totalitarianism

Principles or Pressure?

Matt Powell, Leave a comment

From The Commentator, in 2011, when Vaclav Havel died:

The central insight of Power of the Powerless is described in an image Havel created that spread like wildfire in dissident circles across the communist world. He asked his readers to imagine a communist era shopkeeper putting the slogan “Workers of the World Unite” inside his shop window along with the onions and the carrots.

What is he up to?

“The slogan is really a sign,” Havel explains. “and as such it contains a subliminal but very definite message. Verbally it might be expressed this way: “I, the Greengrocer XY, live here and I know what I must do. I behave in the manner expected of me. I can be depended upon… I have the right to be left in peace.”

The communist party does not need people to believe in its ideology, but it does need them to pay homage to it. Society as a whole thus becomes infused with lies and deceit.

How many of those rainbows I see on Facebook are the same thing?  How many people now voting for and supporting gay marriage have really had a change of heart?  Is it possible for so many millions of people to have such a fundamental change in outlook in just ten years?  Or is it just the pressure of the elites to go along to get along, so those that didn’t have much principle to begin with see which way the wind is blowing?

The Course of Revolutions

Matt Powell, , , , Leave a comment

The Bolshevik Revolution was all about creating a just and perfect society in Russia.  When they tried to implement this society, contrary to the reality of God’s law and without the benefit of Christ’s redemption, they inevitably failed.  When they failed, rather than admit their error and change course, they blamed scapegoats, doubled down, and tried even harder to impose their vision on reality.  Result- tens of millions dead.

The Cultural Revolution was all about creating a just and perfect society in China.  They tried to implement their vision without reference to God’s law, contrary to God’s truth, and ignoring the salvation promised in Jesus Christ.  They inevitably failed as their dreams and plans clashed with God-ordained reality, just like the Bolsheviks.  But rather than admit their fault and change course, they tried twice as hard, blamed scapegoats, and pressed on.  Result- tens of millions dead.
In America and the West, we have likewise seen a revolution, an attempt to create a utopia.  The sexual revolution is part of it, as is the War on Poverty, the New Deal, and all the rest of the welfare state.  It is the attempt to overcome all the effects of sin, all the misery and suffering that comes from our refusal to acknowledge our Creator and accept the salvation and lordship of Jesus Christ.  It is likewise failing.  Wherever the statist utopian dream has been given the freest rein (Detroit, Baltimore, Chicago) the results have been disastrous.  Terrible poverty, crime, and social dysfunction of every kind.

But this, true to form, has not caused the utopians to rethink their ways.  They have doubled down, found scapegoats to blame for their failures, and continue to press on.


Results…?