Garaudy Tries Another “Rapprochement” – Folha de S. Paulo, March 8, 1970

by Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira

For the general public, an event now half a century old, such as the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, left deep and lasting scars. The sudden and dramatic fall of Tsarism, along with its aftermath of persecution and massacres, caused such profound trauma in the hearts of civilized peoples that even today, when communism is mentioned, most people think of those tragic episodes.

This connection between images becomes even clearer when considering that, over the past fifty years, the communists seem to have devoted all their efforts to preserving and even amplifying the universal panic they ignited in 1917. Everywhere, they have consistently fomented hatred, incited unrest, plotted attacks, sparked revolutions, and provoked wars. Even today, communism’s influence hangs over the world like an apocalyptic threat of nuclear annihilation. As is well known, none of this is accidental. It is fundamental to communist doctrine to justify violent methods whenever they serve or facilitate the victory of Marxism. As demonstrated in previous articles, intimidating opponents through fear aligns with the core principles of communist strategy.

All of this makes it completely understandable that, for countless people, the communist threat mainly lies in the potential for an explosion similar to 1917.

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As we’ve seen in other articles, claiming that the red danger is simply about violence oversimplifies the issue. In reality, communism didn’t develop mainly through bloodshed and massacres. At different points in its history, its leaders have had to compromise, smile, and make promises to lull opponents into a false sense of security and weaken their readiness to fight before striking. For this strategy to work, the communists obviously didn’t need wild demagogues or violent terrorists. Instead, they required smooth-talking indoctrinators who could find “common ground” to lure the adversary into traps. They needed subtle diplomats, some of whom infiltrated key positions in enemy countries, to achieve “Yaltas” of all kinds. They even counted on sympathizers among their victims to stir desires for more or less covert capitulations, like “give in some so as not to lose all.” By deploying this whole network during peacetime, with smiles brightening their eyes and blooming on their lips, communist leaders have accomplished more in the last twenty years than through violence.

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I have been discussing communist tactics in general. Unfortunately, I can easily support my points with a classic example.

This clear, classic, spectacular, and intense example can be observed within Catholic ranks. Neither Nero, Diocletian, Julian the Apostate, the 16th-century reformers, the French revolutionaries of 1798, Lenin, Calles, nor the Spanish Republicans have caused damage to the Church comparable to the confusion, disorder, and leftist shift that began among Catholics and has been worsening ever since the communists started their famous “politique de la main tendue” (policy of the outstretched hand).

Yes, in some cases, the enemy’s hand, deceptively extended as if it were a friend’s, can be far more dangerous than holding a dagger or a bomb. Communism has spread more through sophistry, infiltration, and hypocritical smiles than through violence. Its leaders have succeeded not so much by recruiting new followers but by blinding, dividing, lulling, and corrupting non-communists.

The fear-sympathy stratagem, a complex process I’ve described in this newspaper, is one of the main tactics communists use to achieve their goals by frightening and immobilizing their victims while skillfully attracting them.

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That said, we need to ask ourselves how far this clever spread of communism has extended beyond the religious sphere.

In other words, I wonder if a similar phenomenon is emerging among property owners and both intellectual and manual workers. I ask whether, if we pay attention, we might find in these different groups elements that, quietly for now, are playing a role similar to that played in the Church by Father Joseph Comblin and other Carbonari with French, Russian, or Brazilian names. Finally, I wonder whether, over time, these circles will not become as tumultuous as Catholic circles.

That’s how it looks to me. My suspicion increased when I saw on the news that a highly suspicious communist figure was “reaching out” to American capitalism in a sensational manner.

This figure played a key role in bringing communism closer to the Church. It appears he is now planning a similar move with comparable goals and methods against other areas of the communist struggle to dominate the world ideologically and politically.

This figure is Roger Garaudy, a veteran director of the French Communist Party, a shrewd expert on religious topics, and an eloquent and brilliant speaker.