Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Evangelical
Red Shirts Don’t Justify Brown Shirts

Red Shirts Don’t Justify Brown Shirts

Last updated on: August 3, 2019 at 3:30 pm by John Mark N. Reynolds

Red Shirts Don’t Justify Brown Shirts 2019-08-03T15:30:41-04:00 John Mark N. Reynolds

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

“There is no longer any political question at issue here. This thing cannot be judged or estimated by political rules or principles. It is Iniquity under a political mask. It is not something to be brought before the bar of world history but rather something that has to be dealt with by the judicial administration of each country.”*

Imagine facing communism on your border. Millions are murdered. The Revolution justifies any evil and is spending millions of rubles to import Revolution to your nation. What could be worse?

Nothing could be worse, seemingly, and so normal discourse must be suspended. Everything is possible. Communism is such a fearsome foe that nothing could be more vile, degenerate, wicked.

So the speaker said in rallies memorialized in a book of reflections on threat of the Bolsheviks.

A Christian must pause. Bolshevism is evil, so twisted that nuns must die.

Meet a Bolsheviki even in today’s American colleges and soon the discussion of how many of us must die will start. How many of the old order must perish to bring on the Utopia? Of course, the Utopia never comes and millions die so the rest can live in grinding totalitarian misery. Inquiry has come under a political mask.

We must suspend the rules of our fathers and mothers, the polite policies of peaceful periods, to counter the Red Shirts. There is no longer a “political question at issue here.” This is justice. So said the speaker and millions of highly literate Christian people believed. Only the Soviet stooges and the Catholics resisted en masse for any length of time.

Things got better. The communist threat ended, the economy boomed, and all was well. Indeed, all was more than well as the government made holidays affordable, cleaned up the environment, and finally dealt with the punks who had roiled the streets.

And yet, as some have guessed, nothing was good, truth vanished, and beauty gave way to gigantism. The quotation that opens this little piece is from a sort of scholar, he had a serious degree, Jospeh Goebbels, Hitler’s academic, propagandist, and one of the most vile men who ever lived. Millions on millions died, especially Jewish people.

Dr. Goebbels cut ethical and political corners, the times were dangerous, and the Brown Shirts ended up as bad as the Red Shirts. The difference? Those who followed him who rightly hated Bolshevism ended up doing vile deeds equal or worse than those done by those they loathed. Dropping principles for political gain turned out to be, as the Jewish sages warned us, a failed philosophy that left compromised these false “conservatives” forever.

Of course, my argument is not merely that Dr. Goebbels was smart, evil, and deceptive and so all his ideas are bad. He was “smart” and certainly evil, but after all, he might have had a good idea or accidentally agreed with one. I am not merely saying that to agree with Dr. Goebbels shows one is wrong, though if one sides with Dr. Goebbels against the consensus of Christian ethics, one should pause if one is a Christian and consider that one may be evil.

Millions died for the regime he justified.

Instead, my case is that his argument is bad, as bad as his character and that is very bad, and so set up his evil deeds. Dr. Goebbels claimed the times were so bad that the rules must be suspended. Evil men always claim this and it seems right because the times are always bad. There is always some threat that can justify anything.

The message of Christianity is that martyrdom is better than compromise with injustice. Ethical rules cannot change: better to die than to tell a lie.

We cannot do evil that good may come nor do evil to avoid evil. We all fail, we all must repent.

Why?

Truth endures. Truth is so mighty that we must pray for mercy. Any regime that embraces lies to win for some deeper truth cannot corrupt the truth they claim to serve, but they are corrupted. Lies, intentional lies to win, do not damage the truth for which they are told, but they destroy the soul of the man who tells them.

When we fudge the truth, quibble and qualify to win, then the truth becomes our foe. Ask Oedipus. If we don’t abide in the Truth, the we shall find the truth and the truth will blind us and kill all we love. Better martyrdom than compromise with lies.

God save me.

God save the Republic.

——————————————-

*Communism with the Mask Off Goebbels, Joseph.

Apologetics

Culture

Spiritual Reflections

Previous Post

July 30, 2019

Patience at the Play (Pericles) or Joy serves the Patient

Next Post

August 1, 2019 She is Best (On Being Best)

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Apologetics Art Culture Education On Books On Education Philosophy Politics Pop Culture Spiritual Reflections Uncategorized

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 July 2025 June 2025 September 2024 July 2024 June 2024 December 2023 June 2023 September 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

To which country was Joseph taken as a slave?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Midian Egypt Canaan Babylon

Books by This Author John Mark Reynolds

See All Titles »