Twentieth-century western democracy and communism were, in a sense, two sides of the same coin. In both, there was an unquestioning acceptance of the atheistic anthropocentric views of the Enlightenment, and these views were carried through to their logical conclusions.
On both sides of the iron curtain, the major shortcoming was a failure to realize that, when all is said and done, man is fallen and therefore selfish. If there had been a uniform recognition in the nineteenth century that man is morally corrupt, socialism would never have been seriously entertained as a political theory. If man is corrupt, there can be no socialism, because socialism is based upon the premise that man is inherently good.
In both the west and the east, the predominant world view has been materialistic and humanistic, and to a large extent, at least until recently, this view was held with a closed mind in both cultures. Alternative views were ruled out a priori, and denied public expression. In the east, this censorship was governmental, and in the west, it was through the media, which publicized its own materialistic party line, with very little room for the expression of alternative views.
Communist governments did not allow for the free exercise of religion, although these governments claimed, through their propaganda, that they did so. In the United States, the first amendment to the Constitution was used to restrict freedom of speech and freedom of religion, even though it once guaranteed these very freedoms. "Separation of Church and State," while once a guarantee of religious freedom, became a slogan used to silence those who questioned the predominately materialistic world views of the culture. The American Civil "Liberties" Union was a tool in the hands of the enemies of freedom to silence freedom of speech, even though it claimed that its purpose was to uphold such freedoms. This bore a marked similarity to the governmental censorship behind the iron curtain which also claimed to grant the freedoms it denied.
The avowed aim of both democracy and communism was ultimate happiness for society. Yet, in the quest for happiness and material security, both societies became depressed, angry, stress-filled, and disillusioned.
None of this should be surprising to us as Christians. When there is a collective repudiation of the Christian Gospel, the result is misery. When there is repentance and a reaffirmation of Truth, then there can be happiness. As the east and the west continue to recognize that they have erred from the trail of Truth blazed by their fathers, they will once again find fulfillment and joy at the foot of the cross of Jesus Christ.1
1 On the general subject of Christianity and Communism, the following books should be consulted: Klaus Blockmhl, The Challenge of Marxism: A Christian Response (Downers Grove, Ill.: Inter-Varsity Press, 1980); Lester DeKoster, Communism and Christian Faith (Grand Rapids, Mich.: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1956); Thomas O. Kay, The Christian Answer to Communism (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan Publishing House, 1961); Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, The Thailand Report on Marxists (Wheaton, Ill.: Lausanne Committee for World Evangelization, 1980); David Lyon, Karl Marx: A Christian Assessment of His Life and Thought (Downers Grove, Ill.: Inter- Varsity Press, 1979); Hans-Lutz Ptsch, Marxism and Christianity (St. Louis, Mo.: Concordia Publishing House, 1973); Frank Wilson Price, Marx Meets Christ (Philadelphia, Pa.: The Westminster Press, 1957); Edward Rogers, The Christian Approach to the Communist (London: Edinburgh House Press, 1959); Chester E. Tulga, The Case Against Communism (Chicago: Good News Publishers, 1949).
