This week we continue our study of the basics of Marxism. As we already covered, the two most basic precepts of Marxism are: 1) Individuals have no value, 2) There is no such thing as private property. Under pure Marxism, everything is about the collective, and everything belongs to the collective—the state.

         We may protest that in Communist China now there is a great proliferation of private enterprise and private property. This is true, and the government of China has made a very intentional and systematic break from the basic tenets of Marxism. In their published studies of the West, they began to understand that the power of personal incentive and initiative were the powers that have driven the advance of civilization and that these were released through Christianity.

         Although many Western nations have turned against Christianity, the foundation of their prosperity is built on the basic principles of Christianity, especially through the Reformation. Before the Reformation, even the church had become a giant collective and salvation was attained by becoming a member of the church. The Reformation emphasized that salvation was personal—one had to have personal faith in Christ to be saved. This gave infinite value and importance to the individual, as well as responsibility. This is, of course, contrary to the Marxist doctrine of the collective and the Marxist statement that the individual has “no value.”

         In many basic ways, Marxism and true, biblical Christianity are exactly opposite to one another. Marx realized this, which is why one of his basic goals was the destruction of Christianity. In their pure forms, Christianity and Marxism cannot coexist.

         Marxism cannot exist without absolute control over people, including people’s thought and beliefs. No deviations could be tolerated, which is why Marxist states quickly became police states. In Marxists states, everything belongs to the collective, including and especially people. Therefore, they could come at any time and take you, your children, your spouse, and do with them what they pleased. It was the practice of Marxist states to seize some in every group or neighborhood on a regular basis just to keep the population in fear and, therefore, in check.

         When the Iron Curtain fell and those who had lived behind it could finally talk about their experience without fear, the horror stories of their lives under Communism was beyond the imagination of most Westerners. I spent many hours talking to Eastern Europeans and the stories were virtually identical with each one. They were made to be sub-human automatons. Fear of seizure was constant. Every night they lay in bed expecting to be taken before morning. Almost every night, they heard someone in the neighborhood being taken.

          Nearly half of the world’s population lived under this unprecedented tyranny. They are now gradually experiencing freedom, while those who have lived in freedom are gradually slipping under what will likely be an ever more terrible tyranny of totalitarian control. Applied Marxism now will be much worse than that which dominated Eastern Europe and much of Asia, because the technology for totalitarian control is now so much more advanced. As incomprehensible as it is, Marxist ideology and philosophy is now being taught and praised throughout many Western public school systems, including schools in the United States, and its tentacles are tightening their grip.

          “If you do not change your direction, you will end up where you are headed.” As incomprehensible as it is, without a change of direction, the West is headed for Marxist totalitarian tyranny. The more you understand Marxism, the clearer this becomes.

          Of course, the hope is that we change our direction. That will only come with illumination, which is a basic mandate of the church—to be “the light of the world.” We must stand up against this ultimate darkness, one of the most deadly and evil gates of hell, or the worst of the tribulation’s terror will come upon our own nations. This does not have to happen, but it will if the church does not wake up and become the watchman it is called to be.