Communism And Religion

Wanganui Chronicle, 14 April 1949, Page 8

Communism And Religion

Sir, Your correspondent, “Let Facts Out,” pleads for a degree of friendliness he scarcely merits, so bitter is the nature of his letter. May I take the opportunity o’ reminding him, that to convince, it is necessary to more than merely state what he believes to be a fact, and there are so many such assertions contained m hi.s intriguing letter that, to effectively answer all of them, would require more space than I think will be available. However, herein, I propose to deal briefly with what seems to be his most gnawing hurts, and to assure him that- the extent of possible discussion is limited only by his willingness or otherwise to make himself known and to meet me in friendly discourse

There is an old Persian proverb, "The dogs bark, but the caravan moves on," and one readily realises that the continued existence of the Catholic Church, with its open and avowed condemntion of Communism, and ind.eed of all materialism, is a thorn in the flesh of those who, knowing so little of Communism, propound it as a philospohy of life. In referring to the wealth of the Catholic Church, he clearly means the Church's properties and rents, and not their non-productive and non-con-sumable possessions Otherwise, to be consistent, he should regard as the wealth of individual sailors, all the ships, guns and ammunition of the entire Navy. By the same criterion, our professors must be reputed wealthy, since the country is pock-marked with educational institutions, and our physicians and surgeons must be rolling in wealth because of the grand total and assessed value of our hospitals, but in this he merely subscribes to a common error. If he wishes to pursue this argument further I would ask him to keep the distinction betwixt productive and non-consumable and non-productive or consumable in mind. No intelligent person today questions the fact that generally Catholic Clergy, including the Holy Father live frugally, and many orders of the priesthood renounce all earthly possessions as a pre-requisite to ordination.

Admittedly the question of Spain, is of wide implication. I am convinced that Spain was the classic failure of Communism to establish it’s order in that country. The Spanish War is a lesson. It demonstrates how the Communist Party organised the "Popular Front," how it gained control, how it brought Spain to civil war, and how it prolonged the struggle, it was the culmination of 15 years of work by the Communist Party. (I quote from the Communist International Press Correspondence) “In 1917 Dolores Ibarruri "Passionara” evinced her sympathy for the Bolshevist. Revolution, in 1920 she joined the Communist groups, was elected to a district committe, and was appointed as delegate to successive congresses. By 1930 was a member of the Central Committee for Spain. In 1935 she attended the 13th Plenum of the Communist Internationale in the U.S.S.R., and in the same year took part with Jose Diaz, Secretary General of the C.P. in Spain in the formation of the "People’s Front’’ (I.P.C. p. 595). "In Madrid it is imperative to explain to the masses the epoch making decisions of the 7th Congress.” I have quoted the foregoing, not to prove that I agree with the present set-up in Spain. Information thereon is too scant for one to be able to form, much less express an opinion, and I hope L.F.O. will appreciate that, mv quotations are from an unquestioned Communist Authority. Quite evidently “Det Facts Out” conceals the identity of an apostle, and probably a sincere one, of Communism, who knows that religion anticommunism are irreconcilable, and it doing his job in the way he knows best. There are reasons why the advance of Communism is dependant on the suppression of all religion, and the increasing threat to religions other than Catholic has not, in my opinion received the publicity warranted. The w/ld is being sharply divided, more and more, into two camps, not political or national, but God, and Anti-God, and it is to be hoped that the realisation comes not too late. One need look no further than Communism itself for substantiation of this. Lenin on Religion. Little Lenin Library, No. 7. p. 50. “All religious ideas are an unspeakable abomination” (ibid. p. 16) The philosophic basis of Marxism is dialectic materialism —whch is absolutely atheistic, ana hostile to religion. One expects these periodic outbursts against religion, and regrets that more people of more denominations are not concerned to promote a new king of "Popular Front,’’ but doubtless "Let Facts Out" with his memories of pigs and people, and prosperous Popes will take more than a little convincing.- I am, etc., J. F. CROASDALE.