November 7th is a sombre day.
Alabama, Florida, Texas, Utah, and Virginia in the United States of America recognise the day, which commemorates the 100 million people massacred by Communist regimes since the 20th Century.
The modern world likes to pretend that Communism was some benign effort to address economic inequalities, in reality it was and still is the most violent and repulsive ideology ever invented.
Communism’s long history of hatred of the faith continues today, particularly in countries like China and North Korea.
Many young people in the West today are completely unfamiliar with the horrific persecutions that Christians were subjected to under these regimes, for example in Spain, where Communists dug up the dead bodies of nuns and put them on public display in order to mock them. They also chopped off the hands of priests so that they could no longer administer the sacraments.
The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation was setup in 1993 and in recent years, more US States have recognised the date’s importance.
Their website states that their mission is:
Inspired by an appreciation for the principles of liberty and an understanding of how these ideas have enabled human flourishing and prosperity to an unprecedented degree, the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation envisions a world free from the false hope of Marxism and safe from the tyranny of communism.
The real examples of socialism today are China, Cuba, Laos, North Korea, Vietnam, and now Venezuela. We must contend with these regimes and the threats they pose to free people—and we must struggle for the freedom of the more than one billion people held captive by these regimes.
To further this vision, the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation’s mission is to educate future generations about the ideology, history, and legacy of communism and to advocate for the freedom of those still held captive by communist regimes.
Positive attitudes toward communism and socialism are at an all-time high in the United States. We have a solemn obligation to expose the lies of Marxism for the naïve who say they are willing to give collectivism another chance. New generations need to confront the reality of Marxism in practice. Socialism is not a kind, humane philosophy. Marxist socialism is the deadliest ideology in history. In the 21st century, we have an opportunity to learn from the 20th century and rededicate our free society based on individual liberty, free enterprise, the rule of law, democratic self-government, and human rights.
What kind of world do we want to live in, in the 21st century—a world defined by collectivism, or by freedom?
It is apt that this comes on the same week that Ireland’s ruling Green Party sent a chilling message to the church by surrounding a Mass as punishment for a priest criticising their legislation.
