Dear Editor,
Joshua Reynolds takes issue with David Robertson’s article, ‘The six enemies of the west we now face’, in the September issue of en. He criticises Robertson’s viewpoint on five fronts.
1. There is no such thing as Cultural Marxism. Cultural Marxism is a well-established term in academic circles and has appeared in the titles of numerous books and articles that treat it either dispassionately or favourably. It arises from the work of Antonio Gramsci, an Italian Communist, who developed Marxist thought after WWI.
2. Marxism is not that scary. Marx believed that violence was a necessary part of the process of developing a classless society. He spoke about ‘the violent overthrow of the bourgeoisie’ and felt justified in inciting such violence. In The Communist Manifesto, which he co-authored with Friedrich Engels, Marx wrote that the society he envisioned ‘can be attained only by the forceful overthrow of all existing social conditions’ and added ‘let the ruling classes tremble at a Communist revolution’. This seems pretty scary to me.
3. Hitler attacked Marxism. Hitler did persecute Marxists and referred to ‘Cultural Bolshevism’ as an evil to be avoided. However, it takes more to discredit an idea that finding it expressed by someone who is hated, feared, or easily ridiculed. Introducing Hitler is more a rhetorical device than a helpful argument.
4. Marxism is not a dominant ideology in British universities. Marxist societies are very active on university campuses. Humanities, Social Science, and Education departments have been strongly influenced by Marxist ideas. And the increasing influence of Cultural Marxism or Critical Theory on a ‘woke generation’ is unmistakable. The roots, for example, of the Black Lives Matter movement are Marxist and a leading activist has recently called for a defunding of the police. The influence is strong and growing, but often under the guise of more acceptable liberation causes.
5. Distinguishing Democratic Socialism from the totalitarian ideologies of Mao and Stalin. Reynolds is keen that we think positively of Marxism and that we distinguish between its more democratic and totalitarian derivatives. However, Robertson is speaking of dangers to Western civilisation and this is certainly something that Marxism poses, whatever form it takes. History tells us of the dangers of the totalitarian forms of Marxism, but Cultural or Neo-Marxism also poses substantial threats to Western society.
In defence of progressives, Reynolds argues for ‘a fairer distribution of wealth’ and ‘standing up for the rights and dignity of women in society’. There is much in these that Christians will agree with. However, there are other aspects of Cultural Marxism, such as Critical Race Theory, Identity Politics, and the rewriting of history, that thoughtful Christians would take serious issue with.
Christianity is about the transformation of society, as well as lives, but the means of achieving this, the values permeating the process, and the Christian vision of what such a society would be like is very different from that of Neo-Marxism.
Yours sincerely,
The Revd Dr J. Gareth Evans Darlington
