Nena Arias | February 14, 2022
“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”
(Psalm 14:1)
Since the fall of Adam and Eve into sin and their removal from paradise—the Garden of Eden—humans have tried their best to recreate a utopia on their own, to no avail. Great nations and empires have risen with that idea in mind. Yet the ruins of those empires and the misery they left behind of what was once the picture of greatness are now the testimony of their failure.
The 20th Century allowed us to witness the failed promises of those who said they could establish an earthly paradise through Marxism-Leninism and Nazism, two opposing ideologies with a common goal. Their idea of paradise not only led millions into untold misery but also caused the death of more than 100 million lives.
Why people still don’t get it or refuse to believe that the aspirations of a paradise that Marxism-Leninism offered through their ideology are now in full swing in China, North Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Cuba, and other nations, is beyond me. There is no doubt that China’s vision is clearly to dominate the world by implementing its “marvelous paradise” ideology of misery, death, and oppression. Believe it or not, some still believe it can be done this way. It’s as absurd as thinking that you can plant poison ivy and harvest beautiful fragrant roses.
This is not to say that the western world is not guilty of also promising to establish a social paradise. Especially during presidential elections, one need only to hear the speeches of how candidates promise to create lasting and superior prosperity to that of previous administrations. However, the real problem does not lie in the promises of the candidates but in the people who hear them and actually believe them. The mental blindness of most people causes them to only want to hear those promises of paradise; they totally bypass the fact that civil government has never generated prosperity—people do.
With even a small degree of critical thinking we could see the faults and disqualify them for mental blindness, lack of wisdom, having read too many books on utopia and believed all that Hollywood has dished out.
Politicians know perfectly well that people want to have health care, food, housing, social security, national security, education, and many other basic needs provided for them. In their speeches they (politicians) prey on these needs to appeal for votes; they proceed to say that once they are in power their economic plan will meet those needs. The only plan to accomplish this is to increase taxes and determine the limit of prosperity people can generate for themselves. This is delightful to their listeners without realizing they are witnessing the implementation of the Marxist economic philosophy which affirms:
From each according to his ability; to each according to his need.
What we should seriously ask ourselves is how is it possible that people can believe this socialist economical proposal can be accomplished?
This shortsightedness and deficiency are since most people have developed a wrong worldview about true values that are found in hard work, self-sufficiency, family, personal responsibility, and accountability. Also, people have been falsely led to believe that they have a right to the fruit of other people’s labor. This type of paradise is nothing more than stealing from some to give to others and the best instrument to accomplish that is the government. This is what excites the crowds, and they loudly applaud whenever a political candidate promises them these things with great eloquence; they chose to ignore the facts or to see between the lines that what happens in Marxist-socialist nations is the same disastrous fate that will come upon them. America will not be the exception.
William J. Boetcker (1873-1962) was born in Germany and later came to live in the United States. He was an ordained Presbyterian minister and was known as a conservative politician. He wrote a brochure titled, ‘The Ten Cannots’:
“You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift. You cannot help small men by tearing down big men. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong. You cannot lift the wage-earner by pulling down the wage-payer. You cannot help the poor man by destroying the rich. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred. You cannot establish security on borrowed money. You cannot build character and courage by taking away men’s initiative and independence. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do for themselves.”
Boetcker’s wisdom alone knocks out the wind in the sails of Marxism.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), third President of the United States and the patron saint of today’s leftist liberals declared the following,
“[A] wise and frugal government… shall restrain men from injuring one another, shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned.”
It’s very evident this declaration is not in step with today’s politicians who promise a much-desired paradise to the nation. What is clear in Jefferson’s declaration is that government should remove its hand where it is causing harm. He is saying that the energy and ingenuity in people should be set free to produce according to everyone’s talents and abilities.
It is understandable that people who do not believe the Christian faith will believe politician’s promises because they are ignorant of the biblical worldview. But it is quite another thing for Christians to believe these false promises; this is a direct offense to God. Jesus declared that the kingdom of God had arrived, and He demonstrated it with signs and wonders; reminding Israel as well as other nations, that to receive the progress and prosperity we so desire we must obey the statutes established by God; there is no other way.
When was the last time you read Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28? Read them again and pay close attention to what God blesses and what He curses. Study these chapters in depth and you will see the plan God has laid out to assure us a much-desired paradise. You will abandon once and for all the ideas of the paradise of the deceived. Besides God’s plan, there is no other hope for the survival and future of the Western World.