Hate: a difficult insight, but an insight

I recently acquired Paul Hollander's From the Gulag to the Killing Fields. In reading some of the first hand accounts of communist horror something struck me that is probably difficult to communicate or see or accept, but here it is...

The absolute hate that the communist forces manifested towards their victims made one eye witness sum up the whole movement as just pure expression of hatred. If compassion was shown to any victim the person showing compassion would be executed. That type of thing. It was their policy to inculcate hate. Mao did this, I recall from another book. I know this is obvious, but I'm trying to say that it was specifically hate that they were demanding from the rank and file. Hate the enemy.

The analogy has to do with how the Devil and his spiritual children counterfeit everything in the plan of God. This type of focus on hate reminded me of the difference between common grace ethics and consummation ethics. How we are to love our enemies now, but at the consummation we are to hate our enemies (or the enemies of God). If we love the enemies of God at the consummation it would be an act of rebellion against God Himself.

Can you see how that is being counterfeited in these totalitarian movements in the 20th century? They are doing it in the service of their false idol(s), counterfeiting that coming time when believers will do it in the service of God Himself.

To accept this, to see it, needs a strong faith in God and a good understanding of the plan of God, and real Holy Spirit-enabled moral discernment and discernment for what is true and what is false; also a very God-centered being that doesn't put oneself above God and pretend to judge God and His plan. - C.

ps- If you really want to see what this email [this was originally an email] is about read this summary of Meredith Kline's famous article on Intrusion Ethics.