The Garden of Marxism (I mean, Eden)

(Image courtesy of https://www.insightforliving.ca.)

Assuming you are aware of the current trends and talking points in today's world, I will jump right into the conversation. What prompted me to write this piece was that I was challenged by a few people in recent weeks to become more informed and more educated about the Black Lives Matter movement because I wouldn't view them "as the enemy" if I only understood more about them. Each person seemed to think that if I was more enlightened, I would see the justification for one class's anger and violence.

To be blunt, if you, dear reader, really want to be informed, study Marxism. That is the system of thought that is being promulgated around the nation right now. Marxism (which really dates back to the Garden of Eden) teaches that the disagreements between the classes and the cause of social conflict is because power, wealth, and opportunity is unequally shared or distributed.

I say this began in the Garden because it did. Actually, it goes back in time before creation. The devil - formerly, Lucifer - did not like his lesser position in God's kingdom; so, he rebelled, the Bible tells us. In just manner, God punished Lucifer, casting him out of heaven. He then, of course, came to the new world that God had made and corrupted Adam and Eve. He tempted Adam with power, Eve with control. He said, "God is holding out on you. But if you just eat this fruit, you will be just like him. His power and control will be equally shared with you." Adam and Eve took the bait. This is not fairy tale; this is real, truthful, historical fact.

This is the main problem with Marxism: it doesn't hold individuals responsible for sin. It can't. It views people as victims of others. If a victim - one who has less power, less wealth, less opportunity than someone else - steals, for instance, that is justifiable. If a victim wants what someone else has, it is justifiable because they don't have as much and they obviously need it. If a victim lashes out in anger against their oppressor, it is justifiable because they have been wrongfully oppressed. This is the nonsensical teaching of Marxism. It is also the fundamental problem with all people. None of us wants to take responsibility for our sins; we all want to pass the buck.

This is what Adam did. God asked Adam why he rebelled. Adam said, "She did it. I'm just a victim." God asked Eve why she rebelled. Eve said, "The devil made me do it. I'm an innocent victim of his lies." What was God's response? He punished all three of them because all of them disobeyed God. Each one was held personally responsible for their sins, regardless of the circumstances or however they wanted to justify their wrong actions.

This is part of the problem with the current Marxist system of thought that is subtly (or not so subtly) at work in today's culture: some sins are justifiable. This is where the Word of God steps in and gives us an objective view of the world. Sin is sin. Sin is never justifiable. But here's what many people want you to believe: if a person with power and authority (i.e., a police officer) kills a person without that equal authority, it is always murder. If a person without power and authority kills one that is in a position of power and authority, well, that's always understandable. They have obviously been mistreated so long that we can't possibly expect them to bear it any longer.

If you saw my qualifiers of always you probably can guess the point I'm making. Rather than look at individual scenarios, some people want to lump all cases together, make it an oppressor versus a victim situation, and call for reform. The issues are far more complex than that.

What's the solution, then? From the sociologists down to the common man, the buzzword is empathy. I have heard it touted so much lately. We just need to listen, we just need to understand why people with less power are so angry, then we will be able to say, "Oh yes, you just go right ahead and burn down your Wendy's, you just go right ahead and murder that police officer, you just go right ahead and make all your demands. We understand. You've been mistreated, you're angry, so everything you want is justifiable. We will listen to you because we have no authority to speak to your experiences; you know more about it than we do." This is breeding ground for absolute anarchy.

Let me pause and quickly affirm that no one in their right mind will actually say that burning down a Wendy's is okay or that shooting a police officer is okay. What people will say, however, is that they can see why people would do such a thing. So, I ask you, "What's the difference?" You have given justification to their actions by saying you can understand why they would do such a thing. If all you have is empathy to offer, then all you can do is be an innocent bystander, watching sins be committed against others because some people with less power and wealth have decided enough is enough.

Here's the point: sin is sin. There is never a justifiable reason for sin! Sin is always rebellion against God at its core. Is there ever a time when one can be justified in sinning against God?

Proponents of social justice organizations want to make this a black and white issue (referring to skin color), but they can't. That is because power and authority are not inherent to your skin color, even though the generalizations are that it is. These groups and their friends also assume that authority is inherently wrong and that we should all just live equally with each other and then there will be peace. News flash: people have tried this throughout history and it never has worked. Why? Because by nature we are sinners and sinners need restraint provided by authority. The first authority is God, but he gave authority to humans as well to help them govern and subdue the world (in all seriousness, what a gift of grace that was!).

The first restraint God gave was our consciences. Our consciences either accuse us of wrongs that we commit or it excuses wrongs that we commit. We each have a responsibility to sharpen our consciences according to truth. We see an immediate problem: if you deny objective moral truth then you can't sharpen your conscience and pretty soon anything goes.

The second restraint is the family, particularly parents. Parents are to teach their children what is right and what is wrong. This calls for a submission to objective truth given by God, and for parents to teach, discipline, and instruct their children. When parents don't do this, and instead redirect, appease, and pacify, they are not restraining that sinful nature that is built-in to all boys and girls; they are denying its reality and not offering what is needed. This is the first sharpener, if you will, of a child's conscience and awareness of truth.

The third restraint given by God is government. This restraint is particularly what Marxism is against. Why are we at this stage in America? Because we have already, as a culture, seared our consciences with relative truth and long since disregarded our parents as authorities to obey. Now we come to rebellion against the third restraint: government, which includes police, with unbridled, self-justified hostility. Instead of viewing government's authority as instituted by God for society's good (which is its inception and purpose by God), government now becomes a form of oppression that causes the problems in society. In reality, a lack of restraint by our own consciences (i.e., the sin nature) is the root of all problems, but we've already long ago blown through that restraint.

The fourth and final restraint is the church. God has always kept a remnant of believers throughout history to call the general population back to truth. But when all other restraints are done away with, even this final restraint will be turned against and trampled upon with justifiable hatred and anger.

There is so much more I could say on this matter. In closing I will say this: to those who say I need to educate myself more on the history of oppression and victimization in America, I say I am well-educated in the human condition already. I don't need any more education to inform my mind of the truth. The current movement that is gaining so much ground so fast is not biblical, good, or worth marching for. Marxism is a hellish doctrine that replaces the biblical teaching of human depravity with the false teaching that man's sins are justifiable. This is why I keep saying that there is only one solution to man's problem: the gospel. Unless the gospel brings about life change, we will never see societal change. The gospel brings reconciliation between all people, regardless of color, creed, or confession. You can put band-aids on the wound, but the only salve that will heal the foundational and problematic infection is the gospel: the gospel alone has the power to transform all people, since all people - both those in authority and those under it - are sinners. The gospel of God in Christ Jesus is our only hope. Stand upon that, church, and leave your race theory books on the shelves.

"Just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, so death came to all people, for all have sinned" (Romans 5:12).