, Christians were always persecuted and atheism was enforced. The Marxist redefines good and evil. So, wickedness is changed from rebellion against God into striving for individual ends. They say utopia (representing Heaven) is ultimately created on earth by man. The collectivist state becomes a god.
The slogans of Lenin (Russia), Khrushchev (Russia), Castro (Cuba), Hitler (Nazi Germany), XI Jinping (China), and other dictators used indoctrination with propaganda on the youth, inciting them to turn on their parents and neighbors. Their goal was to train the youth to reject God, become morally perverse, and elect socialists. This is still happening today.
According to Gallup polls in 2021, 40% of the U.S. population views socialism as favorable. Remember that the goal of “isms” (like progressivism, globalism, socialism, fascism, or collectivism) is Marxism/communism. It is whereby the state (government) controls every aspect of human life. The Bible is in direct opposition to this ideology.
Where we’ve seen this movement infiltrate mostly is in K-12 public education. But don’t be fooled—this ideology is throughout universities as well. Look around you. By integrating the media and entertainment, including Hollywood, incremental change and pressure are continual. Weapons are no longer necessary. Winning the hearts and minds of society is the Marxist game plan.
How do you fool millions of people? YOU LIE. And start with the young. If you keep telling people that 1 + 1 = 3, they will begin to believe it. And sadly, a sustained assault on the Bible has borne bad fruit.
“Give me just one generation of youth, and I’ll transform the whole world.” –Vladimir Lenin
“Give me four years to teach the children, and the seed I have sown will never be uprooted.” –Vladimir Lenin
“The philosophy of the school room in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next.” –Abraham Lincoln
POINT TO PONDER: Is it possible that our educational institutions have become so corrupt that university campuses are echo chambers? Many students only hear one side of an issue. Most educational institutions have become indoctrination mills—social justice factories—where a slow process over generations has produced a Marxist ideology.
The Bible clearly opposes atheistic Marxist/communist beliefs. It teaches that God redeemed all people from sin by offering His only Son to carry the penalty of their sins (John 3:16). And it addresses social ideology: it teaches that redistributing private property for political purposes is immoral because it undermines accountability and individual freedom, given by the Creator to His children.
Marxism has never been successful. The answers to the world’s problems are found in God’s Word. Atheism, power, control, and laziness have experimentally failed in history to mend the human race’s problems.
Another basic tenet of Marxism, taught by many college professors, is the idea that private property must be abolished. With Marxism, landowners see their property confiscated by the state, and most private ownership is outlawed. In abolishing private property, Marxism directly contradicts several biblical principles. The Bible refers to private property and issues commands to respect it: Injunctions such as “You shall not steal” (Deuteronomy 5:19) are meaningless without private property.
The Bible honors work and teaches that individuals are responsible for supporting themselves: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). The redistribution of wealth mandated by Marxism/communism destroys accountability and the biblical work ethic. Jesus’s parable in Matthew 25:14-30 teaches our responsibility to serve God with our (private) resources. There is no way to reconcile Marxism with the parable of the talents.
Some people attempt to combine Christianity with Marxist philosophy. Their attempts may be well-meaning but they are impractical. The Puritans in the New World, for example, tried communal living for a while but it didn’t last. When the Plymouth Colony was founded, there was no private property, and all food was distributed equally among all, regardless of the job—or work ethic. But that system, lacking any incentive to work hard, was soon abandoned as a complete failure. Free enterprise brings the most successful and fruitful way of life.
Attempting to combine Christianity with Marxism also ignores their widely divergent views on sin, God, equality, responsibility, and the value of human life. Of course, some people point to Acts 2:44-45 as proof that Christianity is compatible with Marxism or communism: “All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need.”
This passage, as with much of the Book of Acts, is descriptive, not prescriptive—itcontains no command for the church to function this way; it is simply a description of what the early church in Jerusalem did to meet some unique and urgent needs. There’s no indication that such extensive sharing was ever copied by other New Testament churches. Also, the communal arrangements in Acts were completely voluntary and motivated by the love of Christ. Any attempt to apply this to involuntary, secular (godless) communism really makes no sense.
The Bible promotes freedom and personal responsibility, and neither of those concepts lasts long under Marxism/communism. There’s a reason why in Marxist states such as communist China, Vietnam, and the Soviet Union that Christians are persecuted—the ideas espoused by Marxism are antithetical to the teachings of Jesus Christ. The differences are irreconcilable. Our universities have spread these secular concepts, which have led our nation to nearly step over the cliff of destruction.
Marxism’s goal is to denigrate the authenticity of the Bible and to eliminate its influence. Beware of ideologies that conflict with biblical views: they are not fruitful, successful, or sustaining. They are destructive and deceptive.
MORAL POINT: Consider the proverbial frog in boiling water analogy. The frog did not survive because of its own inability to decide when it had to jump out, before the water reached its boiling point. We all need to adjust according to the situation. But there are times when we need to face a particular situation and take appropriate action when we have the strength to do so before it is too late.
Your eternity—heaven or hell—hangs in the balance. The Bible is true and contains proven and successful ideologies—to save your life!
So how do you manage a conflict of worldviews? What you allow yourself to see and hear and be entertained by will impact how you think. Whatever you think develops your belief system. And this will affect how you act and the future choices you make.
POINT TO PONDER: Whatever you think about will result in a belief system within your heart. Your heart consists of your mind, will, and emotions. Your thoughts will determine the state of your heart and internal convictions.
Thoughts are a collection of ideas on which your mind dwells. Your thoughts
will drive what you speak and act on. Whatever you believe in your heart originates from your thoughts. You will ultimately confess (speak) with your mouth the belief system you hold. Your actions (body) will soon follow as you live out what is in your heart. Your nature and character will be formed—and your destiny determined—by the worldview you hold. If you have been taught directly or subtly a Marxist ideology over many years, that will be the viewpoint you hold.
THINK ↔ BELIEVE ↔ CONFESS ↔ ACT
↕ ↕ ↕ ↕
MIND ↔ HEART ↔ MOUTH ↔ BODY
Note: Emotions are also a factor because they impact our actions. They are powerful influencers regarding the belief system we adopt. We must be careful in our decision-making process, especially when in the throes of emotion. How many times have you seen irrational acts when someone is emotionally charged? What about terrorist acts? A moral compass is needed as a guide to make the right choices. Is it Marxism or the Bible that determines your choices?
Emotions
↕
THOUGHTS → ACTIONS → HABITS → NATURE → CHARACTER → DESTINY
Marxism and the Bible are opposing worldviews. Your belief system determines your sphere of influence. Our nation hangs in the balance with these two opposing worldviews.
POINT TO PONDER:
All that evil needs to win is for good people to do nothing.