Live Not By Lies

Title: Live Not By Lies: A Manual for Christian Dissidents
Author: Rod Dreher
Major Themes: Culture, Politics, Communism, Christianity, Persecution
Synopsis: Can people who survived Communist totalitarianism during the 20th century help today’s Christians know how to live with the soft totalitarianism that is coming to the Western world today?

About six months after the world was plunged into lockdowns by the virus which we don’t like to talk about, I was talking to my sister on the phone. She told me about a book they had just read, possibly with their church or maybe a small group within their church—I don’t remember—and she highly recommended it to me, as well. Live Not By Lies sounded very interesting and helpful, given the world situation, but because postage costs are so high and it was not available in a digital format at the time, I didn’t pursue getting a copy. A couple of years later, my husband heard about the same book in a podcast and wanted to read it, so I looked for it again. Still no way to get it digitally. Then, a week or two after that, I saw a hardcover copy advertised in a local buy/sell group. I snatched it up! One of my teenage sons read the book and told me I should…and finally I have read it. Wow. There is so much in this book, I’m sure I won’t retain more than a fraction of the information and ideas. It was well worth reading, though, and I’m sure I will be referring back to it later.

Rod Dreher began thinking about the issues he discusses in this book in 2015 when a man told him that his mother, a Czech immigrant to the United States, had told him that she was seeing the same progression that, in Czechoslovakia, had led to Communist totalitarianism. Rod began talking to more people and doing more research, which is presented here. Part One of this book, “Understanding Soft Totalitarianism,” describes what is happening in our world today as those who are promoting the progressive “diversity and inclusion” creed take control of government, media, and business. He describes the similarities and differences between this soft totalitarianism and the harsh totalitarian governments of the Communist countries of Europe during the years between 1917 and 1989. 

In part two, “How to Live in Truth,” Rod describes what people did to resist being consumed by Communist ideology, and how they supported others and kept the truth alive. One family’s experiences especially stood out to me, the Benda family in Czechoslovakia whose six children all remained in the Catholic faith when almost everyone around them gave up their faith altogether. Their story is really inspiring. Some points that stood out to me included not avoiding suffering; and not falling for the line of thinking prevalent today that the ultimate goal is my happiness and comfort. Another point that I know I will remember is the importance of never agreeing with or promoting a lie in any way—in our culture today, meaning this year, that will mostly have to do with things having to do with the “rainbow community.” Next year, of course, there may be some other issue. 

I’ll be mulling over Live Not By Lies for a long time. There is so much packed into this book that I can’t possibly remember it all, and may have to refer back to it from time to time. Every Christian who doesn’t want to live with his or her eyes shut to what is happening around us should read this book.

WARNING: Several times, horrific tortures used by the Communists are described.

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