Communism’s Long March of Death, Deception, and Infiltration
By Paul Kengor
TAN Books, 488 pages, $24.95
While some believe that the war against communism ended with the Soviet Union’s collapse in 1991, current polling reveals that 30% of Gen Z holds favorable views of Marxism and 25% of Americans support “the gradual elimination of the capitalist system.” These disturbing statistics expose a severe lack of knowledge about the violent, perverse, and destructive ideology that is Marxist thought. Dr. Paul Kengor’s book The Devil and Karl Marx: Communism’s Long March of Death, Deception, and Infiltration is an effective counter to this ignorance, definitively unmasking the evils of Marxism.
Kengor is a Political Science professor at Grove City College, author of multiple books, and frequent speaker for various think tanks and media outlets. The Devil and Karl Marx provides readers with a detailed trove of well-documented evidence which thoroughly exposes the vile, atheistic heritage of government-imposed collectivism.
Kengor’s book primarily deals with the “grim, disturbing, militant atheism and intense anti-religious elements of Marx and other founders and practitioners of communism.” Hence, one of Kengor’s three primary arguments is that Marxism is inseparable from atheism, waging a direct war on Judeo-Christian morality and natural law.
Kengor fully backs up this assessment with lengthy passages of primary historical documents, eyewitness accounts, and the confessions of self-declared Marxists. Not only the periphery of the Marxist movement but also its very founders sought to exterminate religion—exemplified by Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto, Vladimir Lenin’s letters to fellow comrades, and Friedrich Engels’s writings.
Ultimately, he proves communism is incompatible with religion because each Marxist attempts to “make himself his own sun—that is, his own God.” Being that every human is sinful and fallible, we make for very poor gods that will inevitably destroy the world around us.
Kengor also argues that the founders and strongest proponents of Marxism were morally disturbed and flirted with paganism, the occult, sexual perversion, and the devil himself. Kengor demonstrates this with an overwhelming quantity of specifics about gruesome Marxist practices.
Kengor mainly relies on primary accounts, but in the cases where he invokes secondary sources, he thoroughly documents any limitations and qualifies all arguments made on their basis. For example, famous feminist and cultural Marxist Kate Millet was allegedly demon-possessed, which is not objectively verifiable. Kengor is forthright about this but lays out the known facts, allowing readers to evaluate the credibility of such claims for themselves.
Likewise, Kengor examines Marx’s poetry, which is obviously an artistic source and is liable to be misinterpreted. Kengor clearly acknowledges this in his analysis and documents other authors’ interpretations to provide a more well-rounded perspective.
More than just a history lesson, Kengor’s book goes into great depth on the impact that such destructive ideologies have on society today. His final argument exposes the fact that Marxists have invaded American institutions, causing enormous damage and undermining the fabric of society. Kengor primarily looks at the statements of ex-communists who testified before the U.S. Congress with specific names, dates, and reports to demonstrate the systematic infiltration of American churches. Furthermore, internal reports from the International Communist Party corroborate these testimonies with an extraordinary level of specificity.
The Devil and Karl Marx is a must-read for anyone who is even slightly inclined towards the ideals of communism or Marxism. Masses of the public are dangerously uneducated about the perils of Marxist thought and do not realize the full extent of the evil that it embodies. This book is a compelling remedy for such unawareness and fully refutes any claims that Marxism and religion, especially Christianity, are compatible. The nearly 700 endnotes included in The Devil and Karl Marx speak volumes about its rigorous documentation. Unlike those found in leftist pseudo-scholarly pap like A People’s History of the United States, these citations reference tons of solid primary sources including speeches, testimonies, letters, and manifestos. The Devil and Karl Marx is an eye-opening read that is crucial to understanding the perverse, violent, and amoral history of Marxism and how its proponents did—and are still doing—the devil’s work.
