Left-wing ideology poses a significant threat to Christian beliefs, aligning closely with principles that oppose the knowledge of God. Just as Satan worship is considered evil, left-wing ideology stems from the same root and is even more dangerous because it permeates every dimension of our society.
“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”
2 Corinthians 10
Through this article, I hope to expose the left-wing ideology, which opposes the knowledge of God, and make it obedient to Christ.
Defining Left-wing ideology
Left-wing ideology is a worldview that identifies inequality as the greatest evil. It perceives all societal problems through the lens of power differentials and structural inequalities. Believing that humanity is inherently good, leftists advocate for radical political revolution (as we will see below, the definition of revolution shifted to a more gradual cultural shift, thanks to the likes of Gramsci) to achieve a utopia free from inequality. This vision often entails dismantling family structures, religion, and private property to eradicate all forms of discrimination.
Why Left-Wing Ideology Contradicts Biblical Principles
So, why is left-wing ideology considered non-biblical? There are several reasons:
- Affirmation of Personal Property: The Eighth Commandment, “You shall not steal,” underscores the importance of personal property. Unlike other ancient societies that viewed property communally, the Bible introduces the revolutionary concept of individual ownership.
- Condemnation of Covetousness: The Tenth Commandment warns against coveting others’ possessions. Left-wing ideology’s fixation on eliminating inequality often stems from envy and jealousy, violating this commandment.
- Acceptance of Distinctions: While all humans bear God’s image and have equal worth, the Bible acknowledges necessary distinctions in wealth, honour, and power. The Parable of the Talents illustrates that even in heaven, differences will not only exist but be magnified to the extreme. Conversely, the only place devoid of distinction is hell.
- Only Jesus can realise Utopia: The Bible teaches that only Jesus can bring about the Millennial Kingdom by “making all things new” (Revelation 21:5); left wing activists (both within and without the Church) believe that humans can bring about the Utopia through their own efforts (the technical term is to “immanentise their eschaton”). In this way, everyone is obsessed with eschatology.
- Dignity of Personal Responsibility: God grants us free will and expects us to take full responsibility for our choices. Proverbs teaches that laziness leads to poverty, and the New Testament says those unwilling to work should not eat.
- Impartial Justice: Leviticus 19 instructs us not to show partiality, even to the poor, establishing the rule of law. Left-wing concepts like “social justice”, “environmental justice”, and “reproductive justice” distort this principle by introducing biases contrary to biblical justice.
Common Sense vs. Ideology
Conservative values aren’t an ideology but common sense principles valuing hard work, honesty, integrity, and the preservation of family, faith, and property. We recognise our inherent dignity and the responsibility that comes with free choice. Leftists label these principles as “capitalism” to portray them as a harmful or dangerous ideology, but instead they are foundational truths.
The Danger to Future Generations
Left-wing ideology is particularly dangerous for children because it instills a victim mentality that hinders personal growth. I teach my sons the following: “You are victims of these three things only: your own laziness, your own ignorance, and your own wrong choices. Do your best with what you have been given now.” Emphasising personal responsibility empowers them to make the most of their circumstances.
Roots in Ancient Heresy
Modern left-wing ideologies trace back to ancient Gnosticism, a heresy warned against by the Apostle John (look up books/works by Eric Voegelin). Gnostics denied Jesus came in the flesh, believing the physical world was evil and the God of the Bible was an inferior deity. They promoted androgyny, opposing the biblical distinction between male and female. Today’s radical movements reflect these Gnostic beliefs, challenging God’s created order.
The serpent’s lie in Eden—“You will be like God”—mirrors left-wing ideology’s promise of utopia through human effort. This parallels Satan’s rebellion and underscores the spiritual danger of embracing such beliefs.
A Crash Course on Neo-Marxism
To briefly trace the history of Marxism in 20th century: After the Russian Revolution failed to spread throughout Europe, Marxist intellectuals gathered in Frankfurt, Germany in the 1930s, giving birth to the Critical Theory of the Frankfurt School (these later migrated to Harvard and thus begun their 100-year total conquest of the Western academia). While traditional Marxism simply divides humanity into two classes (bourgeoisie and proletariat) along the economic axis, Critical Theory divides humanity along multiple axes, such as gender, sexual orientation, race, etc., and interprets the world through the lens of the oppressed and the oppressor classes. This worldview does not recognise individual uniqueness and dignity as bearers of God’s image but rather interprets humanity solely through the lens of various group identities (gender/race/sexual orientation, etc.) and sees them solely as victims of external and systemic “inequality/injustice.”
Gramsci and the “War of Position”
An influential figure in this shift was Antonio Gramsci, an Italian Marxist philosopher and communist politician. Gramsci recognized that the expected proletarian revolution was not occurring in advanced capitalist societies as Marx had predicted. He introduced the concept of cultural hegemony, arguing that the ruling class maintains control not just through economic dominance but by shaping society’s cultural norms and values. Gramsci advocated for a “war of position”, where Marxists would gradually infiltrate and influence key cultural institutions—such as education, media, and religion—to shift societal beliefs and achieve ideological dominance. This strategy aimed to transform society from within, making a violent revolution unnecessary. Gramsci’s ideas significantly impacted leftist movements, leading to a gradual cultural shift that has profoundly influenced societies worldwide.
All organisations that are not actually right-wing will over time become left-wing.
O’Sullivan’s First Law
Leftism in the US
In the United States, a form of cultural Marxism known as critical race theory (CRT) has been systematically incorporated into the public consciousness and into the school curriculum, causing a generation of young people to become ensnared in victimhood and a defeatist mindset, leading them to a path of self-destruction (e.g., a drastic increase in homelessness and shoplifting in cities like New York and California). During the nationwide BLM riots of 2020, Democratic politicians and the corrupt mainstream media consistently endorsed these actions, further fuelling their Leftist narrative.
The Appeal of Leftism to the Youth
So, why do so many people, including many believers, prefer and follow left-wing ideology? I have pondered this question for a long time and found an answer: it all begins in the family. In a family, parents have absolute authority over children and provide for all their needs equally until they grow up. If you simply extrapolate this paradigm to the society, it might seem like left-wing ideology is the way forward. Since this “equality” is all we have experienced as children, we come to expect the same in the greater society, and agree with leftist ideology that calls all inequality as inherently evil. Some people, not willing to grow out of the paradigm of absolute parental authority and needs-based equal distribution of wealth, may even end up turning to the government as a substitute for their parents, thus falling hard into left-wing ideology.
The Role of Government
Is the government to be viewed as our parent? The Bible teaches that our ultimate provider is God, not the state. Romans 13 and 1 Timothy 2:1–2 outline the government’s role in maintaining order and justice, not in acting as a parental figure. In reality, we live in a world where the state overreach has gone way beyond public order law enforcement, with the forced redistribution of wealth through excessive tax policies etc. Christians should respect the law but remain cautious of government overreach, especially when it seeks to replace God in our lives.
Satanic origin of Leftist Ideology
As mentioned earlier, various forms of contemporary left-wing ideologies can trace their roots back to ancient Gnosticism. Ancient Gnostics taught that the God of the Bible (the LORD, the creator of the physical universe) is an evil god called the Demiurge, and that a higher divine feminine entity (Sophia or Gaia) exists, who took on the form of a serpent and gave Adam and Eve true knowledge (enlightenment). This cult of Gnosticism even advocated androgyny, the idea that a single individual possesses both male and female characteristics, as they believed that the separation of the sexes (creating Eve out of Adam’s ribs) was the greatest evil act of the Demiurge. Thus, the modern radical transgender movement is simply a modern expression of this ancient Gnostic belief system. It really is as ancient as Genesis chapter 3.
Moreover, the lie told by the serpent, “You can become like God”, lies at the core of left-wing ideology—the belief that we can achieve utopia through our own power. Thus, left-wing ideology is essentially Satanism. It is no surprise that one of the core tenets of Leftist agenda is the Climate Cult obsession with carbon emissions etc (Here I am not talking about the traditional “Environmentalism 1.0” that seeks to be faithful stewards of our immediate natural ecosystem/environment for human flourishing). See here for more details.
Misguided Theological Interpretations
Claiming, “I’m neither left-wing nor right-wing; I’m a centrist,” is just as foolish as saying, “I believe in both God and Satan.” Unfortunately, today, there are too many moderate/left-leaning theologians. They distort the gospel to fit their skewed agenda, suggesting that Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection were primarily about social justice, aimed at restoring justice to the oppressed and marginalised in society. They claim that Jesus’ redemptive work was not only about salvation from sin but also about rectifying this world’s disease, poverty, and injustice. This is a gross misrepresentation of the Bible, as the Bible makes it abundantly clear that Jesus came to save us from our sins (Matthew 1:21).
So, according to these left-leaning theologians, did Jesus indeed come to this world primarily for the political salvation of oppressed Israelites? It’s impossible to even begin to compare our present society with the society of the Roman rule in Jesus’ time. However, why didn’t Jesus make any statements about “social justice” of Roman-occupied Israel, which was clearly full of oppression and structural social injustice? Instead, he preached, “If a Roman soldier compels you to go one mile, go with him two. If someone takes your outer garment, give them your inner garment as well.” In fact, Simon, one of Jesus’ twelve disciples, who had previously been part of the Zealot party, was seeking to overthrow the Roman rule through political revolution. Initially he wanted to use Jesus as a means for his political end. However, after witnessing Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection and experiencing the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, he abandoned his quest for a political uprising. Instead, he dedicated his life to preaching the Gospel to the ends of the earth, ultimately sacrificing his life. Therefore, it is bewildering to see some modern-day Christians, living in a vastly improved 21st-century society, falling into the trap of “salvation by the government” mentality and turning Jesus into a means for their utopian political revolution, just like Simon the Zealot prior to his awakening.
True Societal Transformation
History shows that lasting progress comes from the spread of the gospel and individual transformation through the Holy Spirit, not from political revolutions. The American Revolution of 1776, rooted in biblical principles of human dignity and freedom, is a rare example of a revolution leading to enduring positive change. In a way, the United States is the oldest modern nation, an extraordinary ongoing human experiment. The founding fathers, mostly Protestant Christians from England, established the Constitution upon the unchanging Biblical foundation of human dignity and freedom, setting into motion the greater human experiment (see The Federalist Papers for more detail).
A Call to Discernment
Aligning with left-wing ideology is akin to embracing beliefs that oppose God. As Christians, we must reject ideologies rooted in envy, rebellion, and human pride. There is a concept in Stalinist Marxism known as “useful idiots”. It refers to individuals who support left-wing ideology without fully understanding its essence, contributing to and promoting left-wing ideologies. Let us not become “useful idiots,” unwittingly supporting principles that undermine our faith. Instead, we should stand firm in biblical truth, promoting values that honour God and uplift society, while recognising that our ultimate hope is in the glorious appearing of our Lord, who alone will make all things new.
