The Legions of Heaven
Ethel Feinig, writing in The American Thinker Makes the following point:
According to Karl Marx, religion was the opiate of the masses. And of course, he and others who followed him truly believed their communist religion would prevail over all. Indeed, over 40 years ago the USSR’s Khruschev threatened the US and its free market system, boldly promising “We will bury you. But now, in a delightfully ironic twist, the free market system, allowing religious freedoms, continues to bury the remnants of communism.
Read this in its entirety here.
This brings back memories from my college days; we were in the final days of the Cold War, and it was becoming apparent that Communism as a state system (as opposed to a media/university system) was going to die. This particularly brings back memories of the commencement address given at my graduation by then Vice-President George Herbert Walker Bush.
In typical fashion, the lunatic left showed up to protest, and they were outside of the Arena (where the St, Louis Blues hockey team played, and where the commencements were being held) dressed as the Grim Reaper, or Sandanistas or what-not, and they were making fools of themselves. Remember, this was in the days of the Iran-Contra affair, and the left was apoplectic. Security was tight, with Secret Service agents scattered throughout the crowd. This was a security nightmare for them; everybody present was wearing long flowing robes under which could be concealed any sort of weapon! (My brother was getting his Masters at the same time, and they made him lift his robe.)
There had been talk from the liberals on campus that they were going to turn their backs on the Vice President (how appropriate-liberals facing backwards!) but they chickened out at the last minute with only two or three people actually carrying out this threat.
When the Vice President began speaking, a hush fell over the crowd. I never knew George H.W. had it in him! He was speaking on the power of religion (especially Christianity-this was a Catholic audience, after all) and how it overcame the most monstrous attempts to kill it.
Bush was GOOD! He told the story about the funeral of Leonid Brezhnev. AS Veep, he was forced to attend funerals for state leaders throughout the world, and he went to Moscow for Brezhnev`s. People paraded past the Supreme Dictator`s coffin and Bush was behind Brezhnev`s widow. He said she stopped at the coffin, bent low, and made the Sign of the Cross over the atheists dead body!
Despite all of the power of the communist dragon, despite years of pain and hardship and persecution, Christianity had survived in the hearts of the people-including the wife of the man who sought to stamp it out!
In life, Brezhnev had been a tyrant and practicing Marxist, yet his widow prayed over his body.
This touched Vice President Bush deeply, and he was imbued with a new spirit. (One wonders if this incident didn`t play a part in his son becoming an Evangelical.) He told the silent audience that at that moment he KNEW communism was going to lose, and that the Kingdom of Heaven would destroy this evil system which challenged it. Bear in mind, this was before the collapse of communism (Brezhnev died in 1985, and Bush addressed my Class in 1987) and yet the Vice President could see, in that small gesture, the power which would sweep away the entire rotten structure.
I`ve never forgotten that speech. It forshadowed the storm of freedom which was to come, and it proved that Faith is mightier than the Sword. Eventually, the desire for freedom and faith would triumph, and the great Marxist Empire would melt away like the morning dew.
We should all be mindful of this; Yes, Mr. Stalin, the Pope has many, many legions, and they are the legions of Heaven. All you had were guns.
According to Karl Marx, religion was the opiate of the masses. And of course, he and others who followed him truly believed their communist religion would prevail over all. Indeed, over 40 years ago the USSR’s Khruschev threatened the US and its free market system, boldly promising “We will bury you. But now, in a delightfully ironic twist, the free market system, allowing religious freedoms, continues to bury the remnants of communism.
Read this in its entirety here.
This brings back memories from my college days; we were in the final days of the Cold War, and it was becoming apparent that Communism as a state system (as opposed to a media/university system) was going to die. This particularly brings back memories of the commencement address given at my graduation by then Vice-President George Herbert Walker Bush.
In typical fashion, the lunatic left showed up to protest, and they were outside of the Arena (where the St, Louis Blues hockey team played, and where the commencements were being held) dressed as the Grim Reaper, or Sandanistas or what-not, and they were making fools of themselves. Remember, this was in the days of the Iran-Contra affair, and the left was apoplectic. Security was tight, with Secret Service agents scattered throughout the crowd. This was a security nightmare for them; everybody present was wearing long flowing robes under which could be concealed any sort of weapon! (My brother was getting his Masters at the same time, and they made him lift his robe.)
There had been talk from the liberals on campus that they were going to turn their backs on the Vice President (how appropriate-liberals facing backwards!) but they chickened out at the last minute with only two or three people actually carrying out this threat.
When the Vice President began speaking, a hush fell over the crowd. I never knew George H.W. had it in him! He was speaking on the power of religion (especially Christianity-this was a Catholic audience, after all) and how it overcame the most monstrous attempts to kill it.
Bush was GOOD! He told the story about the funeral of Leonid Brezhnev. AS Veep, he was forced to attend funerals for state leaders throughout the world, and he went to Moscow for Brezhnev`s. People paraded past the Supreme Dictator`s coffin and Bush was behind Brezhnev`s widow. He said she stopped at the coffin, bent low, and made the Sign of the Cross over the atheists dead body!
Despite all of the power of the communist dragon, despite years of pain and hardship and persecution, Christianity had survived in the hearts of the people-including the wife of the man who sought to stamp it out!
In life, Brezhnev had been a tyrant and practicing Marxist, yet his widow prayed over his body.
This touched Vice President Bush deeply, and he was imbued with a new spirit. (One wonders if this incident didn`t play a part in his son becoming an Evangelical.) He told the silent audience that at that moment he KNEW communism was going to lose, and that the Kingdom of Heaven would destroy this evil system which challenged it. Bear in mind, this was before the collapse of communism (Brezhnev died in 1985, and Bush addressed my Class in 1987) and yet the Vice President could see, in that small gesture, the power which would sweep away the entire rotten structure.
I`ve never forgotten that speech. It forshadowed the storm of freedom which was to come, and it proved that Faith is mightier than the Sword. Eventually, the desire for freedom and faith would triumph, and the great Marxist Empire would melt away like the morning dew.
We should all be mindful of this; Yes, Mr. Stalin, the Pope has many, many legions, and they are the legions of Heaven. All you had were guns.
posted by Timothy Birdnow | 5:41 AM
2 Comments:
Lovely post, Tim -- and what a poignant and telling anecdote about Brezhnev's wife. The making of the sign of the cross is so ingrained in Orthodox Christians, even those who no longer believe still do it as a sort of talisman against evil, but perhaps it still holds a power even on those hearts as well.
Wow I need to visit here more often Tim. First the post on exorcism and now on the power of faith. I did not know that The Exocist movie was based on a young American boy and learned something new. I went to the movie when I was in the Army with a friend who I met in high school and was in an infantry company at Ft Lewis. I do not think either of us was prepared for how graphic and scary such an experience was for two young men with no experience of spiritual warfare.
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