Is this Mid-Term’s Mix of Madness?
By J. Jeff Toler for Shenandoah Christian Alliance j.toler@sca4christ.org
- “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” John 14:6
Neo-Marxism repeats the same foundational errors Marx made, but only with a new cultural twist. Neo-Marxist thinkers admit that Marx’s economic assumptions failed, yet they refuse to abandon his deeper mistake: the belief that humanity’s ultimate problem and its hope for redemption lie anywhere other than in what God’s Word reveals.
The larger issue as I see it, is how increasingly irrelevant God’s Word continues to be for the culture writ large. While the situation is not entirely hopeless, it is becoming dire. Even if you don’t live in New York City, it looks like things there are going to get crazy.
Marx saw conflict between economic classes; Neo-Marxists see conflict between cultural ones. But don’t think for a minute they have entirely abandoned the class distinctions as we shall see. Where Marx spoke of capitalists and workers, today’s ideologues speak of oppressors and oppressed. And while Scripture condemns real acts of injustice—protecting the orphan, the widow, and the poor—Neo-Marxist thought replaces moral action with moral identity.
In this view, a person is not an oppressor because of what they do, but because of who they are. Identity itself becomes the offense. To be European, male, Christian, or heterosexual is to stand accused. Meanwhile, those labeled “oppressed” are urged to awaken to their supposed victimhood and join a cultural revolution.
Neo-Marxist ideas have seeped into nearly every modern institution—shaping gender ideology, fueling radical forms of climate activism, and driving the critical theories that dominate our universities and media.
Critical theory, born of this mindset, divides society into two irreconcilable camps: the oppressors and the oppressed. The oppressors, white men, European colonialists, the able-bodied, and Christians, are said to hold all the power. The oppressed, which means everyone else, must reclaim it by dismantling the structures of society itself: beginning with the family, and then the schools, government, and certainly the church. What once aimed to protect the vulnerable is now portrayed as the enemy.
This is not compassion; it is a revolution of resentment. Critical theory calls the overthrow of moral order “social justice,” but it offers no justice at all—only the exchange of one tyranny for another.
As always, the problem begins with a false premise. And when the premise is false, all of its practices must, and will, eventually fail.
Like communism before it, Neo Marxism, will collapse in on itself. The only issue up for debate is the amount of time that will be required for this version to end. If it ends in our lifetime, will there be anything left to rebuild, or will the kindling anger of the Lord finally flare up and put an end to it all?
Previously, in my essay from February 18, The Great Awokening, I wrote about “Cultural Marxism” referring to its definition by Voddie Baucham, with this observation, “Here is the problem though: Anyone who is not any or all of those things, is a minority. More importantly, they are a victim. In this scenario, neither oppressor nor victim can escape the struggle, both must struggle indefinitely. There is no resolution since these descriptors are based on biological absolutes. No strictly political conflict can alter DNA, melanin, or birthplace. Unresolved conflict inevitably results in civil war or revolution. The favored status of revolutionaries is always revolution, never resolution. To apologize for who or what you are, whether victim or oppressor, is akin to going into battle and just shooting yourself. [https://mailchi.mp/040f43dd39fd/can-pastors-save-a-nation-13348239]
That was what I wrote 4 1/2 years ago. Of course by now, the situation has become ridiculously more complicated and precarious. There is another dimension we might have thought was going to simply go away. Marxism, or at the very least a Marxist, has added an alliance to the mix.
Zohran Mamdani is running for mayor of New York City. He is expected to win handily, by double digits if we are to believe the polling. He is both a Marxist and a Muslim, if not an Islamist. While all Islamist are Muslims, not all Muslims are Islamists.
Zohran Mamdani
Should his religion be a factor in his politics? That would depend on whether he will adhere to the founding fathers’ ideas of liberty and biblical precepts, and how honest he is in how he plans to govern. According to one authority, David R. Henderson, writing for The Hoover Institution, he is not being honest. As for biblical precepts, we can dismiss that idea out of hand.
Anderson writes, “Democratic socialism can mean a lot of things. Unfortunately, one of the things it means to Mamdani, as he said in 2021 to a conference of his fellow members of the Democratic Socialists of America, is ‘the end goal of seizing the means of production.’ The good news is that in his campaign, he did not advocate seizing the means of production. The bad news is that he did then and does now advocate for other government interventions that will be very costly. I consider five: (1) higher tax rates on high-income individuals and corporations; (2) tighter rent control combined with subsidies for government housing; (3) an increase in the minimum wage, in steps, to $30 an hour in 2028; (4) government-run grocery stores; and (5) government-subsidized day care combined with a huge boost in costs.”
He continued, “How honest has Mamdani been in laying out his proposals? The answer is not very, especially on taxes.”
His tax targets are aimed at the so-called “wealthy.” These people are listening, and reportedly many are planning on leaving New York in droves. An answer to one “AI Overview” query about such an exodus says, “While NYC lost many residents between 2020 and 2023, the city added about 87,000 residents from July 2023 to July 2024, largely due to international migration. Do they already vote I wonder?
What does this mean for the rest of the country? After all, New York is but one city—albeit the largest:
New York isn’t important because it’s a big city. It’s important because it’s the financial capital of the world. America, and the world, would be negatively impacted by an ideologue like Mamdani if he manages to make good on his campaign promises.
His opponents have been unable to overcome his charisma because they are either, (A) very unlikely to win, like Curtis Sliwa or (B) have already proven to be both a corruptocrat and a liar, like disgraced former New York governor, Andrew Cuomo.
Admittedly, this election may amount to only a brief period of drama in the long running story of American polity and governance. But, it could just as easily be a precursor to an ominous trend. Even now, it’s still too early to predict.
As I have said many times before, these are interesting times in which to be living.
- “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.” —John 16:33
Photo by Luca Bravo on Unsplash
