Tag: Chambers

Socialism/Communism: Symptom of a Deeper Problem

  

Those who know American history also know that the push for a more socialist society is nothing new. Eugene Debs, the perennial presidential candidate for the Socialist Party during the early decades of the twentieth century received a rather impressive number of votes, especially in 1912. Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal pushed us closer to the socialist vision with the rise of government oversight of the economy and Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society offered the kind of federal government intrusion that few… Read more »

A Series of Mental Acrobatics

  

Whittaker Chambers, in his autobiography Witness, writes about his days in the Communist Party prior to his disillusionment with it and his eventual rejection of that false vision of mankind, history, and the future. In it, he offers a portrait of one man by the name of Harry Freeman who was the perfect example of the Communist mindset. Here’s how he described him: No matter how favorable his opinion had been to an individual or his political role, if that… Read more »

The Great Confrontation

  

Seventy-one years ago yesterday, one of the most intense political confrontations in American history occurred in the US House of Representatives. August 25, 1948, was the day that the man on the right in this photo, Alger Hiss, was asked publicly whether he had ever known the man standing on the left side of the photo. His name was Whittaker Chambers. What was the controversy all about and why did it captivate the public for the next two years? Chambers,… Read more »

The Decision-Point

  

Those who come to the decision-point in their lives as to whether to commit themselves to the Lordship of Christ must first go through a soul-searching with respect to their sins. While all sin separates from God, some sins have greater impact not only on their own lives but the lives of countless others. Whittaker Chambers was a man who had to struggle through his former allegiance to communism before he could make his salvation decision. He had worked in… Read more »

The Poison of Subjectivism & the Loss of Freedom

  

C. S. Lewis was no fan of politics. He had listened to political discussions from his youth, as his father was a lawyer with the government, but he found such talk ultimately unsatisfying. Yet that doesn’t mean he wasn’t concerned about good governing and the basis for understanding what is necessary for it. So even though he shied away from writing too much on politics per se, he never avoided advocating foundational concepts that applied to a society—government and culture… Read more »

The Loss of History Is Our Loss

  

I remember it was back around 1980, when I was teaching some high school students, that I first encountered the realization that I was older and they were unbelievably young. What do I mean? I was talking about the JFK assassination and was stunned to learn that they were too young to have had firsthand knowledge of it. Of course, if I had been thinking clearly, I would have understood that ahead of time; after all, even if I’m not… Read more »

The Devolution of the Democrat Party

  

Democrats and Republicans have always disagreed about policy, but there was a time when the two parties weren’t as polarized as they are today. In my study of American history, the last Democrat president with whom I would have felt entirely comfortable was Grover Cleveland—and that goes a long way back. Yet Democrats weren’t always as radical as they seem to be now. The change in my lifetime has been rather dramatic, and I’m sure many others can attest to… Read more »