- -

Malcolm Muggeridge

Journalist, essayist and social commentator, Malcolm Muggeridge, became a Christian late in life. As a young man, however, he was an idealistic communist/socialist enthusiast and proud admirer of the Soviet model and Utopian vision. He was a committed atheist through and through.

But as he grew older, he also grew wiser. He began to realize that hard-left liberalism’s ideology was flawed and its program essentially bankrupt….and wickedly so. He came to realize that any political ideology that proudly denied the reality of man’s fallen condition (ie., his sin nature and spiritual separation from God) was doomed to brutal and bloody failure.

He understood that any system that depended upon “enlightened” Humanism for its success would eventually crumble under the weight of its own false premises, intrinsic contradictions and mass confusions, and then would devolve further through indoctrination, coercion, intimidation, force, and terror. He recognized that an ideology unhinged from revealed Truth and reality would eventually grind to a very messy, painful, and power-hungry halt.

Big Brother with a nihilistic club.

As Muggeridge (after his conversion to Christianity) elaborated to an interviewer:

George Orwell, author "1984"

“[I]n "1984," all that business about Newspeak and doublethink is beautifully done. And it is the kernel of the whole thing….the terrorism and the fact that you drift into a situation in which people are in power with no program except to remain in power, which is very much the state of affairs that's come to pass. The people in the Kremlin at this moment are not in power because they've got plans to do this or the other thing. All they want is a policy which will enable them to stay in power….. I believe that this is how posterity will see it. We are a generation of men who have become completely captivated and caught up in false images. Television and all these things are splendid instruments for keeping them going. Splendid. And I would say that the collapse of Western civilization will be much more due to that than to anything else……Children who grow up now have been looking at television and hearing the voice of the consensus, and they know nothing else. So I can't myself believe that there's any escape from this, except that the whole show will blow up sometime or other.”

Muggeridge saw the Orwellian writing on the wall forty years ago.

Newspeak
-the fictional language in the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, written by George Orwell. It is a controlled language created by the totalitarian state as a tool to limit freedom of thought, and concepts that pose a threat to the regime such as freedom, self-expression, individuality, and peace.

Doublethink
-the acceptance of or mental capacity to accept contrary opinions or beliefs at the same time, especially as a result of political indoctrination.

O, Big Brother, Thou Art Worthy!

In the Iv’ry Tower’s shadow,
We, at last have found our groove…
Or, well,…. It’s a drift we’re proud of.
Nineteen Eighty-Four approved!

Yes, we’re loving you, Big Brother…
‘Cause, at last we’ve seen the light!
And we thank you for correcting
What in us just wasn’t right.

We appreciate The Vision
And the Newspeak you’ve instilled,
Glory! Mass produced consensus!
Now we’re feeling Self-fulfilled!

What a blessing!...What an honor!
Yes, Big Bro, we’re tickled pink…
We’re Proud Pilgrims making progress
In the Land of Doublethink!

Now we’re Green and getting Redder…
Just The Way things ought to be!
You (and Mother Nature) teach us
We should always “Just agree!”.

We’re adept at psycho-Babel,
Yes, we’ve got all that down pat!
It is Healthy Mass Confusion,….
And we’re comfortable with that.

We’ve repented of all evil
That’s existed in the past ,
The impurities of hist’ry
We’re correcting now…at last!

We appreciate your patience
And the cleansing we’ve been through…
Yes, Big Brother, we are grateful
For creating us anew!

We can sense the New Day dawning!
Like, we know how much you care!
All we needed was some prodding
Toward Utopia that’s “fair”.

Please, increase this Faith within us,
Give us Hope that Marx the spot!
O, Big Brother, thou art worthy…
We are grateful, like,…..a LOT!

When a nation or a people
Disregards the Word of God,
It won’t take long to discover
That the word is “Ichabod!”

When a nation or a people
Disbelieve the Garden Fall,
Rest assured, they’ll miss the message
Of that writing on the wall.

Lord, have mercy please upon us!
Give us Grace to turn around…
Father, take us up to Calv’ry
Where the lost, Lord, may be found.

Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.
—Proverbs 16: 18