On my last visit to Ukraine, I stayed in a lovely home—more accurately, I stayed in what once was a lovely home.

As Communism descended on the country following WW II, the Socialists determined it wasn’t right for a single family to have a nicer home than other families. So, they seized the home, divided it haphazardly into three apartments and two flats, and left the original owners homeless—their just due for the inequitable oppression they created by having a nice house.

My quarters had a rudimentary kitchen, a bath with no heat, a bedroom, and a monstrous ballroom with parquet flooring, a grand fireplace, and nothing in it. Socialist-Communism has no use for a ballroom, dancing, and celebration for the masses.

At the end of my work day, a cab driver dropped me at the corner under a dim streetlight. From there, I made my way up a broken, trash-strewn sidewalk. There was no money nor resolve for infrastructure.

Pushing open the front door, I stepped into the foyer. Dead ahead a door had been installed in the hall and an apartment created. On my left was a sweeping staircase—not that I could see it. I knew it was there from seeing it during the daylight, but even then, it was a shadowy hulk. Light bulbs were too precious to waste on a foyer.

My apartment was on the second floor. Counting my steps until I reached the landing, I angled across until my outstretched hand bumped the wall. Then, rubbing the wall until I found my door, I felt for the lock, fumbled with the key, and entered my quarters. Waving my arm in the air, I flailed until I felt the string attached to the overhead light. The bulb blinked, then fluoresced yellow.

Once upon a time, a family lived in this home, a fire burned in the fireplace, and light filled the rooms. Now, there was no family, no fire, and little light. Once this home’s architectural made sense. Now it was an assemblage of disparate sections.

I wondered, sitting in my freezing room under the naked bulb, when it dawned on the owners of the home, and their neighbors, that all was not well in their society. I wondered if they took action—or were simply indignant when the Socialists came for them.

Communism: After working throughout the former East Bloc for a few decades, I’m convinced that Socialist-Communism is the greatest abuse of humanity ever created by darkened minds to afflict upon others. While presenting itself as morally superior, Socialist-Communism destroys the human soul because it doesn’t allow freedom of thought, innovation, or initiative.

As Communist doctrine was implemented, critical thinking was intentionally removed from the educational system, much as it has been in America today. Many of the people I interacted with could cite facts, but they couldn’t tell you what they meant.

You know, a picture is worth a thousand words. Study this picture of the kitchen sink in one of my flats somewhere in the East Bloc. It is Socialist-Communism in a picture:

 What do you notice?

One observation is that the faucet only serves one sink, the sink on the left. Perhaps the sink and integrated drainer was installed backward? Maybe the water pipes were misplaced? The point is, the installation was left as you see in the photo.

Note that the stopper to fill the sink and rinse/wash dishes is screwed into the righthand sink while the faucet only services the lefthand sink. The only way to fill the sink equipped with the stopper is to fill a container placed under the faucet at the left sink and then dump the water into the right sink.

What does this tell you about the people who did this installation? It could tell you a number of things, but one thing it screams is that I don’t care. It may also let you know that I’m profoundly hostile and will show it by my shoddy workmanship. It also lets you know that there is no accountability, no incentive to do right, no risk in doing poorly, and no pride.  

What does this installation tell you about the people using this sink? Among other things, it certainly lets you know that every moment spent at this sink is infused with inefficiency, frustration, and resentment. Whoever did this installation bullies you with unnecessary labor in the kitchen. Every day.

Now, envision entire cities, and countries, and bureaucratic systems that function like this sink. Project the hostility, frustration, and resentment created by this inefficiency into all aspects of life, health, welfare, infrastructure, government, service, production, goods, and culture. Insist upon ruthless punishment for anyone who dissents against the system by being innovative, committed to excellence, efficiency, or anyone who expresses their unhappiness with “the sink” and you’ve got a picture of Socialist-Communism as an ideological system.

Are you ready to join up? Ready to be tolerant with the duplicitous Socialistic notions expressed by Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, the Squad, et al?

Lest you think, But that is over there, not here, I suggest you think again. How pervasive is Democratic National Socialism? You might want to click here and scan the document.  

Capitalism is not perfect. It is a work in progress. Neither is it a moral system. But it is the greatest economic engine and force for good in the history of humanity.

Socialism is philosophically appealing. In practice, it is dependent upon humankind being capable of perfecting ourselves. For Socialism to work, humanity must be able to consistently, over a long duration of time, overcome the fallen nature bequeathed to us by our forebearers, and once achieved—eventually—establish utopian society, or what is currently meant by equity.

Let’s descend the abstraction of political philosophy to societal application: Why are Socialists pushing to eliminate prisons, defund police departments, and remove penalties for those who commit crimes? Why do they persist when crime is soaring, inflation is exploding, the poor are suffering? Why is there no realization that Socialistic policy is misguided?

The other side says, “These people are dumb.”

No. Socialists are not dumb. They are being true to their ideological conviction: If you remove constraint, people will perfect themselves, they ideologically believe. People do wrong, fail economically, make bad decisions, etc. because they are oppressed by those more powerful, those above, those making and instituting the rules of oppression. Currently, the oppressors are the police, white people, especially older men, evangelicals, the rich, Conservatives, those opposed to mandates, Southerners, Trumpers, anyone who won’t use preferred pronouns, isn’t pro-choice… the list is long but essential.

Any oppressor and their inequity must be destroyed for causing incitement, disinformation, misinformation, general dissent, or the current throwaway explanation, the destruction of democracy. Note: Both Progressives and Conservatives use the term, democracy. They do not have the same definition, however.

Anything preventing the establishment of utopia must be eliminated. Since Capitalism doesn’t create equity, Capitalism must be destroyed and Socialism established. Equity, not equality, is the standard by which everything and everyone must be judged. Any inequity is immoral—and America’s history and culture are systemically immoral, so immoral as to be unsalvageable. Just look at the growing list of inequities and it is obvious why utopia has not yet been realized.

While Capitalists and Conservatives argue politics, Socialist-Progressives are making a moral argument. The first follow a system of rules and laws. The second are engaged in a moral crusade.

Socialist-humanism’s viability hinges on the belief that if good people are freed from the tyranny of oppression, then a utopian society will eventually be the result. Obviously, this requires the administration of goodness and the elimination of oppression and oppressors, those not good.

To this point: Communist governments have killed more dissidents than the total dead in both world wars combined. There’s no numbering the multiplied millions of ruined lives and desecrated souls sacrificed to create a pure soil for utopia to take root. Still, Western society is moving inexorably toward the destruction of Capitalism as oppressive and the institution of Socialism as the moral good.

For a Capitalist, government is constitutional and without a moral voice. Order is maintained by respect for the rule of law. For a Socialist, government establishes and enforces morality defined by equity.

Since equity is individually assessed, no rule of law applies equitably. In fact, the rule of law is actually oppressive. Thus, the stated intent to pack the Supreme Court, view the Constitution as relative not static, sexuality and gender are whatever you feel like you want them to be, etc.

Now, to be clear, I’m not writing about politics. That would be illegal for me to do as the head of a nonprofit entity. However, it is my duty to advocate for the human heart where Christianity has a calling and message to share.

As Christians, we don’t embrace Capitalism because it is Christian. Neither do we anchor human hope to government. Capitalism and government are important, but they aren’t Christian.

As a rule-of-thumb, Christians embrace Capitalism as the best means to an end, i.e., Capitalism is the most effective, efficient system to endow evangelism, respect the inalienable rights of all humanity, create a just rule of law, establish religious liberty, and counter the darkness of fallen mankind.

In American Capitalism, and the government which undergirds it, we have as our national motto, “In God We Trust.” What is meant by this motto is that the Founders of the country—some were Christians, some atheists, agnostics, deists, etc.—recognized that in the long history of humanity, no political system had worked for the overall good of humanity or stood the test of time. Therefore, in establishing a new country, they recognized two fundamental realities: 1) The country they devised had to be different than any governmental system heretofore tried. 2) Given the universal fallen nature of all humans and all human systems, no government could work unless God was the trust of its people.

Thus, the Founders of America created a country ideologically opposed to Socialism and Communism. America’s founding ideology rejects humanism and acknowledges that trust in God is the defining difference of American government.

When examining Socialism, we must do so not as citizens only, but as Christians because government is not a trusted keeper of mankind’s moral health. That is the job of the church in society—and this creates an irreconcilable, moral conflict: Socialist-Communist ideology is clear: Marx taught that religion is the opiate of the people. For Socialist-Communism to work, atheism is an ideological necessity.

Thus, what we are confronting as Believers in today’s culture is not a political difference. It is a spiritual conflict for how the hearts and souls of mankind will be governed. Socialism believes government can and should do this. Christianity asserts that the heart and soul are the domain of God and only through the redemption of Jesus Christ can a fallen man be reconciled to God and made alive.

The schisms in our world are complex, but fundamentally they have the same origin: Who makes man right? One view says government can do this through Socialist-Communism ideology. The other says that only God can make man right. The first view maintains mankind’s pride of self-establishment. The second requires the humility of confessing the need for God.

Christians must understand: Society is not engaged in a political quandary. It is grappling with a moral-spiritual dilemma that pits the darkness of independence against the light of Christ.

This morning, I sit in my study wondering again about Ukraine. But my mind won’t stay still.

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, spoke accurately: “I am target Number One. The global leaders have abandoned us. If you don’t help us now, if you can’t offer strong assistance to Ukraine, tomorrow war will knock on your door.”

I wonder how many Canadians are struck by the fact that their government seized the personal property and bank accounts of fellow-citizens whose only offense was expressing their opinion. I wonder how many devotees of free speech and freedom of religious belief are pondering their next steps as Päivi Räsänen is tried by the Finnish court for expressing herself and her religious conviction.

I turn from my chair and look outside at the sleet peppering my yard. My mind turns home and inward.

I asked a stocker at the grocery where I might find an item I needed for a new recipe. He said, “Aisle nine, about halfway down.” Before I turned my buggy toward Aisle 9, I asked him what he was doing. “I’m restacking these cans—lining them up—so the shelves will look full. The manager doesn’t want customers to see blank shelves.”

I feel my mind tip, go off kilter, swim foggy-headed.

In a raucous, rambling, ping-ponging of considerations—not systematic at all—I wonder about my faith. Not my faith in humanity, but my faith in Father God and whether or not faith can make a difference in an irregular fight.

It must. It has to. Otherwise, it’s not a faith worth having, I conclude to no one but myself. 

I shake my head. Blink. Resolve my focus. I don’t know how these conflicts will resolve or if they will resolve. What I know is that I am called to be in the arena of life. I’m called to engage. And, when I think about it, I grapple with the reality that Father God would not have commissioned me if He had not first equipped me.

I’m writing to you with the same message. What’s true for me is true for you. As I wrote earlier, the same faith that sustained our forebearers in Hebrews 11, and the faith of our family since, flows in your spiritual veins.

We are light-bearers in the darkness so those living in the debauched, dead end of pride and independence can see the hand of God reaching for them.

The good news is that the contrast between light and dark is clearer than at any other time in our lifetimes.

Meanwhile, the greatest invasion since 1941 is gripping Europe. President Putin has threatened the world with his nuclear arsenal. We live in a flat world. Vladimir Putin just reached into the tranquility of your life. There’s nothing quite like war to bring us to our senses.

Are you engaged? You staggering a bit?

No worries. You were created for such a time as this. The Mighty Warrior shouts your name. The furnace of God lives in you. Your destiny is established, your future secured, and your name sealed with honor.

There is a political world around you. Engage. Vote. Debate. Consider the issues.

There is also a moral-spiritual world around you. For decades, the morality of American culture and politics has been opaque. No longer. With the schisms among society, morality and politics are clearly defined.

One message is that humankind can make something of ourselves through governmental control. This argument is put forward as a moral imperative tied to Socialism. God is not welcome. In fact, He must be eliminated. There is no room for God in humanism.

The other message is that humankind will never redeem ourselves unless as fallen people we place our hope in God and Him alone. Politics is neither moral nor immoral. It is simply the means to an end. But redemption is the arena where dark and light joust for the hearts and souls of our fellow man.

Now, be bold. Be strong and courageous. Carry yourself like who you truly are: God’s child, emissary, ambassador, and light brigade. You have nothing you can lose that matters.

Thus, with your eternal future secured, you are free and without fetter to go into the world. Love and serve. Care. Be courageous and strong. Trust your heavenly Father. Anchor your soul in the hope of your calling.