“Substantially, Marxism-Leninism denies that there is any soul; that there is any after life; that there is any God. That is part and parcel of the entire theory.” Bella Dodd in testimony before a Senate subcommittee in 1952.
For those readers unfamiliar with Bella Dodd (1904-1969), she was one of the early Amercican admirers of the Russian Revolution of 1917 and ultimately became an operative of the Soviet Union in the United States, specializing in infiltrating the teachers’ union in New York. She was especially active in the 1930s and 1940s, finally testifying before both the Senate and the House in the early 1950s about Soviet tactics in their quest to bring the United States under Soviet control.
Miss Dodd’s autobiography, School of Darkness, recounts her attraction to Marxism-Socialism, her very active participation in infiltrating American institutions internally during this time, and her conversion back to Catholicism with the help of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen. Miss Constitution remains skeptical of Miss Dodd’s conversion back to a belief in God and has a suspicion that her unwillingness to reveal which Cardinals in the Vatican were supposedly Soviet plants is more dispositive of her continued loyalty to the Soviet cause than her well-written but emotionless autobiography. Bella Dodd’s life, however, raises a question that Americans would do well to answer.
What is it about the Russian Revolution of 1917 that captured the imagination of so many American young people, wealthy matrons of old-line American families, prominent businessmen, university intellectuals, reputable charities, and elected and appointed public servants? Why is this attraction still with us today?
Perhaps the answer is relatively simple – Marxists figured out that it is not their ideology that wins the hearts and minds of people, but manipulation of a trigger found in us all – sensitivity to what is fair. The trigger is manipulated through messaging. As Bella Dodd explains, “[T]rue socialism had been a spell woven of words cleverly strung together. . .and it was made plausible by my desire to see man-made perfection in this imperfect world.”
Miss Constitution would say that “fairness” is what is “just” under the circumstances. What is “just” under the circumstances does not mean an equal outcome under the circumstances, it means what meets a standard of rightfulness under the circumstances. This is why Bella Dodd’s desire to see man-made perfection in this imperfect world is error – man-made perfection is impossible because it begins and ends with man and his wounded nature in sin. Rightfulness begins with God. An example:
There are those who deny the fact that Hamas (through Iran) initiated an attack on Israel on October 7, 2024, with over 1,000 people brutally murdered and others captured, including Americans. What could overcome the facts of this event? How could denial of this event impact thousands of persons at America’s premier educational institutions who demonstrate for more killing, torture, and annihilation of a whole people? It could happen because a Jewish state created May 14, 1948 by a vote of the United Nations is messaged as unfair. That the Jewish state of Israel is a stable and prosperous society is messaged as unfair. That the state of Israel has had to fight its way, since 1948, through numerous wars and now constant rocket attacks is messaged as unfair because Israel has managed to survive these attacks. The question to be asked, then, as a response to this denial of October 7 is: “What is ‘just’ under the circumstances? In other words – what is fair?” These questions include Palestinians.
In a related example, Pope Francis seemed to try “to create a spell, woven of words cleverly strung together” in a recent American television interview.
He mentioned the globalization of indifference. The fact is that Americans are not indifferent. The fact is that the American people are the most generous people in the world.
He mentioned that all ideology is bad. The fact is that some ideology is bad. Belief in God, development of the person, and personal liberty with duty, is not bad.
He mentioned that all should strive for peace. The fact is that peace under cowardly circumstances only brings more conflict. Sometimes slaying the wicked brings the peace the Pope desires.
He mentioned that conservatism is suicidal. The fact is that conserving what is essential to the maintenance of our Rule of Law and Constitutional Republic is critical to the welfare of Americans and the world.
He mentioned that closing the United States borders is unfair. He insisted that each migrant must be treated humanely. The fact is that each migrant is treated humanely. This does not mean the United States must allow unvetted persons into our country who might injure our citizens and/or damage our culture.
Miss Constitution harbors no ill-will toward Pope Francis. His comments, however, are the exact same contrivance that influenced Bella Dodd and the thousands of Americans who betrayed their country in the 20th century and those who continue to do so today. His was not a message of Christian doctrine; his was not a message of God first and man second; his was not a message of personal repentance and ultimate salvation; his was a political message masked as an appeal to “fairness.”
If fairness has been manipulated, how is one to judge what is true and what is just?
It is very hard to do. Propaganda techniques are so sophisticated in our digital world that the average person has but a few defenses. The first defense is humble prayer and the admission that it is hard to know what facts are true in any given situation. The second defense is a reliance on the empirical. One can know reality through the senses and through experience. One can rely on instinct and common sense. Finally, one must develop critical thinking skills that unmask the untrue – those words “cleverly woven together” that deceive. At one time, this was one hallmark of our higher education system.
Bella Dodd gave us one piece of information that we know is accurate. “Marxism-Leninism denies that there is any soul; that there is any after life; that there is any God. That is part and parcel of the entire theory.” This ideology can never be compatible with a system based on objective not subjective truths, including a belief in God. The answer, in Miss Constitution’s view, to the Israeli-Hamas issue and any others, is to simply measure facts by a standard of objectivity and fairness by a standard of justness. “What is ‘just’ under the circumstances?” If the circumstances include pure evil, pure evil must be eliminated.
Finally, if the lure of Marxism boils down to “messaging”, what can America do to turn around over 100 years of a false spell sold to both our own citizens and others? America, while not selling it as such, has produced the fairest playing field of any system devised by man so far. Perhaps we should now begin selling what we should have been selling all along.
