Socialism

What is Socialism?

Socialism is a universalist secular ideology that resembles a religion. It is a secular faith similar in many ways to the ways of Christianity and more specifically the Catholic Church. If this is news to the reader, let me show you why I see it that way. I will not assume that the reader is familiar with the ceremonies and tenets of Christianity so I will start with that.

The Christian community is seen by the Catholic Church as consisting of three branches:

1. The Church Militant.

2. The Church Penitent or Suffering.

3. The Church Triumphant.

These three branches are the phases of the activities of the Church as it strives to build the future world which will fulfill the promises of the scriptures. Let me define the three phases in terms of their place in Christianity.

The Church Militant

The militant phase is when the Church implements God’s laws, by force if necessary. The Crusades were a Militant phase, as were the Reconquista of Spain and the Inquisition. Today the Catholic Church has abandoned the Militant phase of its activities and concentrates on pursuing its activities on the Penitent and Triumphant phases.

The Church Penitent or Suffering

This phase of the living adherents’ activities involves individual believers who struggle to live their faith and to bring the Christian faith to nonbelievers. These believers may suffer indignities and persecution, but they hold fast to their faith, waiting for the time when realization of the values and principles of the teachings of the Church gain wider acceptance and begin to bear fruit.

The Church Triumphant

This is the final stage when Christianity is broadly accepted and implemented. This ideal condition has never been reached, although at times the Church has been dominant politically and spiritually in various regions. Today the closest approach to the Church Triumphant on Earth exists only in the precincts of the Vatican.

So much for what Christianity has defined as the aspects of its activities in the world. Now we will examine how Socialism follows a similar structure. The parallels are not exact but the reader will probably agree that there is something to it. In fact, some progressive Christian clerics have adopted many of the tenets of Socialism, although it is not clear how they reconcile this with other Socialist tenets that are clearly godless. John Paul II had trouble with such priests, in Latin America in particular. The issue is not resolved to this day.

How does this apply to Socialism?

Militant Socialism

The Militant stage of Socialism is Communism. At this stage violent struggle permeates activities and there is no room for tolerance or mercy: submit or die. Communist regimes and insurrections first weed out nonbelievers and institute terror in order to homogenize their own populations in adherence to the codes of belief and behavior demanded by Socialist orthodoxy. Neither the Church nor Communism has ever managed to extinguish all unconventional thinking, but they have been successful in temporarily driving such thoughts underground.

Communism has been more violent than the Church ever was. This is probably due to their different view of human nature. Whereas the Church mostly saw deviation from orthodoxy as a forgivable sin, Communism usually considers such deviation as a dangerous crime. In Communist orthodoxy, sins against the faith are unforgivable, and individuals who commit them must be physically destroyed. Think of the purges in the Communist Soviet Union during the reign of Stalin, or Mao’s cultural revolution, or the Cambodian horrors.

Perhaps more familiar to some of my readers are the horrors of the nearby Cristero War (1926–1929) between the Catholic citizens of Mexico and the Federales army of the Mexican quasi-Communist government of the day. Executions and unrestrained torture of priests and Catholic lay leaders by the Federales were common and routine, resulting in the recognition of numerous martyrs by the Catholic Church. Why were the Catholics targeted? Because it is primarily that church that the Socialists try to replace with a godless ideology modeled on the very Church they set out to destroy.

The difference in the view of what humans represent is profound in all three phases, and I want to emphasize this, in case the reader thinks that, because the phases are similar, the two ideologies are twins. They are not. Communism thinks of citizens as a mass of soulless workers, to be directed to a Socialist paradise which lies well beyond the individual’s life span. Christianity sees people as individuals who need to be persuaded of the truth of its teachings and thereby individually gain access to the presence of God when they die.

The Socialists believe their earthly paradise will delight future generation of citizens. It will involve such progressive delights as “all women will be held in common,” as stated in the original Communist Manifesto of 1921. This was removed in later versions of the Manifesto but continues to lurk in the background, as seen in the progress of sexual freedoms, combined with the increasing reluctance of women to marry and to spare the time and effort to bear and raise children while pursuing careers. This particular bit of social progress is glorified as a rejection of the past “serfdom” of women, but threatens to extinguish the human species if birth rates fall to and stay below the replacement level of 2.1 children per female.

In the meantime, regardless of trials and tribulations, current generations of Communists and other militant Socialists still struggle for a future which they will not live to see; they will die struggling, as part of the masses who believe they are building the future of Socialism. No reward: just a duty well done. Christians are also aware of the need to struggle for a better future; but they do it willingly, whether as groups or as individuals, to enhance their earthly lives sometimes at great risk; they are also looking forward to a greater reward when their struggles come to an end and they die. The Crusaders, for example, were largely volunteers; their goal was no so much to spread their faith as to regain access to Christianity’s holy places. Many Socialist revolutionaries are conscripted; the leaders volunteer the sacrifices of the masses they command, as they struggle towards the success of global socialism.

Suffering Socialism

Socialists are never Penitent since they believe they have nothing to regret. The Socialist phase of suffering is most obvious when individual believers in Socialism find themselves in a non-Socialist milieu. Socialists suffer in such a setting, as do Christians in many non-Christian societies. The difference in their suffering is that Christians in these circumstances tend to gather together to practice their faith; they generally avoid confrontation and “turn the other cheek.” This is what they are instructed to do by their faith, and is what they generally do.

Socialists on the other hand are frequently organizers of and participants in violent activities against non-Socialist regimes. Che Guevara’s mission of violent proselytizing in Latin America is one example. Many other subversive activities can be cited, but I will leave that for the reader to find by keeping up with current events. Even non-militant Socialists can be vociferous, subversive and even violent if they are living in non-Socialist settings.

When living in capitalist societies, Socialists are prone to act politically under various affiliations that do not include the words Socialist or Communist. They tend to call their active groups Liberal, or Democratic, or Progressive. A good example of this deceptive nomenclature was made obvious when a declared “Democratic Socialist” (this seems to imply that there are undemocratic Socialists) who was a defiantly Socialist Independent American senator (that is, not a Democratic Party member) was put forward as a possible US presidential candidate by the officially non-Socialist Democratic Party. In this they differ from the Catholic Church, which has many spin-offs but the original church remains Catholic.

Socialists form low-profile cabals such as the “Socialist International” (the Socialist equivalent of the Vatican) which plan widespread programs and activities, and coordinate local and world-wide civic actions as they endeavor to seize the high ground in important areas of community life around the world. You will be surprised to find out how many prominent politicians, activists and civil servants from around the world, including the United States, attend conclaves of the Socialist International; many are executive members. More subtle methods of infiltration are also utilized. For example, while Christian authorities were abandoning education as their long-time preserve, Socialists have diligently built a community among those who teach at publicly-funded schools, and who propagate Socialist ideology among the youth. It has worked very well.

Other clever infiltrations of social high ground involve the entertainment industry and the news media which employ the products of the publicly-funded educational system, infused by Socialist ideology, to provide a platform for prominent personalities with agendas congruent with their Socialist-oriented background. Christians often neglect socializing and proselytizing activities except among their members, and largely ignore the mass media. Socialists take over mass media and preach communalism from that pulpit.

Socialism Triumphant

There was a period in the twentieth century when Socialism was triumphant in the Soviet Union. It was also promising to gain the high ground throughout Europe, and succeeded in many other parts of the world. This was the period when the intelligencias of the world excused or denied the dark side of Communism (not to mention praising the underlying Socialism) as a necessary step on the way to an ultimate, ideal, perfect, Socialist society. Socialists are willing to struggle and suffer for the triumph of their faith, and to make those who resist suffer for their disbelief, but the intelligencia (an ill-defined group of self-recognized influential individuals whose membership has no stated requirements for acceptance) ignored or condoned Socialist-led or inspired violence and intolerance. They still do.

As it happened, a version of Socialism embraced by Nazi (National Socialist) Germany proved to be even more successful in practice than the Soviet kind, for a brief period. This version of Socialism, though also international in scope, turned out to be more tribal than the Soviet kind and set about undertaking enormities now called “ethnic cleansing.” The threat of this, plus their drive to gain more territory for the tribal “Master Race,” frightened even the more-traditional form of Socialism embraced in the Soviet Union, as well as the various non-Socialist communities that were conquered or threatened by Nazi tribal ideology. Nazism was defeated by the combined forces of Democracy and Soviet Communism, and that particular form of Socialism was suppressed. But it was not long after that before triumphant Soviet-style Socialism renewed its struggle for world domination. The democratic West was surprised. Why? Socialism had not changed its beliefs.

Other Communist regimes continued to sacrifice large numbers of their populations in the pursuit of a rapid implementation of their ideology. The populations of the Soviet Union, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos underwent massive slaughters as they expanded and firmed up their power and entrenched their ideology. If that was not religious zeal, give me a better example. The destruction of the Cathars by the Albigensian Crusade in France pales in comparison.

Today the best example of Socialism Triumphant is China. It has managed to swing from total Communist Party control of industry and resources to a takeover of many operations by individual members of the ruling Communist Party elite and their swift-footed allies. At the same time, it has significantly improved the life of its citizens, as long as they keep quiet. And so, a bargain has been struck: The Communist Party controls all social and (massive) military power as well as the levers of government; its members and clever sycophants skim the country’s wealth. The population is served leftovers, and the perceived overall well-being improves. In many ways the current Communism of China is reminiscent of the National Socialism of pre-World War II Germany.

The Chinese Communists wisely make sure some of the wealth, created by the endeavors of the somewhat-empowered population, is allowed to trickle down to the man on the street. Most is used to firm up national and international power in defense of the elites. This reformation of Socialist orthodoxy recalls the time of Christian reformations, when major changes opened the door for innovative ideas and created new centers of influence. Christianity survived but is no longer monolithic; neither is modern Socialism.

How long a population will agree to be directed this way remains to be seen. Freedom is addictive and, once tasted, the desire for more grows. But the Socialist faith cannot allow personal freedom to flourish, because its basic tenet is that communal action directed by an empowered and infallible central authority paves the road to an idealized Socialist future. The struggle between individualism and communalism is not over. It can only end when Socialists abandon the idea of a One-World ideology, and individuals become free to form idiosyncratic societies where their preferences are implemented, while non-conformists are free to migrate to a region where their own preferences, even communalism, may dominate.

Are there more Parallels between Socialism and Religion?

Indeed, there is much that indicates that Socialism is a secular faith with many of the trappings of a religion modeled on Catholicism. It is a faith that mimics Catholicism to the point where one must conclude that the Catholic Church presents a fine organizational model for social movements, even for atheistic Socialists. Let me cite some structural similarities which add to the similarity outlined in the phases of activity described above.

The principal inspirers of Socialism constitute an acknowledged and well-known trinity of Socialist deities: Marx, Engels and Lenin. Of these, Marx is the father of it all; Engels is the inspirer of succeeding prophets; and Lenin is the deliverer of the message to the multitude. It is in this light that the Socialist trinity is venerated. See an example below, with Lenin in front.

There are similar pictures which include Stalin. His self-deification is reminiscent of Roman emperors who declared themselves to be gods, but such deities do not outlast the emperor’s reign, and neither did the deification of Stalin, although he remains a prominent Socialist saint.

Other saints that have followed this trinity include Mao Tse Tung, Che Guevara, and Fidel Castro. One can follow their preaching in available hagiographies and publications, just as one can read “The Lives of the Saints” and other sources in Christian literature.

The Iconography of Socialism

In terms of symbolism, there is no denying the wide presentation of the Cross and the Star of Bethlehem as Christian symbols of devotion. The Communists generally present their devotional symbol in the form of the crossed Hammer and Sickle or the Red Star. Christian churches usually display a cross on the tops of religious structures, in their offices and so on, while Communist and Socialist domains are always decorated with the five-pointed Red Star or the Hammer and Sickle, or both. The amount of such art-work to be found in a Socialist enterprise or government office is reminiscent of a Catholic parish office.

It may be a coincidence, but the epoch of eagles as national symbols has come to a standstill; stars seem to be more common in modern ideological symbolism. Today a dozen or more countries include one or more stars on their flag. America has both an eagle and stars as its symbols; China has gold stars. The European Union has a wreath of stars, and the single five-pointed star has become a world-wide Socialist symbol.

As for gestures, Catholics cross themselves as a sign of devotion while Socialists tend to raise their fist. The Nazi branch of Socialism used an extended arm with an open hand. Gestures are a common way of displaying communal solidarity. We all use gestures in communicating our allegiances, mostly as traditions from earlier times. The salient point here is that the Socialist gestures are international and emphatic symbols of a transnational allegiance, as is crossing oneself, whereas most other physical gestures tend to be local, tribal, or simply polite within a given culture.

Socialist iconography imitates that of Christianity to a level of absurdity. Everyone has seen pictures of the trinity of Socialist deities shown above. These often decorate Socialist quarters worldwide, supplemented by visages of subsequent Socialist “saints” and the current leader of the local regime. Other symbols and pictures affirming Socialist faith are internationally presented as well: the ruins of Guernica, the Red Flag, the Red Star, pictures of the Lenin Mausoleum, inspiring slogans, and so on. (I have even seen a portrait of Mao on a private altar celebrating the Catholic Day of the Dead in Mexico.) Catholic churches worldwide also share images of Popes, past and present, and of major and local saints and martyrs. For both Socialist and Catholics, their deity or deities and major saints and symbols are international. Public figures are often presented in secular non-Socialist settings too, but they are usually local figures such as a reigning or deceased monarch, or military heroes from the past.

The Ceremonies of Socialism

One of the less well-known signs of the religiosity of Socialism are the ceremonies that the faithful are obliged to attend. There are regularly scheduled and carefully orchestrated meetings (corresponding to Masses) that the observant faithful are required to attend. This requirement is particularly strict in Communist countries, where one’s career depends on due diligence. But even in countries where Socialism is still in the “Suffering” phase, ceremonies are common at meetings of the faithful. For years, meetings of the British Labor Party, a Socialist grouping under an alternative name, started with the singing of the Socialist anthem “The People’s Flag.”

The people’s flag is deepest red

It shrouded oft our martyred dead,

And ere their limbs grew stiff and cold,

Their hearts’ blood dyed its every fold.

by Jim Connell. (bit.ly/2DCNQ8X)

This “introit hymn” continues in this bloody inspirational way for several more verses with a refrain after each. I cannot think of a clearer example of fundamentalist fervor of the “Suffering” phase than singing this on a ceremonial occasion. Here Socialism is aspiring to support the “Militant” stage and the faithful are singing in preparation for the glory and sacrifice that await them as they persevere.

Other examples of inspirational activities and slogans can be garnered from the following banner depicting Lenin with the slogan “Be Prepared,” a copy of the Boy Scout motto. Lenin himself is said on the banner to be “always ready.” Ready for what? Fire and destruction as the banner suggests; or is it the Hell that is to follow?

Many images of Lenin and Stalin are threatening and bellicose; unlike the commonly-seen loving presentations of Christ, Socialist iconography is often representative of strength and striving. There is a style in art called “Socialist Realism” corresponding to the devotional style of classical Christian art of past centuries. Socialist realism was required to be: proletarian, typical, realistic and, most importantly, partisan. Much of the art of this style was pure political propaganda, although some managed to be more bucolic and traditional. Have a look at this site to see some examples of Socialist Realism (aol.it/2DxwXwh)

Other ceremonial issues involve the form of address used by Socialists. These are meant to remove titles and formalities as an ideal egalitarian society is built. The universal form “comrade” is familiar to many but has morphed in regions where Socialists are suffering while pursuing the stealthy infiltration of Progressive (Socialist) ways. Today it is often the monastic Christian term “brother,” or the more straight forward “you,” or even the first name only that Suffering Socialists use; no titles or expressions of respect such as “Sir.” The few archaic remnants such as “honorable” (?) for politicians, “doctor” for physicians, “reverend” for preachers and a few other titles associated with occupations are slowly vanishing even in non-Socialist societies. The Socialists are capturing this high ground by altering social interactions and eliminating “reactionary” civility, good manners, and any form of “bourgeois” refinement.

I think the height of risible imitation of Christianity is the gentler presentation of a “Baby Lenin” on pins and banners, probably aimed at youth groups like Young Pioneers.

Surely this is an imitation of representations of Baby Jesus in Christian iconography, after all Lenin was not a prominent Socialist at that age. This icon attempts to soften the image of the notorious revolutionary who directed the yet-to-be Soviet Union to a disastrous period of persecution, and of regression in all but military hardware. It does not identify Lenin by name but it is Lenin as a baby and everyone at the time knew it, since it was taken from acknowledged childhood pictures of Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov who became Lenin.

For those who are interested, here is a site (aol.it/2n0LVVu) that offers various pins with the Baby Lenin picture. The site also sells a collection of other Lenin memorabilia. Enjoy.

Unlike Baby Jesus, Baby Lenin grew up determined to spread his faith with fire and sword to all of Europe. Bolshevic armies mounted an invasion of Europe in 1920 but were decisively defeated at the battle of Warsaw and badly mauled in succeding battles. The Bolshevics (Communist precursors) sued for peace, and Europe was spared the subsequent horrors which took place in the Soviet Union under Communism. Less than two decades later, German National Socialism made up for this with the conquest of much of Europe and a systematic ethnic clensing of “undesirables” in the occupied parts of Europe, and a war for world dominance between 1939 and 1945. Despite the harsh reality of these events, faith in Socialism persists; today Suffering Socialism of the Soviet kind holds a dominant position in European national and EU politics.

I close these comments on religious parallels in Socialism with these largely-unknown examples of Socialist religiosity above. Socialists may not think there is anything funny or wrong in all of this, and that their ideology is nothing more than a modern point of view expressed through time-honored rituals, symbols and icons. But those who look at Socialist’s behavior from the outside will soon see it as a transnational fundamentalism that brooks no dissent, and is self-absolving of any means it choses in the pursuit of universal establishment of the “one true faith.”

Socialist Faith and Reality

Atheists among Socialists may find my characterization of Socialism as a religion to be odious. But then, many Atheists instinctively find all kinds of religions odious. Those less doctrinaire in their Atheism may find the comparison interesting. Socialism is a deep faith, demanding submission, catechization and missionary work: a kind of secular Islam with Christian overtones. As a religion, it struggles to convert or destroy infidels where ever they may try to hide.

The essential difference between the Socialist faith and almost all God-accepting religions is important to understand. Religions foresee paradise where an idyllic existence awaits the deserving faithful in an afterlife. Christianity requires faith but does not promise either suffering or paradise in the setting we inhabit on Earth. Socialism on the other hand rejects God and all that a soul’s destiny entails: heaven or hell in an afterlife, a future that most religions postulate for each individual soul. In place of this, Socialism makes a promise of a prolonged physical struggle to achieve a future human-designed earthly paradise, after all Socialist ideals have been realized.

Unfortunately, in the pursuit of their ideals, Socialists are forced to disobey the laws of nature. They dismiss individualism and self-reliance as harmful and try to suppress it. They disregard the need of industrial and government enterprises or programs to generate a profit. Government services are never priced to cover their costs, let alone produce a profit so improvements can be funded in future. Instead, Socialist governments promise to supply all the needs of an ever-increasing portion of their decreasingly self-reliant citizens as if there is no limit to national resources. This places an ever-increasing tax burden on a diminishing number of self-reliant individuals and enterprises that create new wealth. Natural law foresees either growth, stasis or extinction. Increasing expenditures in the face of decreasing income is a recipe for extinction.

Socialists are fundamentally unrealistic about human nature and nature in general. Christianity faces reality by admitting and accepting the persistence of sin and human fallibility, and has learned to accept many of the advances in our understanding of our natural environment. Socialism however does not tolerate ideological failure, and considers earthly reality to be whatever it wishes to declare. Socialist citizens are expected to sacrifice themselves and seek perfection in the pursuit of their faith, a fundamentalist religious point of view that Socialists apply to a godless world. Socialist goals, when applied to a physical world but ignoring human nature and natural laws, have been the cause of Socialist-regime failures time and again, in a number of countries; and yet this faith survives.

There is a reason for this: Socialism prays on human frailties and wishful thinking. It plays to these weaknesses of our imaginative species. It is also uncompromising in its beliefs. But the attractions of Socialist policies, no matter how well-meaning they may sound, often lead to conflict with reality and result in disaster. Natural law and reality will inevitably prevail in the world we inhabit, to the surprise, chagrin and even despair of Socialist faithful.

Much of what I have written may be familiar to the reader: it may also present some lesser known but undeniable facts. The salient point of the essay is this: Socialists intend to set up a society which will be ruled as a godless theocracy. That might be the ultimate oxymoron!