A TALE OF CHRISTMAS PAST AND PRESENT

By Marilyn MacGruder Barnewall
December 22, 2013
NewsWithViews.com

…With a Winter Solstice Future?

This week the Christian community of the world celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ. It is a time of giving – what greater gift could God give the people of earth than His son?

We, the People, have done with that Gift what we have done with most of the privileges and gifts God has generously bestowed upon us throughout the history of the world. We have entertained ourselves with this Gift – as we do with most gifts. Many became bored with the game rules imposed on us by the Giver of the Gift, and changed the rules so they could have more fun. When the gift given is a nation called America and people are too lazy to become informed about what needs to be done to protect God’s Gift, it becomes a serious offense.

If you have not read the book School of Darkness, you should. It was published in 1954 and was written by Bella Dodd, an organizer for the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) from 1932-1948. For four years, Bella Dodd sat on that organization’s National Council.

Born in Italy, Dodd came to America at a young age and was educated in New York. She was a teacher and lawyer by profession. Reading her book made me realize that all churches have been fighting a program put in place in the 1930s by CPUSA. That ought to give everyone good insight as to where the funds come from to file law suits against Christmas displays or Christmas caroling groups and to remove the words “under God” from our Pledge of Allegiance.

Specifically, Mrs. Dodd (speaking of the Catholic Church) said: “In the 1930s we put eleven hundred men into the priesthood in order to destroy the Church from within.”

The idea was for these men to be ordained and progress to positions of influence and authority as Monsignors and Bishops. In 1960 (12 years before Vatican II was held), she said: “Right now they are in the highest places in the Church.” The plan was to weaken the Church’s effectiveness against Communism..

During a Fordham University lecture in 1950, Dodd talked of the chaos planned. A monk who attended the lecture is quoted from Christian Order:

“I listened to that woman for four hours and she had my hair standing on end. Everything she said has been fulfilled to the letter. You would think she was the world’s greatest prophet, but she was no prophet. She was merely exposing the step-by-step battle plan of Communist subversion of the Catholic Church.”

Still quoting the Monk from the Fordham University lecture: “She explained that of all the world’s religions, the Catholic Church was the only one feared by the Communists… The whole idea was to destroy, not the institution of the Church, but rather the Faith of the people, and even use the institution of the Church, if possible, to destroy the Faith through the promotion of a pseudo-religion: something that resembled Catholicism but was not the real thing. Once the Faith was destroyed, she explained that there would be a guilt complex introduced into the Church... to label the ‘Church of the past’ as being oppressive, authoritarian, full of prejudices, arrogant in claiming to be the sole possessor of truth, and responsible for the divisions of religious bodies throughout the centuries. This would be necessary in order to shame Church leaders into an ‘openness to the world,’ and to a more flexible attitude toward all religions and philosophies. The Communists would then exploit this openness in order to undermine the Church.”

We could change Bella Dodd’s words slightly and get a fairly accurate picture of where the previously free world stands today. “The whole idea was to destroy, not the institution of government, but rather the faith of the people in national sovereignty… even use the institution of government to destroy the faith of people in free nations through the promotion of a pseudo-government: something that resembled freedom but was not the real thing. Once the faith in national sovereignty is destroyed, a guilt complex can be introduced... to label America, for example, ‘an exceptional beacon of freedom of the past’ but which is now an oppressive, authoritarian, full of prejudices, arrogant nation with a greed-driven economy based on capitalism which is responsible for creating poverty throughout the centuries. We can then shame American leaders into an ‘openness to the world,’ and to a more flexible attitude toward all peoples of the world. The communists can exploit this openness to undermine capitalism and bring America to her knees.”

These, of course, are my words, not Bella’s. I base them on a President of the United States who has apologized to nations around the world for our “exceptionalism,” telling everyone we are no longer a Christian nation.

As a lawyer, Dodd went to Washington to argue an immigration appeal and met with a friend from the old East Bronx area of her childhood. He talked with her about testifying against the Communist Party in front of the House UnAmerican Activities Committee and asked if she wanted FBI protection. He then asked if she would like to see a priest. She was startled by the question, but was amazed at the intensity of her own answer as she said she would.

“Perhaps we can reach Monsignor Sheen at Catholic University,” he said, and an appointment was made for her late that evening. Fulton J. Sheen, of course, went on to become an Archbishop of the Catholic Church. He counseled Bella Dodd in her rejection of communism and while she was dying of cancer.

From School of Darkness, Chapter 16:

“A thousand fears assailed me. Would he insist that I talk to the FBI? Would he insist that I testify? Would he make me write articles? Would he see me at all?

“...By what right, I thought, was I seeking the help of someone I had helped revile, even if only by my silence? ...I rang the doorbell and was ushered into a small room. While I waited, the struggle within me began again. Had there been an easy exit I would have run out, but in the midst of my turmoil Monsignor Fulton Sheen walked into the room, his silver cross gleaming, a warm smile in his eyes.

“He held out his hand as he crossed the room. ‘Doctor, I’m glad you’ve come,’ he said. His voice and his eyes had a welcome which I had not expected, and it caught me unaware. Monsignor Sheen put his hand on my shoulder to comfort me. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said. ‘This thing will pass,’ and he led me gently to a little chapel. We both knelt before a statue of Our Lady. I don’t remember praying, but I do remember that the battle within me ceased, my tears were dried, and I was conscious of stillness and peace.”

Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (as he was at the end of his priesthood) never hesitated to point out the evils of communism on his popular television broadcasts of the 1950s and 60s. Looking at the views of the Catholic Church about socialism and communism today, that worm has certainly turned.

Some additional words from Bella Dodd’s book, School of Darkness:

“On my way to the airport I thought how much he understood. He knew that a nominal Christian with a memory of the Cross can easily be twisted to the purposes of evil by men who masquerade as saviors. I thought how communist leaders achieve their greatest strength and cleverest snare when they use the will to goodness of their members. They stir the emotions with phrases which are only a blurred picture of eternal truths.”

There is no doubt the current crisis and liberal attitudes within the Catholic and Protestant Churches have hurt many people. The headlines achieve the objectives set by CPUSA over 70 years ago. This, then, established the battleground of all churches from 1950 until — today. The Catholic Church was not the only one attacked, just the hardest hit because of its international presence. The result is seen in the battleground of our schools, families and all other character-building tools used by Christians to keep evil in its cage and civilization moving forward and not “progressing” back into the cave.

As Bella Dodd said, “I thought how communist leaders achieve their greatest strength and cleverest snare when they use the will to goodness of their members.” That is a danger all Christians face. Goodness misdirected can deter from the intended purpose to do good.

Christians are taught to be kind, non-judgmental, and respectful of others – a great Christian weakness discovered by the communists long ago. We want to do good – another weakness for enemies of Christianity to exploit by making evil sound good and good sound evil. Our greatest strength is equally our greatest weakness. We must never let others convince us that evil is good by twisting the words of our Lord. That, perhaps, is the greatest Christmas present each of us can offer Him during the ominous days currently faced by our nation. We must not just know His words. We must understand their meaning because if we don’t, others can use those words to turn evil into what sounds like good.

How do they twist our Lord’s words? Moses presents us with God’s Ten Commandments, telling us we must love our neighbors as ourselves. The communists point to this Commandment and tell us capitalism, as a system is based on greed and results in the abuse of the poor. The truth is, no form of government helps the poor, but capitalism harms them least of all by giving them a chance to climb out of poverty. Neither socialism nor communism offer such an opportunity. The poor are our neighbors and we should love them – as ourselves. Thus, we are told, capitalism is evil.

God also commanded “Thou Shalt Not Covet…” and coveting is defined as taking from others that which is theirs to give to those who have not earned it – and that is redistribution of wealth. See how “they” use our standards of goodness against us by twisting words?

What best describes love of neighbor? Teaching neighbors to fish so they can become self sufficient? Or, giving neighbors a fish so they become dependent? Seek the truth, not what makes you feel good. We have turned the concept of “charitable giving” into a form of greedy consumerism – that’s not the fault of capitalism; it is us. We like to feel good about ourselves… and it’s much less time consuming (and much less personal) to give a fish than to teach someone to fish. Many people gain a sense of empowerment from giving so others become dependent on them. But the question is: Which best describes love?

Do you really believe that if churches were effectively doing their jobs we would be aborting babies like they are yesterday’s trash? Not if we were as honest as Phil Robertson of Duck Dynasty and publicly stated our opinions. Do you really believe that honest-to-God Christians would elect to public office those who perpetrate tyranny upon us? Would real Christians vote for the largely corrupted trash we have representing us in Washington, D.C. today?

Do you really believe anyone could be so stupid that all of the violations of our rights (which come from God, not government) are accidental? No one is that stupid. If they are, or if they are not making it their business to be informed about legislation – or computer systems – because it is their job to do so, they shouldn’t hold office.

Ask yourself those questions – and more – as you enter the voting booth in 2014 and hopefully vote for those who have never held office. Don’t vote for those who are incumbents. They’re the ones who got us into this mess! More important, ask questions of the candidates running for office as they appear at public forums. When they say they are “conservative,” ask them to please define “conservative.” You will likely hear words like “balanced budget, smaller government, job creation, etc.” If the words “constitutionalist” and “rule of law” are missing, the candidate is a fiscal conservative social liberal.

How do we fight tyranny? Get your group to sponsor half- or full-page ads in your local newspaper… ads that do not attack another view, but explain the truth about the issue you support. Write letters to the editor… let your voice be heard.

Remember, these people took an Oath of Office vowing to support the Constitution of the United States or that of your home State. Become familiar with U.S. and State of residency Constitutions. When an elected official votes for something that violates your rights – from gun control to forcing insurance down your throat – do what Colorado voters did successfully when their legislators passed gun control legislation that violated their State Constitution: Demand a recall election and remove oath violators from office.

Merry Christmas in the truest sense of the word!

© 2013 Marilyn M. Barnewall - All Rights Reserved