“Let’s talk about totalitarianism.”

Below is the opening statement in a brief monologue by Christianity Today’s Mike Cosper in The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast. It’s in the episode State of Emergency and begins at 30:40. I mentioned in my last post that I’ve been listening to it. I breezed through three episodes while shoveling snow today, and I couldn’t help think that what I was shoveling was far more beautiful than what Mark Driscoll shovels. Well, let me offer a qualification.. often Driscoll’s content is good, but it’s his attitude and character that tend to produce a mess.

As I was shoveling along, I had to stop and rewind this particular part:

Give it a quick listen.

I couldn’t help but think about our current state of emergency related to the COVID pandemic. Cosper was speaking to the dangers of spiritual totalitarianism that sometimes take place in churches. This abuse by church leaders is uncomfortably too prevalent in some churches today that have dynamic, charismatic leaders. And yet, Cosper’s analysis echoed many observations in Rod Dreher’s book Live Not by Lies that I read last year.

The description of Dreher’s book includes:

Dreher amplifies the alarm sounded by the brave men and women who fought totalitarianism. He explains how the totalitarianism facing us today is based less on overt violence and more on psychological manipulation. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn famously said that one of the biggest mistakes people make is assuming totalitarianism can’t happen in their country. Many American Christians are making that mistake today, sleepwalking through the erosion of our freedoms.

I made the following brief review on Goodreads after reading it:

I can’t think of a more timely and urgently needed book to digest and then to recommend to others. It is what I would call “tribulation training” for our soft, comfort-addicted, risk-averse and safety-worshiping western church. May we take up our crosses and drink deeply of the abundant life of joyful abandon that our Messiah Jesus calls us to. The reward of His fellowship is uncomprehendingly wonderful.

Why is totalitarianism bad?

Don’t get me started. 😉 In brief, it’s bad because in this country, we still (for how long I don’t know) have a say in how our country is led and run. Limitations of freedom, no matter how well painted they are as “good for us” seldom are temporary. Governments are simply not wired to give you more freedom. The accumulation of policies, laws and regulations inherently produce less freedom.

We have a preponderance of historical evidence that when a leader creates a “state of emergency” to limit freedoms, that resulting power is not readily released.

Totalitarianism encroaches. In its genesis, it offers safety, convenience or comfort. As it matures, however, it begins to take back even those illusions and demands one’s loyalty.. or else.

It’s bad for people of faith, because we want freedom to share our faith, to operate in a culture that genuinely tolerates dissent and practices critical thinking skills. When the majority are drinking the KoolAid that’s being poured from liberal sources, it’s not hard to imagine that those who would advocate for a singular truth perspective will be those first targeted for silencing, censorship and sidelining (or worse).

Why Woke Christianity Is The Greatest Threat To Christians Today

In an article with that title, Carina Benton, a dual citizen of Australia and Italy and a permanent resident of the United States, is able to say with better perspective than those who simply sip from CNN:

Unfortunately, too many Christians have fallen for what Rod Dreher refers to in “Live Not By Lies” as “the Myth of Progress.” This belief, central to Marxist ideology, maintains mankind is marching ever forward toward perfect liberty, equality, and solidarity, holding that those who get in the way are ignorant, backward, and bigoted.

Wrapped up in this myth is the equally pernicious notion of “tolerance,” which — in the current context — requires one laud the doctrines and behaviors that radical ideologues approve of as moving society “forward” while mercilessly condemning the beliefs, traditions, and standards that oppose it.¹

She references Dreher’s book in her article. Dreher said that the totalitarianism he was most concerned about in the U.S. is a “soft” totalitarianism. He describes totalitarianism this way:

I mean an all-encompassing ideology that seeks to control not just the actions, but the thoughts of those under its power. By “soft,” I mean to distinguish it from the “hard” totalitarianism of the Soviet-style dictatorships. This is going to be something much more akin to Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World than Orwell’s Nineteen Eighty-Four. It will be like James Poulos’s concept of the “Pink Police State” — hardline managerial progressivism that permits personal liberties, but restricts political ones. And it will be administered not wholly by the state, but by corporations and other institutions run by managerial elites, enabled by the vast network of surveillance technology that is already in place, thanks to the ubiquity of the Internet, smartphones, and smart devices.²

It’s past time to talk.

Most Christians are so busy with normalcy that broader cultural and political movements are ignored. School, work, responsibilities at home, shuttling kids to activities and practices and church all keep us focused on good things. Those are all really good things. And yet, when Cosper said in the Mars Hill podcast, “Let’s talk about totalitarianism,” I agree. Christians don’t need more “woke,” but we do need to wake up and smell the air of culture we’re currently breathing. Being awake is a condition of being ready for what God wants to do in us, through us and around us:

“Besides this, since you know the time, it is already the hour for you to wake up from sleep, because now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is nearly over, and the day is near; so let us discard the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.”³

We live in a culture and in a time in world history that requires our discernment. Strange things are afoot. Yesterday’s “conspiracy theories” are uncomfortably becoming today’s headlines. Christians need to love, demonstrate grace, reflect the beauty of Jesus AND be able to speak the truth to our culture and one another. We need to be able to distinguish spin from spirit.

It doesn’t matter your political perspective. You should be very leery and wary of any leader who seeks to limit freedom without wisdom. Finger pointers from the right and left will want to distract you.

Where to start?

We first start by identifying trouble and sin in our “own house” – our churches and church culture.⁴ But we must also press on to identifying trouble and sin in our culture and world and agreeing with God about it. The prophets pronounced “woe” on God’s people when they refused to call sin sin and instead tried to explain it away or rationalize it.

“Woe to those who call evil good
and good evil,
who put darkness for light
and light for darkness,
who put bitter for sweet
and sweet for bitter!”⁵

Where do you begin “talking?”

I began with the clip from the Mars Hill podcast – “Let’s talk about totalitarianism.” I’d encourage you to start by reading the articles referenced in the footnotes. I’d move from there and read Dreher’s book Live Not by Lies. You can’t go wrong by subscribing to World Magazine (news from a Christian perspective). You could also listen to podcasts that will keep you informed about current events from faith perspective.⁶

The important thing is to engage and start somewhere. We can’t do the ostrich thing.⁷ Let’s start by talking.

1. Why Woke Christianity Is The Greatest Threat To Christians Today by Carina Benton[↩]
2. The Road To Soft Totalitarianism by Rod Dreher[↩]
3. Romans 13:11-12[↩]
4. 1 Peter 4:17[↩]
5. Isaiah 5:20[↩]
6. A few podcasts to consider: Relatable by Allie Beth Stuckey, The General Eclectic by Rod Dreher, The Briefing by Albert Mohler[↩]
7. By the way, “as flightless birds, ostriches are unable to build nests in trees, so they lay their eggs in holes dug in the ground. To make sure that the eggs are evenly heated, they occasionally stick their heads into the nest to rotate the eggs, which makes it look like they’re trying to hide – hence the myth.” (Source[↩]