A Warning Every Christian Needs to Hear about the Revival of Marxism

Audio By Carbonatix

A few weeks ago, someone commented that a Colson Center What Would You Say? video, entitled “Am I On the Wrong Side of History?” falsified the crimes that were committed by Communist regimes. In a way, the critic was correct. The video only mentioned 94 million casualties of the Communist governments. According to the Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation, the actual number was much higher.  

Though Marxism has inflicted unparalleled harm on humanity, many today, particularly young people, still want it. In July, the Minnesota Democratic Party endorsed Omar Fateh to be the next mayor of Minneapolis. His self-described “Democratic Socialist” agenda foreshadowed the rise of Zohran Mamdani, a leading candidate to be the mayor of New York City. Though Fateh’s endorsement was later revoked with accusations of “irregularities” at the convention, the mere fact that he made it that far is cause for alarm. 

These young politicians did not come out of left field (pun intended). Socialism and Marxism continue to gain traction today, particularly among people too young to remember the twentieth century. They are not old enough to have seen the Berlin Wall come down, or witness the victims of “Democratic Socialism” fleeing to the West, or to have heard stories about how bad things were in the “workers’ paradise.”  

Instead, they’ve been taught in school and on social media a different set of causes for the problems of modern society. A recent post on X declared, “You don’t hate Mondays … you hate being exploited by capitalism.” This is silly, of course. Any study of economic growth shows that prosperity increases in step with free markets. But still, many fall for it. 

Lucy Biggers used to be one of them. She worked for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and believed the New York Congresswoman to be a more attractive Bernie Sanders with social media savvy. In a recent article in The Free Press, Biggers explained how young people are taught to blame all of life’s problems on capitalism. “[M]ost of them,” she said, “don’t have any idea that they are supporting horrible ideas that literally ruin civilization.” 

The false promises of Marxism are compelling. Utopias always are. But, as Os Guinness said recently in the Truth Rising documentary, there’s always a gap between the utopia that is promised and the reality that is achieved. Throughout history, that gap is filled by violence, as those in power seek to force the world they envision. Marxism, when applied, is state-sponsored oppression in the form of technocratic rule. Which is why Marxism has been responsible for the worst crimes in human history, though all in the name of a good cause.  

When Vladimir Lenin came to St. Petersburg in April 1917, he preached “Peace, Land, and Bread!” What the people actually got was war, tyranny, and famine. In his short time in power, millions starved, millions more were killed in the civil war, and the rest lost what little freedoms they had, all in the name of “the Revolution!” 

Between taking control in the 1920s and his death in 1953, Joseph Stalin slaughtered an estimated 20 million people. In what’s come to be known as the Holodomor, two million died in Ukraine from his forced collectivization campaigns of the 1930s. The survivors lived in fear. His paranoid tyranny was mocked recently in the dark comedy, “The Death of Stalin.” 

China under Mao Zedong recorded the most deaths. He killed somewhere between 45 and 65 million of his own people. Forty million died just between 1958 and 1962, victims of the deeply flawed economic policy known as The Great Leap Forward. His “Cultural Revolution” enshrined the worst kinds of intolerance, suppression, and torture imaginable. 

Everywhere Marxism has been tried, the story is the same. Between 1975 and 1979, Pol Pot murdered as many as three million Cambodians, or 25% of their entire population. The Ethiopian famine of the early 80s was the result of flawed Marxist practices. From the thousands of students killed at Tiananmen in 1989 to the 2020 suppression of protests in the once free city of Hong Kong, China’s Marxism always returns to tyranny. 

Marxism is the embodiment of three well-used phrases: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions,” “Ideas have consequences, and bad ideas have victims,” and “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” It’s vitally important that those of us old enough to remember history share that memory with rising generations. The lives and liberties of millions depend on it.

Related Resource: Study the Book of Daniel!

What does it look like to live with courage, clarity, and conviction when everything around you feels uncertain? The book of Daniel tells the story of faith under fire—of ordinary people who stayed rooted in God while living in a culture that didn’t share their values. From exile in Babylon to lion’s dens and prophetic dreams, Daniel shows us that small acts of faith can anchor us in uncertain times. 

This 12-week journey will help you discover how to live right side up in an upside-down world—with integrity, trust, and unshakable hope. If this episode enables you to know and love God more, be sure to subscribe to the How to Study the Bible Podcast on Apple or Spotify so you never miss an episode!

Photo Courtesy: ©iStock/Getty Images Plus/artisteer
Published Date: September 15, 2025

John Stonestreet is President of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, and radio host of BreakPoint, a daily national radio program providing thought-provoking commentaries on current events and life issues from a biblical worldview. John holds degrees from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (IL) and Bryan College (TN), and is the co-author of Making Sense of Your World: A Biblical Worldview.

The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of CrosswalkHeadlines.

BreakPoint is a program of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview. BreakPoint commentaries offer incisive content people can't find anywhere else; content that cuts through the fog of relativism and the news cycle with truth and compassion. Founded by Chuck Colson (1931 – 2012) in 1991 as a daily radio broadcast, BreakPoint provides a Christian perspective on today's news and trends. Today, you can get it in written and a variety of audio formats: on the web, the radio, or your favorite podcast app on the go.