Moses Hess strikes again

"Marx and Satan" is a remarkably silly book, arguing that Karl Marx and other prominent Communists were actually Satanists. Not only that, they *literally* had a direct connection to the Devil. The author, Richard Wurmbrand, is an evangelical preacher from Romania, who at one time was imprisoned by the Communist regime for his religious convictions. His book is relatively well known (I heard about Wurmbrand already 25 years ago). If millions of people can believe in Hal Lindsey or "Left Behind", why not claim that Marx was literally in league with Satan? Christian fundamentalists believe in even stranger things than this!

Wurmbrand tries to make as much as possible out of Marx' youthful poetry, written long before Marx became a Marxist. Apparently, young Karl wanted to write a drama similar to Goethe's "Faust". Faust, of course, sells his soul to Mephistopheles or Satan. Hence, there is a "Satanic" streak in Marx' poetry. Since Marx had just become an atheist, he also makes a provocative connection between his unbelief and the "Satanism" of Oulanem, the main character of the intended drama.

And this proves...what? Not much, expect that Marx' poetry is quite good! "Oulanem" could have become interesting, LOL.

At several points, Wurmbrand distorts the history of the Marxist movement to prove his point. Thus, he quotes Bakunin as proof of the Satanic nature of Marxism. But Bakunin was an anarchist. Both he and his followers were eventually expelled from the First International by Marx! This is common knowledge, but perhaps not to Christian fundamentalists? At another point, Wurmbrand claims that Marx really supported slavery in the United States! In reality, Marx supported the Union during the Civil War. The Marx quote is either bogus or taken out of context.

This brings me to the next problem with "Marx and Satan": its strange sources. Very often, the author makes sensational claims without backing them up. Thus, he claims that Stalin originally called himself "Satanashvili" in honour of the Devil. Source? None. At another point, Wurmbrand claims that the Communist leaders in Moscow carry out rituals at Satanic altars. This truly remarkable statement is taken from...a Russian Orthodox émigré magazine in San Fransisco! The poetry of young Marx is at least authentic. It goes downhill from there, a real descensus.

Even more disturbingly, Wurmbrand (who seems to be pro-Israeli) naively retells what seems to be anti-Semitic conspiracy theories. A rumour that Marx was a pious Jew praying in secret with phylacteries, is transformed into the claim that he was actually worshipping Satan. Good old Moses Hess is depicted as the real inspiration behind Marx' and Engels' Communism and break with Christianity. Moses Hess was both a Communist, a Zionist Jew, and a Freemason. (Yes, really!) Small wonder anti-Semites gleefully point out that Hess co-operated with Marx and Engels in the First International... The entire idea that Communism is Satanic and has something in common with Jews is common in Eastern Europe and Russia. Since Wurmbrand was a Romanian of Jewish descent, one wonders why he didn't recognize the "code words"?

In sum, "Marx and Satan" is an unreliable piece of conspiracy literature. It does have that typical "East European feel" of bizarre folk superstition, but it also squares rather well with the fundamentalist milieu in the United States. Of course, I didn't expect anything else. I bought this book just for the fun of it, to peek into the mind of the most philistine of anti-Communists. And no, I'm not a Communist. Besides, if the Devil really exists, a much safer bet would be to work through "Christian" fundamentalism... I mean, who would spot the difference?