In 1989 communism began to crumble in Eastern Europe and the USSR. By 1991 its demise was complete, but there is still debate about the reasons for the failure of this tragic social experiment which lasted about 70 years.

While a variety of political and economic theories have been offered to explain the fall of communism, I suggest that the real reason was spiritual: communism failed primarily because it fundamentally misunderstood human nature in that it failed to recognize that humanity is created in the image of God.

The Aim

The aim of communism was to create a new man. Marx and Lenin believed that the old model for understanding the human condition was based on economic exploitation and religion, and so a new economy had to be created and religious belief eradicated. Thus the most significant challenge for the Marxist was to rebuild society.

This rebuilding began as an economic movement, but their need to develop a new world soon ran up against religion as the chief obstacle, and communism was not an ideology that sought compromises, as it was a philosophy with a very strict and narrow interpretation of the human problem and its solution.

The Method

The method of changing society was direct and often brutal. The instrument for change was the modern 20th century dictatorship: coercion, violence, lies, disinformation, imaginary stories and skewed statistics disseminated via a controlled press and educational system.

This method of re-education was focused on the workers and common people, the so-called Proletariat, the largest class of society, defined as those who had nothing to lose but their chains. Marxism's quick early success was largely due to their skillful use of education to remake the minds of the Proletariat, which was easy to do since these people were largely uneducated and gullible, and were often dissatisfied with their lives.

What the Proletariat did not realize was that this "education" was not education at all, but a sophisticated form of propaganda that re-defined the prevailing world view in terms of Marxist philosophy. This new communist philosophy had prepared pre-fabricated answers to every question of life, and a social benefit for every physical problem.

However, it soon became obvious to Lenin and his comrades that the main obstacle to their re-invention of humanity was not the old economic order, but the problem of religious belief.

Capitalism could always be accommodated. One example of this is the communists' cultivation of a mutually beneficial relationship with the American industrialist Armand Hammer, who made much of his considerable fortune trading with the Soviet Union under the direct supervision of both Lenin and Stalin. After all, even communist economics were based upon the flow of goods and capital, so a special working relationship could be made for Hammer and a number of others.

However, there was no such common ground with religious belief. Marxism was predicated upon an atheistic adaptation of Darwin's evolutionary theory, and there could be no compromise with the fundamental tenets of belief in God, or theism, as it existed in both the Russian Orthodox Church or Islam, which was predominant in parts of southern Russia and Soviet Central Asia.

The instrument used to solve this problem was sheer terror, genocide and lies. The Russian Orthodox clergy and laity were systematically executed or exiled to prison camps. Every form of Christian expression, even such innocent acts as wearing a cross or painting Easter eggs, were enough to send a person to prison. All Bibles and Christian literature were destroyed; I personally never even saw a Bible until I first traveled outside Bulgaria as an adult and saw one in a hotel. Muslims in the Soviet Union also suffered similar persecution.

Countless churches were destroyed or turned into warehouses; monasteries and church properties were confiscated. Of course an official church was left in place as a smoke screen to cover these pernicious activities. Religious belief was viewed by the Party as the chief impediment to the evolution of the ideal Socialist Man.

A New Religion

Strangely - or perhaps not so strangely - religion was not really eliminated under the communist system. While traditional religions were systematically eliminated and atheism promoted through the science curricula of the educational system, the Party, State and Premier - a rather unholy trinity - actually replaced God as the source of all goodness, blessing, wisdom and knowledge. Lenin's remains were preserved in a holy shrine on Red Square in a glass case for the entire socialist world to come and worship. The message was clear: every Soviet citizen was also expected to give his or her life for the greater good of the communist religion.

Underlying all this was a constant and deliberate misrepresentation of truth. In order to destroy religion, it was important that those who were eliminated were not considered holy martyrs. Thus all of Russian and Christian history had to be re-written in order to demonize Christianity and portray it as a reactionary and evil institution that impeded the forward progress of humanity.

Marxism fell in the USSR and Eastern Europe not just because of economic or social collapse - the main reason was that it was a spiritual cancer that destroyed the organism of its collective humanity. Official government lies and disinformation became so blatant and obvious that they became the subject of jokes by the very populace they were designed to deceive. Thus the Marxist experiment was doomed from its inception by its intentional use of lies, terror and denial of God's existence, the foundation of all life and truth.

Conclusions

This is not meant to be only a harsh critique of the failures of communism. It is intended as a lesson for today. The former Soviet Union still suffers from the trauma of these years. Atheism and agnosticism are still predominant, taking away a basis for hope, as evidenced by very high rates of depression, alcoholism and suicide.

The totalitarian mindset still lingers over Eastern Europe and the old USSR. While the Orthodox church has been restored to its old status, minority faiths, such as Protestants, are still discriminated against in many countries. In this regard we have to say that the battle against communism continues and that we still have a long way to go in some areas.

The communist legacy has thus left us with a great challenge. The spiritual revival and vitality of the peoples in the former USSR and the East Bloc is still a great need. Communism ruled for many decades and affected several generations. Yet we have seen enormous progress in the last decade, which gives us hope for the years to come.