Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Communism’s Insidious Change of Priorities
American Thinker ^ | 5 Sep, 2026 | E. Jeffrey Ludwig

Posted on 09/05/2026 4:35:21 AM PDT by MtnClimber

Philosophy and Christianity base themselves on goals. Communism has another basis entirely.

Greek philosophy was defined by goals of life as communicated by Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle and, following them, by the Stoics such as Zeno, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Epictetus, and others. With the acceptance and spread of Christianity, we see many erudite lights of wisdom, such as Augustine, Aquinas, Roger Bacon, and others. These and others advanced the idea that the Word of God and men’s faith in that Word and in Christ are the source of a living, true knowledge of God.

Many of the Catholic and Orthodox doctrines were modified by the Protestant Reformation, but the Christian overarching goals of loving the Lord Our God with all our hearts, minds, and souls and loving our neighbors as we love ourselves remained two overarching principles and goals.

The panorama of life represented by pre-Christian Greek and Roman thought and the goals of Christian theology and philosophy together constituted the fabulous panorama of philosophy until the second half of the 19th century up through our present time. But by the mid-19th century, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels came out with their masterwork The Communist Manifesto.

These two creative devils turned away from the goals of philosophy that had held sway for thirteen hundred years. Instead of claiming to name and describe the goals of life and the competing claims of those goals, they claimed that goals such as love, faith in God, and following God all one’s days, or raising families with Christian goals at the center of the family enterprise, are not the basis for a meaningful life.

Rather, for the founding fathers of communism, a true understanding of life should be established based on meeting human (economic) needs. The heroics of peacemaking and self-sacrifice

(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...


TOPICS: Society
KEYWORDS: leftism
Message from Jim Robinson:

Dear FRiends,

We need your continuing support to keep FR funded. Your donations are our sole source of funding. No sugar daddies, no advertisers, no paid memberships, no commercial sales, no gimmicks, no tax subsidies. No spam, no pop-ups, no ad trackers.

If you enjoy using FR and agree it's a worthwhile endeavor, please consider making a contribution today:

Click here: to donate by Credit Card

Or here: to donate by PayPal

Or by mail to: Free Republic, LLC - PO Box 9771 - Fresno, CA 93794

Thank you very much and God bless you,

Jim


1 posted on 09/05/2026 4:35:21 AM PDT by MtnClimber
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

Communism and islam seem to be a lust for power.


2 posted on 09/05/2026 4:36:30 AM PDT by MtnClimber (For photos of scenery, wildlife and climbing, click on my screen name for my FR home page.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: MtnClimber
[...] following them, by the Stoics such as Zeno, Epictetus, Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Epictetus, and others.

Regards,

3 posted on 09/05/2026 5:10:48 AM PDT by alexander_busek (Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: alexander_busek

I’m glad someone else caught that too. Very strange repetition. Unless they are two different Epictetuses (Epictetusii?)


4 posted on 09/05/2026 5:17:48 AM PDT by Ciaphas Cain
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Ciaphas Cain
Unless they are two different Epictetuses

I checked: There was only one Stoic philosopher named "Epictetus."

Regards,

5 posted on 09/05/2026 5:19:51 AM PDT by alexander_busek (Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: alexander_busek; All

Unless they are two different Epictetuses

I checked: There was only one Stoic philosopher named “Epictetus.”

Regards,


I have had similar errors happen when editing using a word processor.

I catch most of them...


6 posted on 09/05/2026 6:30:47 AM PDT by marktwain (----------------------)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson