Thoughts on a godless heaven
OPINION — New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani recently promised to replace the “frigidity of rugged individualism with the warmth of collectivism.” Warmth certainly sounds inviting on a cold day in New York. But before climbing under the blanket, it might be worth asking what is underneath it.
Collectivism offers more than an economic program. It promises belonging, solidarity and a society liberated from injustice. Progressivism adds a destination: a better world where exploitation ends, barriers fall and everyone shares in humanity’s progress. Who would not welcome such a future? It is the dream of an earthly utopia — heaven on earth.
But there is a curious paradox hiding beneath this utopia: it’s a heaven without God.
Christianity promises redemption, but not through politics. Human nature is fallen, and fallen humanity cannot redeem itself. Redemption requires God, not merely a rearrangement of human power. Government cannot manufacture the Kingdom of God.
Marxism claims a different story. Transform material conditions, overcome exploitation and humanity can achieve reconciliation here on earth.
Dreaming of paradise is one thing. Forcing everyone else to accept it is quite another. Who decides what this earthly paradise looks like? And what happens when some disagree? The utopian vision cannot accommodate those who refuse to embrace it. If paradise is to be achieved, resistance must be overcome.
When government assumes the power to redeem humanity, individual rights inevitably become expendable. Dissent becomes an obstacle to redemption. Coercion becomes a necessity. Oppression becomes a moral duty.
Under revolutionary communist regimes in the Soviet Union, Mao’s China and Cambodia, utopian ambitions accompanied repression and mass death.
A political project promising human redemption inevitably becomes a justification for human oppression. Compulsory salvation requires totalitarianism.
The problem with building an earthly heaven without God is how often the architects end up constructing hell instead.
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