Totalitarianism is a big word and a big topic these days. Invasive governments crushing their citizens were on display all throughout the twentieth century and continue on today. One need only consider North Korea to realize that full-blown totalitarianism is alive and well. But not all pressure comes with an iron fist and a secret police force.
Government control can come in a much more subtle form. Rod Dreher refers to this phenomenon as "soft totalitarianism". There are more means at the state's disposal than torture chambers and labor camps. Even these more extreme manifestations are not typically seen at the beginning. These powers start out with a gentle and reassuring tone. They are only here to help, to protect, and serve. They really do care after all.
Soft totalitarianism utilizes a more gradual approach. If people want to oppose the regime, that is fine. They just will not have the same opportunities in public life as those who tone down their rhetoric. Their views will not be taught in the public research universities. Their perspective will not be represented by major media or entertainment. And do not expect the goalposts to remain stationary. If one looks closely, it is almost as if they are on an invisible conveyor belt that moves slowly but steadily to the left.
See, one can hold the wrong view but he or she will know it is the wrong one. If you want to be part of the basket of deplorables, that is your prerogative. But make no mistake, your societal betters will take every chance to mock you, your Christian heritage, and your God. The scoffers of 2 Peter 3 are out in full force these days. "Where is His coming" they say, "Where is this God you speak of? Is He not irrelevant in the age of Darwin, Marx, and Freud?" What we do in the face of such abuse, mockery, and contempt? How do we fight soft totalitarianism?
In his excellent work Live Not By Lies, Dreher points us to one of the great dissenters of the twentieth century to answer this question. Alexander Solzhenitsyn was a Russian writer who was exiled to the West for daring to challenge the Soviet state. Both his fiction and nonfiction are well worth the effort (for starters see here and here). This man faced the brunt of full-on totalitarianism. But the wisdom he provides applies to all of us in our fight against government overreach, great and small.
Even in the worst of circumstances, there is always something we can do. We may not have the strength or the momentum to rise up and fight the enemy head on. But we can always refuse to join the nonsense party.
"So has the circle closed? So is there indeed no way out? So the only thing left to do is wait inertly: What if something just happens by itself?
But it will never come unstuck by itself, if we all, every day, continue to acknowledge, glorify, and strengthen it, if we do not, at the least, recoil from its most vulnerable point.
From lies."
Alexander (great name by the way) is spot on here. God in His providence will accomplish His purposes on this Earth. But we dare not presume upon Him to act if we refuse to be faithful, however small the opportunity. And there is one option that is always before us. That option is to refuse to live by lies. He continues,
"And therein we find, neglected by us, the simplest, the most accessible key to our liberation: a _personal nonparticipation in lies!_ Even if all is covered by lies, even if all is under their rule, let us resist in the smallest way: Let their rule hold _not through me!_"
We are so immersed in a world of lies, that the power of this action might almost escape us at first. It is so easy to let the lies swirl around us without a response, without fighting back, even if it's just in our own minds and the minds of our families and churches. We have been existing in a madhouse where transgenderism and baby murder are celebrated. Do we refuse to normalize that in our own heads for even one second? We are not the weird ones. They are lying to us and to themselves. We cannot afford to let our children or ourselves think otherwise.
The Soviets manufactured lies with their media arm and secret police. Today, we have Hollywood, CNN, and Harvard. They package up the most absurd nonsense and present it as science or basic human decency or historical fact. The euphemisms are so laughable and the pronouns are so ridiculous. But they are also widespread that we can catch ourselves thinking in those terms. We forget to remind ourselves that all this propaganda assaulting our eyes and ears and being shouted from our screens is just the insane raving of a depraved culture. They are not telling us the truth. They are rebelling against God.
We can always and must always resist this attempt to normalize evil. Using false or made-up pronouns is not hospitable; it is giving a stamp of approval to a lie. Justifying abortion as anything other than murder is not having grace for the mother; it is accepting the preposterous terms of those who want to suppress their bloodguilt. That will not acquit them of their sin. But it will desensitize you. Let not their rule hold through you.
If God has allowed us means of resisting tyranny and evil, we should make use of them. Make prudent decisions in your voting. Pray for godly magistrates and representatives and work for that as much as you are able. Speak boldly in this nation where we have the privilege of proclaiming God's truth in God's world freely. It may not be smiled upon by our culture, but it is allowed at this moment in time. We still have many opportunities to fight for truth in this country. Let us make the most of them. And at the very least, in every situation, let us refuse to participate in the falsehoods.
For if we ever come to a time when other freedoms are restricted, that must always be our course of action. If you are not doing it now, what makes you think you will do it then? Look to Christ for courage and wisdom and stand up to the delusions in front of you every day. I am thankful to Rod Dreher and Alexander Solzhenitsyn for reminding me of the power of this commitment. The truth will set you free. That truth is found in the person of Jesus Christ. Let us never side with the lies against the King. If you read this and you have been swallowed up by those lies, now is the time to flee them. Repent of your treachery against the Son of God. He can break all those chains of falsehood and set you on the path of truth. Come to Jesus. Live by lies no longer.
Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash