Tea at Trianon: Marxism and Religion

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Saturday, January 4, 2025

Marxism and Religion

From Hillsdale College:

The ideas of socialism have a powerful pull on the hearts of men.” These are the first words uttered by Hillsdale College Professor of Economics, Ivan Pongracic, in our newest course, “Marxism, Socialism, and Communism.” Yet, this political philosophy that claims to be for the people has only ever caused immense harm to the people.
On the surface, socialism presents noble and good ideas. One of the goals of socialism is to create a level playing field for all people. Some forms of socialism go so far as to suggest that the goal is utopia—a perfect society. No poverty, no war, and no suffering of any kind.

But considering the socialist societies throughout history, it takes no genius to realize that socialism achieves everything opposite to that for which it strives. Mass poverty, incessant war, and immense suffering are its results. As Hillsdale College Professor of Politics, John Grant, poignantly puts it, “attempting to eliminate all evils actually means you have to commit terrible, terrible evils, and you never get to a better place either.” (Read more.)