A little socialism?

The recent members meeting of the Martin 9/12 Tea Party Committee was enhanced by the presence of one of our occasional attendees, an émigré from one of the eastern European (former) Soviet Block countries. Once again we were reminded of the enduring passion with which these solidly patriotic Americans warn us of the wrongheadedness of tolerating socialist policies in our lives. Not just in politics, but in religion. 

No one has better articulated the inevitable misery awaiting those who accept the notion that, "a little socialism" can be tolerated on our way to a better life, than the Reverend Richard Wurmbrand. Pastor Wurmbrand described the rationalization that ensued shortly after WWII when communists came into control of the government in Romania (or Rumania). All of the twisted logic we see now justifying socialist and anti-religious policy was employed back then as well. 

Pastor Wurmbrand relates to a U.S. Senate Committee in 1966 his astonishment as his fellow pastors accepted the new (1945) communist/socialist rule as an accommodation so that they could continue to tend their flock under a "benign" government watch. He was the only one to object to the new arrangement and was quickly singled out for detention and torture. But he also noted that he met his fellow church leaders much later in the same detention, undergoing the same torture (but with a much more encumbered conscience).

But as bad as the torture was, he states emphatically that, "The worst thing has been the corruption of religion." His observation was that many of the church leaders had been replaced with agents of the communist regimes.

The original reference to the government archive for this testimony has been erased, but you can find the transcript linked below to the site of the Christian Science Monitor (and our server).

Please read the testimony of Rev. Richard Wurmbrand before the U.S. Senate, Subcommittee to Investigate the Administration of the Internal Security Act and Other Internal Security Laws, of the Committee on the Judiciary, Washington D.C. on Friday, May 6, 1966.

Christian Monitor - Testimony of Pastor Richard Wurmbrand

Download the document here (29 pages):
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/26494838/TESTIMONY%20OF%20REV%20Wurmbrand.pdf

JJM
Martin 9/12 Committee