In the egotistical tunnel vision of these men who sought to dethrone God there flamed the phantom hope that somehow they may have made the discovery of the ages. Nietzsche made a studied attempt to assume the proper humility which he felt was becoming to such a genius as himself. Said he, “Great heavens!” Who has any idea of the burden that weighs upon me and the strength that it takes to endure myself! I don’t know why it should fall upon me of all people—but it may be that I am the first to light upon an idea which will divide the history of mankind in two…. It takes some courage to face that thought.”
The Fruits of Materialism
But it took more courage than Nietzsche realized. His writings groaned with the burden: “Since there ceased to be a God, loneliness has become intolerable.” But then he bolstered his timidity by reminding himself that after all he was a superman and resolved that he, as “the man who overtops the rest must set to work.”{243}
But if there is no God, no design, and nothing for the future but an accidental destiny, what is there to work for? In the dark hours of his anti-theistic reasoning and just a short time before he went insane, Nietzsche could not help asking himself:
“How did we come to do that? How did we manage to empty the sea? Who gave us a sponge to wipe out the whole horizon? What were we about when we undid the chain which linked this earth to the sun? Are we not wandering through an endless nothingness? Do we not feel the breath of the void in our faces? Isn’t it growing colder? Is not night always coming on, one night after another, more and more?”{244}
Such was the final, fearful lamentation of the men who started the chain-reaction of pure materialism.
Now we have reached an interesting point in the history of the United States when the word “Communism” has become universally unpopular. If the label of Communism is placed upon a person or an institution it may bring ruin overnight. The disgraceful conduct of Communist leaders has given their name a deep-dyed stigma in the United States.
Communists Without Labels
But how many Americans could recognize a Communist without his label? What does a Communist really believe? Most people identify Communism as “state-ownership of property” or Socialism. It is interesting, however, that the economics of Communism are primarily for propaganda purposes. The idea of sharing the wealth appeals to the masses. However, when the Communists took over in Russia you will recall that the first thing they did was impose upon the Russian people a form of economics which we got rid of back in the feudal days. It is a system where a privileged few dispense the necessities of life to the serfs who work for them and rely upon them for protection and leadership.
But if Communist economics are primarily propaganda, what, then, does the Communist believe?
In the interest of time I have endeavored to reduce the basic belief of these people to four fundamental concepts which turn out to be the basis for their philosophy. These beliefs are the heart and soul of dialectical materialism. They pretend to provide a complete explanation for the whole universe. They provide the reasoning which gives an excuse to the Communist for his revolutionary violence and amoral conduct. They are the things which convert a few intellectual people to this foreign ideology, and they are the things which even make a few wealthy people think that Communism is the last great hope of the modern world. Understanding these beliefs helps to evaluate the actions of the Communists when we sit down with them to discuss world problems.
First Major Premise of Communism
Their first major premise is this: “Everything in existence came about as a result of ceaseless motion among the forces of nature.” Everything is a product of accumulated accident. There is no design. There is no law. There is no God. There is only force, the force of nature. Force is right, force is good, and force is natural.
The idea of “dialectics” as propounded by the Communist intellectual is that “conflict in nature” is the womb of all creation; that out of fierce, writhing forces in the elements we obtained all that now is—stars, solar system, plants, animals and the intelligence of man.
When these dialectical materialists first tried to tell me that everything in the universe was the result of force and accident, I could not help but recall the teachings of my high school chemistry professor who said that the major premise of science is recognition of the fact that there is order in the universe resulting from intelligent design. He pointed out that the mission of the scientist is to explore and discover the engineering principles followed by the Master Architect so that these can be used as a blessing for mankind. In other words, the very foundation of science is the recognition of an intelligent designer who used principles which we ourselves can discover and use.
The followers of Marx are so desperately anxious to over-throw the recognition of God that they have denied that there is any design in the universe. They refuse to admit that there is order, law, or an intelligent creator behind the phenomena of nature. They say all of these things are the product of accumulated accident. I wonder what my chemistry professor would say to that? These materialists claim o’ glorify the name of science and to march under its banner, but, in their anxiety to discredit and repudiate God, they have openly denied the very things which science has demonstrated.
Second Major Premise
Now here is their second major premise: “Human beings are only graduate beasts,” and therefore human life is no more sacred than that of a centipede, a caterpillar or a pig. The completely reckless disregard for human life is the most striking, single characteristic of “materialism in action.” For many Americans, the things which were experienced in the Korean War have brought a rude awakening. It means a big difference when we are dealing with people who look upon all humanity as merely “graduate beasts.”
Third Major Premise
The third major premise of Communism is this: “There is no such thing as innate right or wrong.” As one of their leaders pointedly declared, “To lie, is that wrong? Not for a good cause. To steal, is that wrong? Not for a good cause. To kill, is that wrong? Not for a good cause.” We can that pragmatism—that the end justifies the means. The dialectical materialists look upon ethics and morals as superficial and fraudulent. V. I. Lenin declared: “The upbringing of Communist youth must not consist of all sorts of sentimental speeches and precepts.” And in the same volume he states that “Morality is that which serves to destroy the old exploiting society…. Communist morality is the morality which serves this struggle.”{245}
It is highly important to Communist discipline to have every person obey blindly. To obey blindly is considered good and therefore morally right. But a system of morals which controls conduct in terms of right and wrong makes each individual a moral free agent. This, Communism cannot stand.
Fourth Major Premise
The fourth major premise of Communism is “That all religion must be overthrown because it inhibits the spirit of world revolution.” It was the feeling of Marx, Engels and their fellow travelers that the deep spiritual convictions of the people hindered their acceptance of Communist philosophy and Communist rule. It kept them from capturing the revolutionary spirit. It kept them from lying and stealing and killing when leaders commanded it. As one of their writers declared: “Religion does not fit into a dialectical materialist system of thought. It is the enemy of it. One cannot be a thorough materialist, that is, a dialectical materialist, and have any remnants of religious beliefs.”{246} Marx said: “Religion is the opium of the people,” and as we have pointed out previously, it became a prime objective of the Communist Manifesto to overthrow “all religions.”