Filmmakers and stars in the new documentary “Letter to the American Church” argued Tuesday that there is a clear reason why leftists hate Christianity: Because it repels Marxism like “kryptonite.”
Following a screening of the movie at Dream City Church’s Strong Church Conference, in Phoenix, Turning Point USA CEO Charlie Kirk led a panel discussion with Eric Metaxas, whose book of the same name the documentary is based on, and author James Lindsay.
All three appear prominently in the film, which is a call for Christians to take action to save American culture and its citizens’ freedom. Turning Point USA is one of the producers of “Letter to the American Church.”
The book and film both point to the 1930s in Nazi Germany, when the church stood to the side and allowed the rise of Adolf Hiltler’s National Socialist German Workers’ Party.
In the present time, socialism and Marxism are vying to take control of the United States, Metaxas, Lindsay and Kirk said.
“Lincoln called America the last, best hope of Earth. He understood as well as the Founders did, that God had appointed this nation for God’s purposes in history,” Metaxas said.
“And as America goes, so goes the world. And as the American church goes, so goes America. So if you are a Christian, you’re part of the American church. The Lord has appointed you to play your part now for his purposes in history,” he continued. “But if the church does not stand up and act, it’s over.”
Lindsay, who has written several books about the influence of Marxism in America, agreed.
“If the church doesn’t find its feet and take its stand, then America is in a very, very unlikely situation or probably is just lost to be able to stop this,” he said. “The church …[is] the last bulwark, cultural bulwark [to prevent the] falling off the cliff that cultural Marxism or western Marxism is trying to take us to.”
“There is nothing in the world like Christianity that repels an ideology like Marxism,” Lindsay contended. “It is the best repellent that there is. But it has to be, as we understood. It has to be loved, and it has to be spoken and proclaimed and stood for and defended. And if it’s not, if the church falls or the church is … subverted from within, then it’s over.”
Kirk asked, why is it Christianity seems to be “the kryptonite of this ideology that is taking over the planet?”
“Christianity offers repentance and forgiveness,” Lindsay said. “This is absolutely crucial. Every single individual, not a collective.”
“This church can’t repent and be forgiven, and everybody is now forgiven. You have to decide individually. So individualism against collectivism is rooted in Christianity,” Lindsay explained.
“When you said kryptonite, there is nothing on Earth that is more repellent to the envy-driven, laziness-driven, hate-driven motivations of a collectivist ideology than individual repentance and forgiveness. Nothing,” he added.
Kirk agreed.
“The word in Hebrew for prosecutor is Satan. Satan never lets you go of your sin. Marxism is built on the relentless taunting and capturing that you are forever identified by your mistakes, by your group. The Cross liberates you from that. The price that Jesus paid gives us a whole new identity,” he said.
“So Marxism needs to say, well, ‘You’re a white person. You’re always going to be in your identity as an oppressor or whatever thing you might have done. There is no redemption. There is no tomorrow. There is no better life ahead of you. There is no free society.’ And so what Christ did for all of us is the only way that we can go up against this satanic doctrine,” Kirk added.
Metaxas concurred: “What you’re saying is, it’s a curse when somebody says, ‘You will never change. You cannot change.’ It’s a satanic curse, right?
“You’re damning someone, you’re cursing someone,” he continued. “And that is at the very heart of woke doctrine … to curse people, to say, ‘You can never be better. You will always be racist. America will always be a racist country.’ These are curses.”
Metaxas exhorted, “And so we have to counteract it by speaking the truth of God. And that’s the job of the church in this season.”
And if the church succeeds, “We’re going to see things that most of us have never dreamt of seeing in America. We’re gonna see revival and reformation,” Metaxas predicted.
The documentary “Letter to the American Church” is available for streaming and is being screened around the country.
Learn more here.
Watch an interview Metaxas conducted with the film’s creators Rachel Tash, formerly with Sony Pictures, and Simone Alex above.
