How to Convince Your Neighbor Marxism is Bad for America (A Starter Kit)

Karl Marx’s thought has proven itself an unmitigated disaster in its historical instantiations. The primary reason is that Marxism offers itself as an alternative to God’s revelation and salvation in Christ. It offers an immanent salvation via social action and stands ready to persecute those who stand in its way.

Untethered as it is from a biblical framework, Marxism’s drive for “equality” becomes an idol and a weapon in the hands of an increasingly strong and oppressive state. But no idol can bear the weight of our eschatological hopes and dreams. Thus, if we wish to see members of every social sector, ethnic heritage, and economic class flourish together, it will not be through the implementation of socialist ideology. It will only come when something greater—Someone greater—is on the throne. And in the meantime, in this time before Christ returns, we will need to work through other means to seek the common good and flourishing of our nation.

Although some Americans may still think Marxism collapsed with the fall of the Wall, it did not. It remains alive and well, serving as a polarizing phenomenon not only globally but also in our own nation. Moreover, Marxist patterns of thought can be found now not only in economics, but also in gender, sex, and race theory.

Given the resurgence in Marxism, I’ve gathered a few of the articles I’ve published recently, linking to each article and giving a summary of its contents. Taken together, these articles serve as a sort of “starter kit” for explaining why Marxist patterns of thought are bad for our nation, bad for our institutions, and bad for individuals.

• 10 Books That Reveal the Idolatrous Nature of Marxism: Here are ten books I recommend for people who wish to understand the idolatrous nature of Marxism and its corrosive effects on individuals and societies. I describe each book and rank its level of difficulty on a scale of 1-5, with 5 being the most difficult. 

• How Marxism Persecutes Us in the Depths of Our Souls: In this article, I explore the cold and calculated regularity with which Christians were tortured and murdered under Marxist regimes, concluding that this track record should serve as a warning to us. Citizens who accept component parts of the Marxist program will most likely eventually—and to their great detriment—accept the entire ideology. 

• Solzhenitsyn on the One Thing Marxism Can’t Control—The Soul: Here, I summarize some of the most important passages in Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag Archipelago. In particular, this article focuses on Solzhenitsyn’s argument that Marxism disarms a nation spiritually.

• Why Marxism is The Opium of the Intellectuals: This article explores two significant passages in French philosopher Raymond Aron’s The Opium of the Intellectuals. Taken together, the two chapters argue that Marxism is more of a secular religion than it is a scientific theory and that its central claims fail the tests of history and logic.

• Why Marxism Fails as a Substitute for Christianity: Here, I summarize approvingly the writings of Romanian historian and philosopher Mircea Eliade, who reveals how Marxism offers itself as a substitute for Christianity and how it fails miserably as a surrogate. In particular, Eliade criticizes Marx’s historical determinism and its inability to explain, or give meaning to, the suffering we experience in life.

• Why Marxism is an Acid Bath that Corrodes the Christian View of Justice & Liberation: Here, I argue that Christians must indeed seek justice and liberation, but only with Christian ends and via Christian means. Although Karl Marx intended to help the poor, his atheistic understanding of history and humanity fostered a heretical program of salvation which has not only failed to “save” the societies where it has been implemented but has suppressed society and induced widespread poverty.

• Hannah Arendt on How to Spot (and Resist) Authoritarian and Totalitarian Leaders and Movements: This article offers some of the “best hits” quotes from The Origins of Totalitarianism and The Human Condition, written by Jewish political philosopher Hannah Arendt. Arendt was a Nazi dissident who was arrested and interrogated, but eventually released. She fled to Germany and was stateless for nearly two decades until she became an American citizen.

• The Religious Problem with Socialism: Here, I describe several varieties of Marxism before arguing that it is idolatrous and that its effects on a society are pervasively negative.

• How Socialism Suppresses Society: This article links to a talk given at SEBTS by political scientist David Koyzis, on “How Socialism Suppresses Society.”

• What Should We Make of the Democratic Socialists of America? Here, I summarize and criticize the platform of the Democratic Socialists of America.