We have thus far seen how the Communists can twist the truth to convince those seeking a worldly, ‘good’ life to follow the Communist theology. That effort to twist the truth not only applies to Russia and its satellites but to a nation that was founded on Godly principles only to put them aside to meet wants that are void of restrictions. Here is a situation I came across recently that is a clear twisting of the truth…and it happened right here in the United States. On New Year’s Day in 2019, a new law went into effect in New York City, enabling adults to change the gender on their own birth certificates from ‘M’ or ‘F’ to ‘X’, if they so desired. No medical documentation was required. Parents of newborns could also choose ‘X’ for the gender of their baby. Mayor Bill DeBlasio celebrated with the declaration: “You be you. Live your truth. Know that New York City will have your back”. (Daniel Trotta, “New York City creates gender-neutral ‘X’ option for birth certificates”, Reuters, October 9, 2018, https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-lgbt-new-york/new-york-city-creates-gender-neutral-x-option-for-birth-certificates-idUSKCN1MJ2OP). The Bible tells us: “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.” (Genesis 1:27) He told them to be fruitful and multiply. Apparently, the mayor believes he has power and authority to override God’s intentions with creation. This week we will see how a Communist demigod came to feel he had the same authority. One does not have to be an out and out Communist to be a tyrant, but it helps.
By 1958 Khrushchev had officially declared himself head of the Communist Party and supreme dictator of all Russia. He had some cold, hard facts to face but for a man who held no value for life, they were not problems he could not overcome. The Iron Curtain was surrounded by NATO and SEATO defense bases with atomic warheads zeroed in to discourage Communist aggression. Mao and Chou, the Red Chinese leaders, were becoming increasingly defiant, critical and independent. It was taking more than six million soldiers and secret police behind the Iron Curtain so as to give the appearance of ‘domestic tranquility’. Russia had worn out her good offices in the UN and was beginning to feel the united pressure of the Western Bloc. Continued unrest in the satellites required large Red Army garrisons to be stationed in each of them since the local armies were likely to join any uprising as they had done in Hungary. On top of that there was also serious unrest in the Red Army where deep resentment against Khrushchev’s ruthless political decapitation of Marshal Zhukov still existed. Khrushchev also faced the unpleasant fact that the Red economy was not in any position to pay for foreign trade because it was constantly operating on the brink of bankruptcy. There was also the constant fear of possible regrouping by disgruntled Red leaders to oust him just as he had ousted Malenkov and Bulganin. He decided to boost his personal political status by forcing the United States to honor him with an invitation to visit America.
Ever since 1955, Khrushchev had tried to get the United States to invite him to America. Finally, he decided to accomplish it by creating a crisis over Berlin. In 1958 he issued an ultimatum that America and her allies must get out of West Berlin by a certain date, or he would turn the Communist East Germans loose on them. It was a flagrant violation of all existing treaties, but then to a Communist leader that meant nothing. President Eisenhower assured him that any efforts to force the allies out of West Berlin would be met with military force. Khrushchev immediately said he didn’t really want war and thought the whole situation…the one that he created…could be worked out amicably if he came to the US and talked it over with the President. Bringing the Communist leader to the US, Eisenhower felt that such a visit might impress Khrushchev with the power of the US and deter the dictator from any hasty military action. Khrushchev thus became the first Russian ruler ever to visit the United States.
American strategists on Communism problems immediately warned that a serious tactical error was being made. In a testimony before a Congressional Committee, Eugene Lyons, a senior editor of The Readers Digest, a biographer of Khrushchev, and a former press correspondent in Russia, called the visit a victory for communism. “It’s a childish fairy tale. The Communists in high places are perfectly well informed about our material prosperity and political freedom. Khrushchev is not coming here to confirm his knowledge of our strengths, but to feel out our weaknesses.” Trying to impress the Communist leader is political innocence carried to the extreme. He “is one of the bloodiest tyrants extant. He has come to power over mountains of corpses. Those of us who roll out red carpets for him will soon have red faces.” (The Crimes of Khrushchev, House Committee on Un-American Activities, 1959, Part 1, pg. 3). All the while, the Soviets were jamming the Voice of America broadcasts and were dealing with the flight of thousands of refugees from satellite states.
So how did the visit go? The Communist Party in the United States came boldly out into the open. It began a new recruiting program. It openly attacked the House Committee on Un-American Activities and marked the FBI for early dismantling if it succeeded in destroying the Congressional Committees. Convicted Communist from Hollywood cells moved back into the cinema capital and boldly began writing, producing, and propagandizing through multi-million dollar productions. The leadership of the Communist Party announced the launching of a nationwide Communist youth movement. Predictions of a bad decision started to become obvious. Communists in Japan, Southeast Asia, India, Africa, Cuba, Central and South America all felt they had the ‘green light’ to move in and take control. When it came time for President Eisenhower to return the visit, the Russian leader looked disparately for an excuse to avoid a visit. Then an excuse dropped into Khrushchev’s lap right out of the sky.
On May 1, 1960, Francis G. Powers, piloting an unarmed U-2 jet reconnaissance plane, was captured 1,200 miles inside Russia. While Russia claimed they had shot it down with a new inventory rocket, later evidence revealed the problem was engine flameout. Khrushchev professed outraged indignation, critizing the ‘morals’ of the American leaders for spying and denounced the U-2 incident as an act of aggression. He cancelled the President’s visit and used the incident to scuttle the Paris Summit Conference. Americans were in a quandary over the possibility of the US actually spying on another nation. U-2 photographs had revealed that Russian defenses were wide open to massive retaliatory attack. Finally, the President agreed that there would be no more U-2 flights, because the United States would soon have other means of staying informed about Russian bases.
At this point the United States had ‘dodged a bullet’ but how much longer could it hold out? Where were the churches when all of this was going on? People are smart enough to split the atom, but they lack the wisdom not to build atomic bombs. People are smart enough to invent all kinds of industries and technologies, but they lack the wisdom not to pollute the planet. People are smart enough to create functioning governments, and societies and universities, but they lack the wisdom to prevent war and terrorism. We go to church to learn about God’s will for our nation, our person, our family, and our society. When we fail in carrying out God’s will, we pray that God will intervene, correct our failure, and provide forgiveness. We act as though it is almost automatic. But if you read through the Scriptures, you will find that prayer can delay judgment, but preaching hastens it. Sometime what a nation needs is judgment. Today we have a world threat that cares not about human life, only power and control. We may think that power resides in some faraway land. That greed and power desire lies within the plans Satan has for this world. His minions will lie, cheat, and steal to gain that power. Satan and his followers are not comfortable resting until they control the world, and they know that God’s church stands in the way. It is important that the church instruct us on God’s Word and Will, but we must also be instructed on the threats that exist in the world and be encouraged to stand up to those threats. Had the church not been destroyed in the Soviet Union could such tyrants as Khrushchev been able to come to power? Throughout history, prayer and the willingness to take a stand has restored man to his God given position in society. We still have Marxist/Stalinist/Khrushehevist in today’s world and their goals have not changed. Some of them even exist in our own government. They go by a name the public can find more acceptable, but the damage they want to bring on free people has not changed. We cannot rely on the government to educate or warn us on such threats.
Next week we will continue to trace the efforts by Communists to dominate and control the world. They will not back down, and neither can Christians. If we don’t take a stand, we are in for a major fall. God will help, but we must be willing to take a stand.
-Bob Munsey
“Politics is the gentle art of getting votes from the poor and campaign funds from the rich, by promising to protect each from the other.” Oscar Ameringer, “The Mark Twain of American Socialism”
Geezer Politics 