The Goal Marxists Are Working Feverishly to Achieve: Uprooting America from Her Foundation, Part 2

History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.
—David C. McCullough, (1933-2022), American historian—

Not to know what has been transacted in former times is to be always a child. If no use is made of the labors of past ages, the world must remain always in the infancy of knowledge.
—Cicero (106-43 BC), Roman politician—

Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel and said to them, “Pick out and take lambs for yourselves according to your families, and kill the Passover lamb. And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin. And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. For the Lord will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you. And you shall observe this thing as an ordinance for you and your sons forever. It will come to pass when you come to the land which the Lord will give you, just as He promised, that you shall keep this service. And it shall be, when your children say to you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ that you shall say, ‘It is the Passover sacrifice of the Lord, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt when He struck the Egyptians and delivered our households.’ ” So the people bowed their heads and worshiped. Then the children of Israel went away and did so; just as the Lord had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did.
—Exodus 12:21-28—

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Key points: This is not the America your parents and grandparents knew and enjoyed. It is not the America of its founding and of its early years, on into the early 20th century — a nation that honored God and His laws. Moreover, because fewer and fewer Americans know the truth about their country’s godly heritage, they are ill-equipped to deal with today’s challenges. Of all people, American Christians need to know American history so they won’t be deceived when leftists and Marxists lie about it to push their agendas. Further, American Christians need to be able to share the truth about that history with others, especially their children. Each of us needs to be equipped to respond to this present-day challenge that is here presented in the form of a wedding illustration: If anyone present knows of any reason why America and secularism should not be wed, let that individual speak now, lest he or she be prevented from ever speaking out again.

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In late 1776, George Washington’s army was in great need and fighting a war with heavy odds stacked against it. During that year when independence had been declared,

New York City was conquered in a mere three-month period between August and November after British troops landed in Long Island. From there, Washington, with six thousand men, fled the city southwest across New Jersey, chased by General Cornwallis. Eventually, the American Commander settled on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River.

Though many of the thousands of troops made it to the encampment safely, nearly two thousand were in need of hospital care, and a significant number of others had deserted the young army out of fear that the war had already been lost.

The revolutionary army and its courageous general knew they were facing a bitterly cold winter. Confidence was low, but like a beacon of light from a lighthouse on a dark and stormy night, the words of an English-born political theorist and activist who had emigrated to the colonies in 1774, Thomas Paine, came as a strong morale-booster. A pamphlet Paine wrote and published in late December, 1776, was the first of a series of articles titled “The American Crisis.” It carried these immortal words:

THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated. Britain, with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right (not only to TAX) but “to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER” and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth. Even the expression is impious; for so unlimited a power can belong only to God.

Historian Randall Niles writes,

Valley Forge received its name from the iron forge built in the 1740’s along nearby Valley Creek. However, Valley Forge took on a dual meaning after the six-month ordeal of suffering and sacrifice helped forge the first American Army. This place reshaped a collection of ragtag soldiers from all walks of life into a unified force capable of defeating the British and winning American independence during the remaining five years of the war.

Regarding Valley Forge, Thomas Paine said,

Let it be told to the future world, that in the depth of winter, when nothing but hope and virtue could survive, that the city and the country, alarmed at one common danger, came forth to meet and to repulse it.

More information about Washington’s army’s encampment experience at Valley Forge during the winter of late 1777 and early 1778 is available in this article on the National Park Service’s website. The NPS article challenges the notion that the fighting force Washington led was dispirited almost beyond its ability to recover:

The romantic image that depicts the troops at Valley Forge as helpless and famished individuals at the mercy of winter’s fury and clothed in nothing but rags renders them and their commander a disservice. It would be difficult to imagine a scenario in which the leader of a popular revolution stood by while his men froze and starved. The winter of 1777-78 was not the coldest nor the worst winter experienced during the war, but regular freezing and thawing, plus intermittent snowfall and rain, coupled with shortages of provisions, clothing, and shoes, made living conditions extremely difficult. Rather than wait for deliverance, the army procured supplies, built log cabins to stay in, constructed makeshift clothing and gear, and cooked subsistence meals of their own concoction.

Nevertheless, these still were, in the words of Thomas Paine, among “the times that try men’s souls.”

Echoing Paine, we can say that these days in which we live — the early decades of the 21st century — also are times that try men’s souls. Today, the liberty secured by Washington’s army is in peril in America and must not be taken for granted. Never has it been more important to understand the ominous implications of the goals of Marxism and how they unalterably pave the way to oppression, poverty, and misery among a people. To avoid these destinations, we must defeat the efforts of those working to bring Marxism and socialism to this country through social upheaval and chaos.

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Never has it been more important in America to understand the goals of Marxism and how they unalterably pave the way to oppression, poverty, and misery among a people.

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Expert Agitators

Leftists, including Marxists, want to overthrow America and all she represents. They are expert agitators. We noted this reality last time. We further noted that  —

Agitation is but one tool of leftist social engineers. Marxists [also] are experts at targeting and viciously attacking the standards that have contributed to cohesiveness and stability in American life. Socialism and communism, socialism’s ideological sister, stand contrary to the principles upheld in the Declaration of Independence and implemented in the US Constitution.

Leftists are working feverishly to replace

1. 1. 1. 1. 1. Christianity with atheism,
            2. the idea that God created people in His image and have rights the government has a duty to protect with the idea that people exist to serve the state,
            3. the Protestant work ethic with a commitment to serve the state,
            4. private property with centralized planning,
            5. personal economic freedom with collectivism,
            6. personal and corporate charity with government redistribution of wealth,
            7. parental rights with state ownership and control of children,
            8. limited government with an all-powerful state that controls everything, and
            9. an accurate knowledge and understanding of American history —what really happened — with a distorted version of real events so as to make it easier to manipulate the citizenry.

We discussed all of these in a Word Foundations article published a year ago. Here is a printable summary of that post.

Summarizing the above 9-item list in one sentence, we recalled this statement: “Karl Marx believed that the people exist for the government, but America’s Founding Fathers believed government exists for the people.”

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Karl Marx believed that the people exist for the government, but America’s Founding Fathers believed government exists for the people.

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Modern Times That Try Men’s Souls

Again, I repeat:

These are times that try men’s souls. Never has it been more important to understand the ominous implications of the goals of Marxism and how they unalterably pave the way to oppression, poverty, and misery among a people. To avoid these destinations, we must defeat the efforts of those working to bring Marxism and socialism to this country through social upheaval and chaos.

We honed in last time on item 4 on the above list — that Marxists are salivating over the prospect of replacing property rights with centralized, government planning, an approach that gives ownership and control of all property and other assets to the government. In this post I’d like to consider item 9 carefully, that Marxists are relentlessly laboring to replace “an accurate knowledge and understanding of American history —what really happened — with a distorted version of real events so as to make it easier to manipulate the citizenry.” Karl Marx was wrong about a lot of things, but he was 100 percent correct when he said, “Take away a nation’s heritage and they are more easily persuaded.”

Other statements by Marx reinforce this one. See Principle 9 on this page.

I’d like to invite you — no, I’d like very much to encourage you — to watch this informative PragerU video. It premiered on Monday, August 22, 2022. A transcript of the video is available at prageru.com, and from it, I have created a PDF file, available here.

This video is significant for several reasons.

First, it explains why leftists want to distort, rewrite, and in many cases simply get rid of American history. We’ll have more to say about his momentarily, when we get to item 5.

Second, it demonstrates that leftists — Marxists among them — are intent on trashing the norms that have provided moral and societal stability in America and replacing them with their own destabilizing and chaotic values, values that have radical personal autonomy at their core.

Third, it illustrates the truth that leftist values, all or nearly all of which are rooted in or affirming of personal autonomy, can and do deny self-evident, obvious realities. As we have said previously, “Reality is like a brick wall, and opposing it is like banging one’s head repeatedly against it.” We also could illustrate this by pointing to gravity and its demands. If an individual tries to defy gravity by jumping out of a window on the eleventh story of a high-rise building, gravity will win, and that person will lose — big time!

Fourth, the above PragerU video shows that radical leftists and Marxists are endeavoring to recruit children — members of the next generation — to join them, regardless of parents’ wishes or values, and regardless of the harm and potential harm to which they — the radicals — are subjecting those children.

Fifth, Michael Knowles’ presentation makes clear that leftists want to jettison the past because ancient wisdom, if heeded, will restrain society from allowing them to do as they wish. Restrictive? Yes, in some ways, it is; but it also is stabilizing and fosters security and safety in communities.

Ancient wisdom, you see, recognizes that through their actions, leftists and Marxists not only harm society, but also harm themselves. We can put it another way: Bad ideas and bad behavior should be restrained, for the good of all. Freedom and liberty are one thing, but absolute autonomy is quite another.

A disclaimer is in order at this point. People certainly have the right to live as they choose, but within broad limits. Traditionalists are not on a crusade to police people’s private behavior — but still, no one has a right to harm or violate anyone, whether he or she does so privately or publicly. Be aware that for the most part here, we are talking about putting appropriate restraints on public behavior that blatantly challenges time-tested norms.

Sixth, this informative and insightful PragerU video demonstrates conclusively that despite their rhetoric, leftists are on the wrong side of history, and conservatives, or we might say, traditionalists, are on the right side of history.

Seventh, the video acknowledges why it’s difficult to speak up against leftists and Marxists in the current cultural environment. Consider Mr. Knowles’ first statements: “There are few things worse than being called ‘intolerant,’ ‘inflexible,’ or ‘closed-minded.’ Who wants to be that? Isn’t it far better to be open to everything, dismissive of nothing?” But then he adds,

Eighth, it’s clear that leftists currently control the narrative and, rather than trying to make a reasonable case for their position (which they cannot do), they resort to name calling and ad hominem attacks. Against this backdrop, we who believe in the value of ancient wisdom and traditional norms ought to be confident and insist, as Mr. Knowles suggests, that the burden of proof falls on the shoulders of those insisting on radical change.

Be a Truth-Teller — About History…and Everything Else

We therefore return to the points we made in a recent article (published on August 12), “Be a Truth-Teller.” The revolutionaries won’t fade away on their own; they will continue to push to get their way, running roughshod over everyone who objects to what they are doing everyone who dares to even raise questions. The radicals must be opposed, and to oppose them, we need Truth-Tellers everywhere in our society and culture.

By virtue of their commitments

• • • to faithfully serve Jesus Christ,
    • to propagate the truth, and
    • to love their neighbors,

Christians are obligated to declare the truth in a society held captive by lies. Yes, we need to be strategic about how and when we speak the truth, but we cannot be sitting on the fence trying to decide if we will declare it. This is perhaps especially true for pastors.

We already should have made that decision. Remember that just before Jesus ascended into heaven, He told His disciples (emphases added),

All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.

Keep in mind that Jesus’ statements aren’t only about evangelism. Although they obviously include evangelism, they include other Christian duties as well. Our message won’t always be received warmly. In fact, some, or even many, will treat us with scorn and ridicule. We must remember that this is how Jesus’ enemies treated Him during His earthly ministry.

Our job is not primarily to avoid offending them; it is to present the truth to them as clearly and as effectively as we can. Sometimes our message will be a forceful one, such as — You cannot have our children! They are not yours to indoctrinate! They do not belong to you, and we will protect them from your harmful ideas. Whether or not we win the radicals by doing this, it is critical that we do it to keep from losing our own children and their peers — members of the next generation.

Pushing Back Against the Lies

Remember that Karl Marx said, “Take away a nation’s heritage and they are more easily persuaded.” Pushing back against Marx in this post as well as an earlier one, we have affirmed the value of knowing and remembering both history and heritage: “Remembering a godly heritage and God’s redemptive work keeps individuals and nations from straying away from the the truth and from right living. (See Ex. 12:1-28; Deut. 5:12-15; 6:4-25; 24:17-19; Josh. 4:1-24; 1 Cor. 11:23-26; Eph. 2:11-13.)” This is how to stave off leftists’ misinterpretations of history, and it is the antidote to indoctrination once it has occurred. Ultimately, the truth always our friend if we cooperate with it, and lies a harmful force, a dangerous enemy.

How can we get the truth about American history in an age of lies and political correctness? Here are some places where lies and political correct ideas are refuted with the truth. The appearance of a source on the list should not be construed as an official endorsement from me, Word Foundations, or Discover Bedrock Truth; nevertheless, these sources are recommended as places where you can get reliable and helpful information.

• • • Hillsdale College
    • Conversations That Matter with Jon Harris
    • Dissident Mama
    • WallBuilders and WallBuilders Live!
    • Prager University
    • William Bennett’s America: The Last Best Hope

In addition to these six sources, check out the Bible study materials available at Discover Bedrock Truth, a place where we do not hesitate to mine “nuggets of truth from God’s Word and world” that relate to history, civics, and public and economic policy. Contrary to what many Christians believe today, the Bible has a great deal to say about these important topics.

Don’t Become Sidetracked

In concluding, let me encourage you to become familiar with and to recall often three specific statements, the first of which we mentioned in a recent article and the second of which we cited earlier in this post. First, in the process of learning and sharing accurate history and promoting America’s founding ideals (which, by the way, are biblical), remember the words of Christian statesman Francis Schaeffer: “The ‘little man,’ the private citizen, can at any time stand up and, on the basis of biblical teaching, say that the majority [or the elite] is wrong.”

Second, remember the words of Thomas Paine, who inspired a nation fighting for its own independence and liberty to keep fighting and to never give up:

THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly: it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated.

Third, remember that Jesus Himself upheld the power of the truth, saying, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” While the truth of the gospel provides ultimate and eternal freedom from sin and from death, Christianity isn’t just about the gospel. It’s about everything. As C. S. Lewis declared, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”

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I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.
—C. S. Lewis—

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Yes, the truth of the gospel is of ultimate importance. This is a truth every Christian should affirm. Still, the truth about everything else, including history, is important, too.

It can mean the difference between a country that forces atheism on its people and one that allows freedom of religion and worship, as well as the freedom to publicly affirm and share one’s faith.

Karl Marx understood this, and we are utterly foolish if we don’t realize it as well.

 

Copyright © 2022 by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture has been taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

 

top image credit: Washington Crossing the Delaware by Emanuel Leutze, 1851