November 10 marks 35 years since 1989, the fall of communism in Eastern Europe and so, we turn to the spiritual and moral side of the subject. Since on this historic date we abandoned communism as a form of government, he question that begs to be answered is: did we abandon it as a way of thinking?
Can a person have high morals if he denies the existence of God? Is atheism a denial of God, or a substitution of God for man? What does communism have to do with godlessness? Why does man readily believe in Darwin's theory that he descended from the ape, but not in his divine origin—i.e. that he is a creation of God? And what is the greatest test for modern man, who must decide whether he will save himself or allow for even more disastrous cataclysms to befall him?
On these and other critically important issues, we spoke with Adv. Viktor Kostov, editor of the site and NGO "Freedom for Everyone".**
In addition to November 10, the occasion for the interview with Adv. Kostov is the publication of "The Problem of Godlessness" (Issue No. 63 of "Freedom for Everyone") and the participation of Adv. Kostov at the annual international conference "Central Europe at the Crossroads" in Prague, October 25-26, 2024.
Novetica: On November 10, 1989 we abandoned communism as a way of governing. And as a way of thinking?
Adv. Viktor Kostov: An important distinction. Management and state power may have changed, but when you mold people and an entire society to think alike, only within the allowed ideologies, there is no way the mentality inherited from totalitarianism will not carry over into the future, which is actually our present.
My answer is -- partially. Just as we have remnants in the thinking of people and the representatives of power, so the controlling, totalitarian thinking, although very softened, is also present in the manner and behavior of people from the institutions. An indicator of this residuality is the fact that the idea is still held that the state, or rather the management bureaucracy, and state bodies bear the main burden for the future of the people and have the right to "rule."
There is very little understanding in society that not only the secular state government should "govern" society and the individual, but there are such, largely independent of the secular state, governments such as: church government, organizational government, family government and personal self-government. People and society are trained to live with the idea that "the state will take care," which, to one degree or another, is a denial of self-governance, a denial of freedom and initiative, and even, I would say, a residual form of slave thinking. This has changed with the fall of communism, and especially for younger people, but the root of this mentality has not been uprooted.
An example from the political system is compulsory voting. Recently, Bulgarian politicians spoke out in favor of increasing fines for people who do not submit to mandatory voting. This idea of forced voting is an ugly remnant of totalitarian communism – politicians want to force people to participate in the political process against their conscience, even when that non-participation is a statement against the political system and its corruption. The motive for such appeals is supposedly to reduce the influence of the bought vote, when in fact the proposal represents a bought vote in its essence - against the threat of a huge fine, you buy the conscience and political expression of people in favor of your understanding and the political system.
Novetica: What connects communism with godlessness? Is it aith?
Adv. Viktor Kostov: Communism is one of the purest forms of godlessness. The reason for this is the militant nature of the communist ideology. Godlessness is a negation of God, which does not mean a negation of the worshipful nature of the human soul and nature.
When a person says he does not believe in God, he is replacing that belief with "faith" in something else instead of the true God. Godlessness is the denial of the true, living God. Communism as a dystopian theory and tyrannical practice has godlessness as its ideological foundation. Communism is the diabolical reverse mirror image of the kingdom of God, which today is demonstrated by the followers of Jesus Christ and the Christian church, and in the future will be materialized in the Second Coming of the Savior. Not from the Christianizing institutions, but from the Christian church, which is the community united around the belief that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and Savior of mankind.
Communism promises freedom, equality, fraternity, international union of the proletariat, a bright future and prosperity, and in fact these promises are realized as terror, dictatorship of the proletariat, blood, revenge, lies, propaganda, censorship, wickedness, fratricide, greed, inequality, poverty and in general all manifestations of fallen sinful human nature. And this is because in the atheistic or godless ideological basis of communism, the main enemy is religion, belief in God, and above all, Christianity.
Novetica: What are the main conclusions from your participation in the conference in Prague? Has Central Europe chosen where to go, or is it still at a crossroads, 35 years after the fall of communism?
Adv. Viktor Kostov: Central Europeans do not wish to continue to be the target of policies by the "big powers" in the EU, Germany and France, and to be subject to leadership under the command of NATO.
The conference cannot make an independent decision about the geopolitical movement of Central Europe, in which Bulgaria is also included, together with Serbia, Croatia and other countries that we know rather as Eastern European. Although a significant event with over 250 participants, such as politicians, former and current ministers, parliamentarians from national parliaments and the European Parliament, economists, human rights activists and conservative-minded public figures, the conference, now held for the third year in a row, is only one marker in the awareness of the small, non-imperialist Central European nations in the direction of consolidating their national independence, seeking some form of unification among themselves.
The model of being between the hammer and the anvil of the West and Russia has historically been notorious for not being the most favorable for the smaller nations of Central Europe.
This year, Bulgaria was better represented - we participated with fellow human rights defenders, lawyers Vladimir Sheitanov and Milen Penev, and with the former we had speeches in the work of the conference. We were together with other younger representatives of civil society. But while the other countries had participants from their governments and administrations, Bulgaria was represented mostly by civil and human rights organizations. This shows how introverted the Bulgarian political thinking is and how slow the Bulgarian politician is to react to such important developments as the possibilities for cooperation with our neighbors and relatives in historical and cultural terms. At the same time, we can say that representatives closer to the people were the face of the country in the event.
But the consensus was that the EU cannot afford to impose culture, policies and newly invented "human rights" (such as sexual orientation) on the peoples of Central Europe without evoking associations of the totalitarian centralism of the previous communist regime. People who lived through the horrors and stupidity of communism are especially sensitive to the robbery of their rights and freedoms, but in a new way, with new means. In this regard, a freedom-loving solidarity is felt. But as I said above, statism and centralist thinking have not gone away from the Central European way of thinking even in such an open forum.
Novetica: You say that ungodliness leads to iniquity. Where is the Bulgarian society in this process?
Adv. Viktor Kostov: The drowning man who doesn't know how to swim and convinces himself that everything will be fine is in greater danger than the one who is drowning and calls for help. Godlessness leads to foolish individual, communal, and international self-confidence that inevitably leads to disaster.
I have a sentence that has been proven over time: "If you don't have it from the inside, it will come to you from the outside." If you have no morals, if you have no conscience, there is law. If you cannot control and master yourself, that is, manage yourself, make the right choices, someone else will have to manage you and choose for you. Lawlessness never goes unpunished. The idea of ungodliness or humanism is to deceive man that he can do whatever he wants, including living a morally reprehensible life, and there will be no consequences. But there are always consequences.
Novetica: What does it mean for a person to fear God?
Adv. Viktor Kostov: I will quote the Bible, from the book of Proverbs: "The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom." The fear of God is not panicky fear, but a deep awareness of the magnificence and superiority of the Divine Person and a sincere compliance with Him and His will as an absolute Sovereign, but also close to us.
Therefore, the description of God and His justice as, respectively, an evil tyrant and a sadistic pleasure in punishing his subordinates, is one of the many distorted ideas of modern man, insofar as he is willing to admit the existence of God at all. In fact, those who believe and spread lies about God have another type of fear, and that is the fear of punishment, because, as the apostle says, "Perfect love casts out fear, but he who fears has not been perfected in love, for in fear there is punishment."
Novetica: Where does ungodliness come from and what is its purpose?
Adv. Viktor Kostov: I somewhat answered the question above. But these are important, deep theological questions that concern not only the mundane, albeit news-laden, everyday life. It is not only about values, but about the essence of man, about the meaning of life.
Ungodliness comes from sin and fallen human nature. Man wants to be God and this is his delusion. This selfishness, however disguised under some noble causes and ascribed virtues, is man's death sentence. For the apostle Paul clearly states in his letter to the early Roman church that "the wages of sin is death."
The spirit of pride, the spirit of delusion, makes man want to sit in the place of God, as the devil did. And here we are not talking about some grotesque, distorted understandings of the spiritual world, with anecdotal horns and hooves, but about personal evil, which has its own organized world, which is completely bound up and affects ours in this direction - death, ruin and destruction.
Novetica: Why does modern man so easily accept Darwin 's theory (that we descended from apes) but finds it difficult to admit that he was created by God?
Adv. Viktor Kostov: Precisely because, no matter how irrational this is, one is ashamed to identify with God, because the whole world, the spirit of this world, inculcates the lie that to believe in God, in the salvation of the soul, in the resurrection and Jesus Christ is stupidity, a sign of low education, inability to face reality and an attempt to escape from reality. And all such accusations are intended to ridicule the faith.
Therefore, in an absurd way, man would rather perceive himself as an ape than as created by God, in His image and likeness. If you deny God and his standard of living and behavior, if you trumpet that "there is no God," the monkey-mongers get off easier. But there is a judgment, that is a fact, and then those who are now proud of being relatives of the apes will be ashamed before the whole world [when that day comes].
Novetica: You say that atheism is not a denial of the existence of God, but the replacement of Him by man?
Adv. Viktor Kostov: The denial of the existence of God is a fact, but it is only an apparent denial. The answer is also contained in the question. If God did not exist, then why is it necessary to so vehemently deny His existence?
Under communism there were entire institutes of "scientific atheism" and it was a career for some in their efforts to prove there was no God. When someone so furiously invests time, money, and effort to prove that there is no God, then clearly he is not having much success doing so.
However, man needs God simply because he cannot escape his origin. God is the Creator and we are the creation. Despite our rebellion and denial, He makes every effort to bring us back to Himself. We are the prodigal sons, and He is the Father, from whom we want to hide and run, but those who are wise and love life seek the way back to Him.
Novetica: Issue 63 [of your journal] draws an analogy between China's forced abortion policy (one-child policy) and voluntary abortions/sterilizations (part of people's "freedom" to dispose of their bodies). Why do liberal-progressives (pro-abortionists) declare themselves against communism - when the result of their actions is the same? Do they understand that they are on the same side - of communism? And that abortions are not progress, but regression for humanity, because it stops its reproduction?
Adv. Viktor Kostov: In fact, this mimicry of the spirit of tyranny, hatred of man and life, contempt for the human essence as soul and body and the rights of man to inviolability, dignity and life is the very proof that ideologies change, but the absolute standards of good and evil do not. And this is only one of the many proofs of the existence of God.
Abortions are a human sacrifice to the god of sexual immorality and depravity. At the same time, in some Western societies, groups are making enormous efforts to introduce into law and the jurisprudence the idea of a new "human right" - the right to abortion. This is absurd. The right to kill a defenseless life, the child in the womb, is a "human right"!? Only this example can illustrate to us how perverse is the human morality that a person creates for himself. Because for them it is clearly moral and even "righteous" to kill a child in the womb.
Any regime or group – political or ideological – that interferes with the birth of children in such a crude, violent way is satanic and misanthropic. Cloaking evil behind ideological euphemisms is an excellent means of blunting the moral condemnation of this undeniable moral degradation in society. This is not "freedom." It is cruel, murderous slavery.
Novetica: You say that godlessness is the counterpoint to truth?
Adv. Viktor Kostov: Because Jesus Christ is the Truth. Truth is not merely factually correct statements. Truth is also a Person. When man claims that he does not need God, that he does not need salvation and forgiveness of sins, this is a lie -- in a spiritual, metaphysical, but also in a purely practical sense.
In the First Epistle of the Apostle John in the New Testament, he states: "Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ?" Christ in Greek means "Messiah, Savior." This statement turns a huge part of humanity into liars. This truth is hard to bear, but if God is truly faithful and has given us a revelation of Himself, then we should expect His truth to be what we need.
Godlessness is often a foolish lie. One of the most prominent proponents of militant atheism and its lies today is Yuval Harari, a homosexual and professor at the University of Jerusalem. He claims that there is no God, that God is fiction, and that there are no human rights. If you cut open a person, Harari argues, you will see organs, but you will not see human rights. However, if someone grabbed Harari by the neck, I'm sure he would immediately change his mind and insist that he has a right to privacy, to life, and to dignity, even though, "if you cut him, you won't see those rights."
This simple example points to the arrogance and stupidity of these "deconstructors" of human personality and essence and liars as to who God is and who man is. Harari has books of his ideas [sold] in the millions and is an important figure in the infamous elite club World Economic Forum. And the naive take it seriously.
Novetica: Recently, someone asked me how can one tell the truth from a lie, and I told him that this can only be done by maintaining high morals and faith in God. Then this person asked me if this means that an atheist cannot have high morals?
Adv. Viktor Kostov: That's right - if there is no understanding of the value and freedom that morality gives, then there is no way to strive for such a standard. But there is a catch. An atheist can have high morals, of course. But this morality is actually an atheistic, false morality. It is simply invented by the atheist system and a semblance of morality, a semblance of absolute good and evil as defined by the Almighty.
Morality is a standard for distinguishing good from evil and living according to the good. Only God has the true standard of good and evil because He defines good according to Himself where evil has no formula for it.
What is true is judged spiritually. If you seek the truth and God you will find Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, who gave his life for you so that your sins may be forgiven and you may have eternal life. I didn't make this up, I'm just quoting the Apostle John and the New Testament. No self-righteous human morality can replace that sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross 2,000 years ago. It is weak to call it a "metaphysical solution to the human problem." His sacrifice is rather the culmination of the expectation of salvation from creation and the fall, and for over 2000 years the testimony of this salvation has been going around the world and whoever believes, his life changes because he knows the love of God, through Jesus, for him personally, but also receives a revelation of the victory of death and of the resurrection.
We can expect historic and earth-shattering events to come, because Jesus, in addition to being a sacrificial Lamb, is also the King of kings who will soon appear to visibly establish his rule. This is a prediction of Jesus himself in the Gospels of Mark, Matthew and Luke. The first apostles also write about this. These are eschatological questions, questions about the end of times that sound like fiction, but this is because of the poor knowledge of the biblical Scriptures and therefore the absence of spirituality that comes from faith, typical of modern man.
We should not confuse technological advances with human improvement precisely because technological improvements and the ease of material life allow us to think we are gods. We need salvation and a Savior. This is how we become true human beings and sons of God.
* The abbreviation "adv." is used in the Bulgarian langauge to dentoe "advocate" which is a term for "lawyer" or "attorney-at-law."
** The translation into English of the title of our publication, and organizaion, can be "Freedom for Everyone," or as we prefer, "Freedom for All."
The interveiw first came out in the website "Novetica". Consequently it was published on our Bulgarian langauge website "Svoboda za vseki." Link to the original here.