IV. A ROMAN CATHOLIC VIEW
Christianity and Communism
By the REV. M. C. D'ARCY, S.J., LL.D.
[Dr. Joseph Needham, Fellow of Caius College, Cambridge, will write in this series next week on "Common Ground."] THE ideals which are at the back of the Communist movement have been made plain by other con- tributors to this series. To prevent misunderstanding, however, let me say that in so far as Communism has for aim to give a full and proper life to every individual, to effect a satisfying distribution of goods and end the exploita- tion of the poor, every Catholic is at one with it. Nor, again, is every Communist considered a damnable person, though I will give reasons to hold that the doctrine is a damnable one, appealing as it does to the vivid discontents of the simple and the poor in order to rob them of Chris- tianity, of their God and their human dignity. A Catholic more than anyone ought to fight against injustice and the oppression of the poor, but he knows that the Communist, in cutting the net to free the poor, wounds them mortally with his knife.
One other misconception I must clear away. Many are saying that in repudiating Communism the Catholic Church is taking up a Fascist attitude. This falsehood is part of the propaganda of the Third International. Finding that direct attacks on religion were not succeeding as well as expected, that body adopted a new device "to fight against war and Fascism," and they have calmly grouped under these two headings all believers in religion.
Thus in July, 1935, the Central Committee of the Com- munist International of Youth decided "to multiply friendly relations with young Christian workers' organisa- tions in order to enlarge the union of youth against Fascism," and the words capitalism, fascism and religion are treated as facets of the same thing. Those, therefore, who have fallen into the habit of calling " Fascist " whatever opposes the Communist activities are un- knowingly made dupes like the victims of well-advertised patent medicines. The truth is this : that the Catholic Church leaves its members free to choose their party, in political matters. Even as regards Spain, the Osservatore Romano (September 18th) distinguishes carefully between the "political rivalries" of the civil war and the attack on religion, and it will suffice to recall the advice given by Leo XIII to French Catholics to guide their relations with the French Republic, and the attitude of the present Pope towards Mexico, to convince those of good will that the Catholic Church belongs to no political camp.
From the beginning it has held to the doctrine of the two powers or kingdoms, the one supernatural and founded by Christ, and the other founded on natural justice. The primary office of the Church is to ensure that its members can learn Christ and practise His commandments ; that is, be brought up in their faith, have freedom of worship and admission to the Sacraments, and it is prepared to tolerate much persecution and injustice so long as these are not altogether taken away. This explains its attitude to some non-Communistic States in the world at the present day. As regards the secular meal power, it makes one principal demand, that it should "suffer little children to come unto" Christ. If, then, a State openly avows that it does not believe in any of the moral truths, such as duty to God and one's neighbour, freedom and personality, and declares that one of its essential aims is to destroy religion, the Church replies by rejecting utterly such a theory of State. • .
By Communism I do not mean the individual dreams of some of our intellectuals nor the dear vision, of a modern, heart-broken Piers Plowman. There is only one form of it which is real for us ; that, namely, which descends from Marx, was embodied by Lenin, and now has its seat at Moscow ; and I may add that this form of it has, and can have, nothing but contempt for . the intellectuals who use it as an apb-itif. The Communist does not believe in thought, but only in thought in action. I know, of course, that this can be shown to be nonsense, but it does not becon3 its intellectual ally to press that argument. It is fair, however, for a critic to do so, and were there space I ought to point out that seldom in history has a more childish philosophy held the attention of man ; and this I have heard admitted by more than one of its philosophic friends in this country.
The character of this latter can be roughly expressed in the following propositions. There is no reality but matter. But matter is not something abstract. It in- cludes man and his labour. History consists of this action and reaction of man on his material and the material on man. (These sentences are drawn almost straight from Marx's Capital.) In being changed, and in changing matter to suit his material needs, man enters into relation with his neighbour and a conflict of production and con- sumption arises. This gives us the dialectic of history and the transformation of society by means of the struggle of classes. According to the dialectic there must be the constant conflict until, after the exploitation of the poor by the rich, by economic necessity, a time arrives when the proletariat by revolutionary means can destroy the capitalist society and bring (what stultifies the first principle of the dialectic) an earthly paradise.
According to this view man has no soul ; he is a technical brute, playing his part indeed as an active labourer in material progress but totally determined by the economic process. There is no after-life, no spiritual world, no freedom, no personality, no private property. Man is a technical animal, dedicated by the dialectic to.a continual war not against himself but his neighbour, and succeeding by class-struggle and hate. As for morality, the following words of Lenin will suffice :
"We must be ready for sacrifice of every kind, endows:1 if need be to practise everything possible ; ruses and tricks, illegal methods ; be ready to be silent and hide the truth ; in short, it is from the interests of the class war that we deduce our morality."
Now, as to the Communist attitude to religion and Christianity. I will prove this by quotation, choosing texts almost at random where so many exist : "Religion is the opium of the people" (Marx) ; "Marxism is materialism, and as -such it is inexorably hostile to religion (Lenin); We hate Christianity and Christians ; even the best of thern 'must be reckoned amongst our worst enemies' (Lunach- arsky) ; "We ought so to act that each blew delivered against the traditional structure of the Church, each blow at the, clergy, attacks religion in general. . . . Even the blindest see how indis- pensable is the decisivt struggle against the Pope,' whether-he be called pastor, abbe,, rabbi, patriarch, mullah or pope ; and this struggle ought to develop no less ineluctably against God, be lie called Jehovah, Jesus, Buddha or Allah" (Stepanoff).
Here is the 1982 programme of the Free Thinkers Prole- tarian International, which is in close dependence on the Comintern : "(1) To augment the number of its personnel ; (2) To edit a bulletin for the Press in German, French, English and Russian; (3) To see that all sections have qualified instrnctors ; (4) To begin. . . the publication of an anti-religious review in German ; (5) To organise the publication and wide diffualon of cheap propa- ganda, destined in the first place for Great Britain and America, where the Anti-God movement ought to take root more easily ; (6.) To organise the presentation of anti-religious films ; (7) To establish in each country a definite and precise plan ; (8) To organise an exchange between the various sections; (9) To stir up amongst .these latter revolutionary competition." • Finally, a session in 1984 of the same organisation laid it down that the groups of the Anti-God should penetrate in- to the ranks of the Church and Fascism and make a happy hunting-ground of the colonies. The methods now are to be more subtle than formerly, and it is not going too far to say that they consist in making the unwary talk of everything which is not Communist under the name of Fascism, of turning professors and intellectuals into little Red Riding Hoods, of making decent people ashamed of calling evil evil. The Communists have learned the value of Kerenskis !
The Catholic Church stands for the dignity of human nature and for the defence and promotion of the la* and love Of Christ. It teaches that 'every being is a person with rights and obligations ; that he is unique and loved by God, who gave His life for him ; and it is on these principles that it has laid down a social programme or ideal. Take away the *love of God and the discipline of the Christian life, and the values even of human life grow dim and man exploits his neighbour.: But take away in this twilight of the gods also his soul as the Communist does, and We have a technical animal who will not be as happy even as a cow flicking off the flies with its tail as it consumes what is produced for its earthly paradise. I have tried to compare accurately the aims of the Catholic, Church and Communism ; it is for the reader to draw the conclusions and apply them to the unhappy events in Europe. One thing he may rest assured of that the Catholic, like his divine Master, though offered all tho kingdoms of the world, can still recognise the prince of liars and the difference between Hell and Heaven. For the rest the reader may well wonder at the lover of liberty encouraging those who sOund the knell of all freedom and all humanrights, at the pacifist propagating a theory based on class-struggle, hate and violence, and Christians compromising with those who have proudly taken for themselves the name of Antichrist.
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