Growing up in the 50s and 60s, I had friends who pooh-poohed the concerns of many adults, such as my father, with Communist ideology and its seeming attractiveness to American intellectuals.
In my teenage years, this attitude of disrespect was evident, especially among the more affluent. I recall, in my twenties, spending a Saturday on a sailboat in St. Thomas with a couple who had sailed around the world twice. The husband was an outstanding, hilarious raconteur who made me wonder if he had not missed his calling as a Hollywood storyteller.
Inevitably, his stories devolved into mockery of American “scaredy cats”. Of course, the false fears he referred to were about Communism. As a young man, I must admit he had me somewhat persuaded. If this man, very streetwise, not only in America but in the Greek islands and the extremely dangerous, pirate-infested waters of the vast seas of Asia, saw no threat in the Communists ideology, maybe, just maybe, my father’s concerns may have been overwrought?
That man’s spell over me was strong enough to persuade me to expand my reading a bit. The Road to Serfdom was something of an eye-opener. And so was Witness, and The Ghosts on the Roof, both by Whittaker Chambers.
I began to realize that the issue was not so much a nuclear attack or military invasion, but rather the complete undermining and overthrow of the historic faith of our fathers, which faith built the foundations of our country.
At bottom, the issue is as old as the Garden of Eden: God or man?
This explains much.
In previous posts, I’ve alluded to Project Venona, the US Army Signal Corps’ successful attempt to decode the innumerable daily messages between the Soviet Union and its missions in the United States. This project was declassified in 1995.
However, it is important to remember that the decoding was successfully done in the 30s. And proceeded throughout the Second World War and beyond.
Most significantly, this success was kept secret from the US State Department, the rest of the Armed Forces, including the Army itself, and the White House — both Roosevelt and Truman.
It is outrageous but true that the few men who were involved also knew that if they reported on their success, such would have been made known to the Soviet Communists within hours. Men such as Harry Dexter White, the number two man of the US Treasury and Lauchlin Currie, the president’s personal assistant, were actively spying for the Communists and against the interests of our friends and neighbors.
This was going on before, during, and after the cataclysmic Second World War. Including during the catastrophic fall of China to Mao’s Communists.
The Venona files tell us that there was no area of American life that those committed to the atheistic Communist ideology did not penetrate. In other words, not just the military.
How was this possible? Regrettably, it was possible because thousands of prominent American citizens believed in the possibility of man becoming god. A metaphysical impossibility.
That belief impelled them to betray their friends and neighbors without a second thought.
Their success was evident not only in government and academia, but in all spheres of life, including religion and entertainment.
This success eventually led us to the absurdities of New York City high society entertaining and sitting at the feet of radicals and murderers and to government policies that rewarded the destruction of the family while penalizing thrift and enterprise.
By the time I was in my twenties, to speak of the dangers of atheistic theories was to invite ridicule and contempt. To question the received, mainstream opinion that Senator McCarthy knew nothing about which he spoke was to be expelled from polite company.
And now, we have people wearing T Shirts mocking the assassination of Mr. Charlie Kirk and actually “acting out” the dastardly event in mockery and laughter. Their anger is not so much against a person — although it certainly is that — as it is against God Himself. Therefore anyone who might point us to a return to the Lord is worthy of death.
I believe that, once you scratch a bit below the surface, our country is still a conservative, traditional land. When speaking to others, I am encouraged by the common faith that undergirds us still — though much emaciated, for sure.
But the divide is also there. It may not be 50-50, but it is significant.
This ought to drive us to:
First, prayer. Prayer for our homes and for our neighbors and communities. Principally, that the Lord would be gracious to us and give us a Spirit of reformation and a return to the historic faith.
And, second, a determination to be unafraid to defend our faith and our love for our heritage. And to do so in a kind, compassionate manner, knowing when we are being listened to and when it’s time to stop casting our pearls before swine and move on.
Cold War surveillance post
Allusion to The Ghosts on The Roof by Whittaker Chambers
