I have just read one of the most sobering yet optimistic books of my life.
This work answers the burning question that many of us are asking: How do we stop this wonderful planet from swiftly collapsing into an earthly hell?
We must aim for heaven. We must aim not to contain or appease, but to decisively defeat evil. And by far, the most dangerous evil today is communism.
We must work with all other believers in Divine Providence to defeat evil in the here and now, to ensure that God’s purpose for this world is fulfilled. To regain Earth for good, we must cast aside our squabbles and unite with others of faith and goodwill. We have very little time, but good may yet prevail.
Thomas Cromwell is a British-born American journalist, a veteran of a quarter of a century of work in the Middle East, and the holder of a 130-stamp passport.
Cromwell takes a religious and philosophical approach to a very practical matter. That is, how do we preserve and enhance human liberty and dignity in the face of what many see are unsurmountable odds?
“History demonstrates that the forces of evil can be defeated and the sacrifices of so many in the struggle against evil may not be in vain. To achieve an ultimate triumph of good we can never accept the supremacy of evil. Rather we must keep in mind our God-given destiny to live as a human family in a world of goodness and keep pressing on to achieve that goal.”As a boy, growing up in the early 1960s in beautiful and peaceful New Zealand, a sense of optimism was the norm. The older generations had been through the Great Depression, and two world wars, but things were looking up. Our culture was positive and optimistic. Yes, there were many problems, but we knew we would overcome them. Nuclear war with the Soviet Union was always a threat, but even then, we knew that our older brothers the “Yanks” would defeat any enemy. “The goodies always win in the end” was a common phrase among my schoolmates. Quaint and corny maybe, but we absolutely believed it.
Even then, my home country was pretty secular, but we were still living in a Christian culture. “Godzone” we proudly called our nation—from “God’s own country.”
Even the atheists and agnostics among us had some sense of Divine Providence—a better future was almost inevitable.
We face a world today where a major war could break out at any time. The Communist Party of China and its allies in Moscow and Tehran have seized the strategic advantage over a weakly led America and a badly divided Europe.
The world balance of power is swiftly moving in favor of a new “Axis of Evil,” more powerful than any before it.
Human liberty is on the wane all over the world—even in the once “free” countries such as New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, Israel, and the United States.
Even freedom of speech—the most precious freedom of all—could be lost forever.
What if the “goodies” don’t really win in the end?
Cromwell traces the roots of our present troubles back to the earliest days of Creation—to Adam and Eve’s sons Cain and Abel.
Cain, in a fit of jealous rage, brutally murdered his brother Abel—a good and virtuous man. This first “victory” of evil over good has been echoing through every era, every civilization, and every culture, primitive or advanced, ever since.
Communism, fed by the vices of jealousy, envy, and malice, comes directly from Cain and his inspirer.
The progress and liberty that we have agonizingly and slowly managed to win over several millennia comes from Abel and his godly virtues.
Good men have fought Cain in every era and lost most battles. But they have been winning the war. Progress, however excruciatingly slow, has been made.
Cromwell lays it all out in fascinating chapters such as “The Origin of Evil,” which quite rightly blames man’s willful alienation from God. He traces the birth of civilization, the role of science, and the continual sabotage by Cain’s ever-present henchmen.
His book brings us through history to the modern era, where we have seen an incredible increase in material prosperity coupled with an ever-increasing separation from God. Free men have grown arrogant and complacent, and that has given the Devil his opening.
In an age where man should be enjoying general material abundance and the spread of liberty across the globe, we face a resurgent communist movement that threatens to destroy us—a specter that could drag us down into a Dark Age like we have never seen.
Imagine, if you dare, a global North Korea with American surveillance technology.
But as Cromwell consistently tells us, the answer is right in front of us.
All who believe in God and goodness must unite against the communist evil. We must show the courage that only faith can give us to smite down this foulness once and for all.
The greatest victories come from the darkest times, because that’s when good men get off the fence and commit themselves to truth and virtue. Then and only then may we hope for the triumph of Divine Providence.
Cromwell has written a great book for our time. This is a guide to navigate the darkness and to push through and beyond the evil around us.
Cromwell is an optimist, and after reading his book, so am I. With courage, faith, and God’s providence, we can not only defeat communism in all its corrupt manifestations but also usher in a new and great era of goodness and godliness. We may never see heaven on Earth, but we can apply divine principles to make this amazing world even better. I’m sure our as yet unborn grandsons and granddaughters will thank us for our efforts.
‘The Triumph of Good: Cain, Abel and the End of Marxism’ Thomas Cromwell East West Publishing; Dec. 17, 2021 Paperback: 560 pages
