Review
=====
Title: The Naked Communist
Author: W. Cleon Skousen
Publisher: Izzard Inc. L.L.C., P.O. Box 522251, Salt Lake City, Utah 84152.
Genre: Non-fiction
Year Published: 2014, this printing.
Number of Pages: 358
Binding: Paperback
ISBN10: 9781630720797
ISBN13: 9780910558808
Price: $24.95
Reviewed by Michael J. Thompson for The Association For Mormon Letters.
This is a look at history, a look at philosophy, and whether or not that philosophy comports with the doctrines and teachings of the Savior.
“The era through which we are passing is no exception. On the flyleaf of the book, The Naked Communist, by W. Cleon Skousen, we find this quotation, (and I admonish everybody to read that excellent book of Chief Skousen’s) : ‘the conflict between communism and freedom is the problem of our time. It overshadows all other problems. This conflict mirrors our age, its toils, its tensions, its troubles, and its tasks. On the outcome of this conflict depends the future of mankind.” President David O. McKay, Conference Report, Oct. 1959, p. 5
“Communism destroys man’s God-given free agency… Latter-day Saints cannot be true to their faith and lend aid, encouragement, or sympathy to any of these false philosophies. They will prove snares to their feet.” President David O. McKay, see R. Clayton Brough, His Servants Speak, 1975, p. 77.
“We believe in a moral code. Communism denies innate right or wrong. As W. Cleon Skousen has said in his timely book, The Naked Communist: The communist ‘has convinced himself that nothing is evil which answers the call of expediency.’ This is a most damnable doctrine. People who truly accept such a philosophy have neither conscience nor honor. Force, trickery, lies, broken promises are wholly justified.” President Ezra Taft Benson, Conference Report, April 1960, p. 9.
The words are very explicit, and the counsel very pointed; we should read this book. In General Conference, twice, we have been told to read this book. It has been reprinted, first being published in 1958.
We may say, well, this is an old statement, and communism has been defeated. There is no need to do so now. If there is no need, look at the old statements we adhere to every day by the prophets: The Bible, The Book of Mormon, Joseph Smith, etc., all of whom are dead and gone. Should we ignore the words of our prophets? If so, does it do us any good to sustain them with our votes? We have the agency to decide this.
Fast forward to today. Is it irrelevant? On the cover of this new printing, Dr. Ben Carson has a statement about this book. “The Naked Communist lays out the whole progressive plan. It is unbelievable how fast it has been achieved.” Further, in the Preface to this printing, Dr. Ben Carson continues: “The Naked Communist lays out the whole progressive agenda. You would think by reading it that it was written last year. It shows what the progressives are trying to do to the American family and what they are trying to do to destroy our Judeo Christian values and morality.”
When I joined the LDS Church I heard that this book had been recommended to us in General Conference. I never read it, as I was raised by a mother and a step-father whose parents were from Czechoslovakia and Poland. I was taught how bad communism is. I felt I knew enough about it already and did not have to read another book. However, in reading it, I see how wrong I was and how important to our faith this book is, as people today are complacent and do not believe it can happen again.
Especially with the recent news conference of the LDS Church on the issue of religious liberty, this book is very important to us as members, as people of faith, so we can determine what the progressive agenda in America today is doing to destroy faith, to limit faith, to relegate it to the outskirts of society. We see it every day, as it is explicit, what the goals of the progressive agenda are today, no different than they have been since the days of Marx and Engels.
Cleon Skousen, on the last page of this book, states: “We must do more than merely teach correct principles-certainly we must practice them.”
Our Church has reiterated this in our day in the Priesthood and Relief Society lessons for this year. In the manual, “Teachings of the Presidents of the Church, Ezra Taft Benson,” we read on page 22 President Benson admonishing us: “The effective teaching of the gospel can only thrive in an atmosphere of liberty. Yes, we all say, we love liberty. But that is not enough. We must protect and safeguard that which we love. We must save liberty.”
This begs the question, are we going to continue to hide from this great responsibility, as taught by every President of the LDS Church? It is our decision, we know we have our agency, given us by our Savior. The consequences for those choices are not ours to choose.
The last chapter has a comparison of each of the Ten Commandments and how they relate to the teachings of Marx and Engels, on which both Communism and Socialism base their philosophies. And the progressives are clearly at least of the Socialist type.
I read and re-read these statements on each of our Ten Commandments, because they are truth, and they help us understand how much wrong there is in what we are doing when compared to what the Lord has given us in the Constitution of the United States. If nothing else, it is of interest to us and we should at least read this commentary on the Ten Commandments and progressivism.
What is the first premise of Communism? “Everything in existence came about as a result of ceaseless motion among the forces of nature. Everything is a product of accumulated accident. There is no design. There is no law. There is no God. There is only one force, the force of nature. Force is right, force is good, and force is natural.”
Consider this today, in our society. People do not choose, people are forced by government. We as LDS have forgotten the principles the Lord gave us in the establishment of our nation and in our Constitution. And, those beliefs have not been deleted from our doctrines — they are still here in Doctrine and Covenants 98:4-10; 101:77-80; 109:54; 134.
The second premise of Communism is: “Human beings are only graduate beasts, and therefore human life is not more sacred than that of a centipede, a caterpillar or a pig. The completely reckless disregard for human life is the most striking, single characteristic of materialism in action. For many Americans, the things which were experienced in the Korean War have brought a rude awakening. It means a big difference when we are dealing with people who look upon all humanity as merely ‘graduate beasts.’”
Is this how we look on humanity? And, how is this view consistent with the gospel?
The third major premise of Communism is: “There is no such thing as innate right or wrong. As one of their leaders pointedly declared, ‘To lie, is that wrong? Not for a good cause. To steal, is that wrong? Not for a good cause. To kill, is that wrong? Not for a good cause.’ (Lenin) We call that pragmatism-that the end justifies the means. The dialectical materialists look upon ethics and morals as superficial and fraudulent. V.I. Lenin declared: ‘The upbringing of Communist youth must not consist of all sorts of sentimental speeches and precepts.’ And in the same volume he states that, ‘Morality is that which serves to destroy the old exploiting society . . . Communist morality is the morality which served the struggle.”
How many do we see like this today? The leaders of our society today, how willing are they to lie to us? Is the doctrine of “the end justifies the means” consistent with LDS doctrine? Where is it not prevalent in our governmental circles, our daily lives, today?
The fourth major premise of Communism is “That all religion must be overthrown because it inhibits the spirit of world revolution. It is the feeling of Marx, Engels and their fellow travelers that deep spiritual convictions of the people hindered their acceptance of Communist philosophy and Communist rule. It kept them from lying and stealing and killing when leaders commanded it. As one of their writers declared: ‘Religion does not fit into a dialectical materialist system of thought. It is the enemy of it. One cannot be a thorough materialist, that is, a dialectical materialist, and have any remnants of religious beliefs.’”
It is very clear to us, as Christians, what our fate is, if we allow these philosophies to gain any hold in our society, and Communists saw socialists as the first steps to their goals. Socialists are progressives, and communists agreed to work with them, as the “end justifies the means,” and they will be eliminated as well when the times arrives for the total victory of communism.
“Atheism is a natural and inseparable part of Marxism. . . consequently; a class-conscious Marxist party must carry on propaganda in favor of atheism. In one of their youth magazines the following instruction appeared: ‘If a Communist youth believes in God and goes to Church, he fails to fulfill his duties. This means that he has not yet rid himself of a religious superstition and has not yet become a fully conscious person.’”
In other words, there is no use for any person who is not an animal of these philosophies. Marx and Engels said in their Manifesto: “Our program abolishes eternal truths; it abolishes all religion and all morality . . . it therefore acts in contradiction to all past historical experience.”
This is cemented in the words of Lenin:
“We must hate-hatred is the basis of Communism. Children must be taught to hate their parents if they are not Communists.” And listen to the amazing declaration of the former Russian Commissar of Education, Anatole Lunarcharsky: “We hate Christians and Christianity. Even the best of them must be considered our worst enemies. Christian love is an obstacle to the development of the revolution. Down with love of one’s neighbor! What we want is hate . . Only then will we conquer the universe.”
Wow, how can any Christian accept such degradation, such doctrines so totally opposed to Christianity. We have seen this recently in the hateful criticism of Christianity throughout history by the leader of America, while not criticizing the root causes of much of this in the Muslim attacks on Christianity in Europe. This progressive thought is no different than that of Marx and Engels.
The 1943 incident of Igor Gauzenko, a Communist youth sent from Russian to work in their embassy in Canada, is so informative. This was the first time he had ever been out of Russia. He eventually testified against the Communists, and he said this: “I was surprised during the first days by the complete freedom of the individual which exists in Canada, but which does not exist in Russia.” He was impressed with the freedom present, even during time of war, impressed that the people were happy, and that the government served the people, rather than vice versa. He enjoyed just watching the people exercise their freedom. In this, he stated: “I saw the evidence of what a free people can do. What the Canadian people have accomplished and are accomplishing here under conditions of complete freedom, the Russian people, under the conditions of the Soviet Regime of violence and suppression of all freedom, cannot accomplish even at the cost of tremendous sacrifices, blood, and tears.” Gouzenko left Communism and reported the espionage of Canadian officials who were Communists or sympathizers to the Canadian government. At first he was rebuffed, laughed at, but, when it became apparent to the Canadian government that what he was saying was fact, they protected him, and many governmental officials went to jail. The names of those convicted are in this book.
Skousen, in this book, gives instructions on how to recognize these things in our society, giving said instructions to various groups in our society, under the titles of: Instructions for Parents, Suggestions for Teachers, Suggestions for Students, Suggestions for Businessmen, Suggestions for Legislators, Suggestions for the Press, Suggestions for Ministers, ending with a section entitled, “The West Can Win.” But, it is very clear, we cannot win if we know not what their philosophy is, and what their goals are. The statement “Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,” comes to mind here.
This book is a must read for any person of faith. Communism is an attack on all persons of faith, but explicitly upon Christians, as Christians have a moral foundation, a foundation in love, which is not recognized by the materialist, whether they be Communist, Socialist, or Progressive.
In summary, quoting from the back page of the book cover:
“The Naked Communist has sold more than a million copies. It found its way into the libraries of the CIA, the FBI, the White House, and homes all across America. The Naked Communist contains a distillation of more than a hundred books and treatises on communism, many written by Marxist authors. We see the communist the way he sees himself-stripped of propaganda and pretense. Explained here is the amazing appeal of communism, its history, and its basic and unchanging concepts-even its secret timetable of conquest.”