WOF 532: The Suffocating "Warmth" of Marxist Collectivism

The Word on Fire Show - Catholic Faith and Culture

Brandon Vogt

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.9 • 5.8K Ratings

🗓️ 30 March 2026

⏱️ 46 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Welcome back to the Word on Fire Show. I'm Matthew Petrusek, Senior Director of the Word on Fire Institute and the host of the Word on Fire Show. Thank you for joining us. Marxism, unfortunately, seems to be making a comeback. Despite its economically disastrous, politically oppressive, and horrifically inhumane track record, the atheistic philosophy that produced the Communist revolution and eventually led to the deaths of tens of millions of people has wheedled its way back to the center of our political culture. On the surface, this may sound surprising: Since the fall of the Berlin Wall over three decades ago, few public figures have openly identified as Marxist, and Communist political parties have typically occupied the outermost fringes of political influence. However, Marxist ideas–especially in the form of contemporary identity politics–have not only continued gathering momentum beneath the surface in universities, NGOs, the media, corporate HR departments, and government bureaucracies; high profile politicians, including the mayor of New York, Zohran Mandami, and Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, now seem to be openly advocating for Marxist policies. So how did this morally and historically discredited ideology remerge in mainstream politics? Equally important, how should Christians and all people concerned with basic human rights and the common good respond? Here to discuss the dark history of Marxism, its contemporary forms, and how the Catholic Church has, and always will, stand against it, is Bishop Robert Barron.

Topics Covered

Links:

Word on Fire Institute: https://institute.wordonfire.org/

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome back to the Word on Fire show. I'm Matthew Petrucic, senior director of the Word on Fire Institute, and the host of the Word on Fire Show. Thank you for joining us.
0:08.0	Marxism, unfortunately, seems to be making a comeback. Despite its economically disastrous, politically oppressive, and horrifically inhumane track record, the atheistic philosophy that produced the communist revolution and eventually
0:22.1	led to the deaths of tens of millions of people has wheedled its way back into the center
0:28.0	of our political culture. On the surface, this may sound surprising. Since the fall of the Berlin Wall,
0:34.1	over three decades ago, few public figures have openly identified as Marxist,
0:39.3	and communist political parties have typically occupied the outermost fringes of political influence.
0:45.7	However, Marxist ideas, especially in the form of contemporary identity politics,
0:51.2	have not only continued gathering momentum beneath the surface and universities, NGOs,
0:56.1	the media, corporate HR departments, and government bureaucracies, high-profile politicians,
1:02.1	including the mayor of New York, Zoran Mondami, and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez,
1:08.6	now seem to be openly advocating for Marxist policies.
1:13.1	So how did this morally and historically discredited ideology reemerge in mainstream politics?
1:19.2	Equally important, how should Christians, and all people, concerned with basic human rights and
1:23.6	the common good, respond?
1:25.2	Here to discuss the dark history of Marxism, its contemporary forms,
1:29.1	and how the Catholic Church has, and always will, stand against it, is Bishop Robert Barron.
1:46.4	Bishop, welcome back to the studio.
1:47.2	Thanks, Matt.
1:53.9	So today we're looking at the re-emergence of Marxism in contemporary politics.
1:57.6	It's kind of a zombie ideology that never really seems to disappear.
2:00.5	But before we get into that, what have you been up to lately? Oh, lots lot of stuff. This time of year, you know, in the diocese, we had a wonderful right of election. That's the usually first Sunday of Lent when we are welcoming the catacumans and candidates who are coming into the church or into full communion. Last year, we set a record for our diocese. This year we topped that record. That's beautiful.
2:18.3	So very happy about that.
	...

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