"The Naked Communist" Book Review

“The conflict between communism and freedom is the problem of our time. It overshadows all other problems. This conflict mirrors our age, its toils, its tensions, its troubles, and its tasks. On the outcome of this conflict depends the future of all mankind.”
–George Meany, President, AFL-CIO

A couple of weeks ago, I finished reading “The Naked Communist” by W. Cleon Skousen. (Fun fact: this is the 29^th book I’ve finished this year!) Now before you concern yourself with the title, allow me to explain. There are no naked communists in this book. J The book is an exposé on communism and the consequences of a socialistic government system.

We first heard about this book after watching the movie “Agenda: Grinding America Down.” (A movie I would highly recommend!) It took me a good while to finish the book because it is chock-full of amazing—and frightening—history.

The book follows the development of communism chronologically starting with its founders, Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It was shocking to read the personal history of these men. Their own families lived in dirt poverty as the men of the family shut themselves up to write out their ideas, when they could have been out earning a living to provide for their families.

The book then goes into the appeal of communism, the communist approach to the solutions of world problems, and a brief critique of the communist approach. The next few chapters are dedicated to unpacking the development of communism throughout the next several decades. It covers the rise of the revolutionary movement in Russia, communism in the United States, World War II, communist attacks on the free world during the post-war period, communism under Khrushchev, and the communist conquest of Cuba.

Perhaps the most frightening chapter is “The Future Task.” This chapter lists the 45 communist goals that existed when the book was originally published in 1958. It is sickening to realize how many goals have been met by the communists. For example, item number 26 says, “Present homo-sexuality, degeneracy and promiscuity as ‘normal, natural, healthy.’” On May 17, 2004 same-sex marriage became legal in the state of Massachusetts. On May 9, 2012 President Barack Obama became the first sitting President to voice his support of same-sex marriage. Item number 28 states, “Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of ‘separation of church and state.’” Prayer was taken out of the American public schools in 1962. These are just 2 examples of many contained in the book.

The last five chapters contain 5 vital questions and answers: What do the defenders of communism say, how does a people build a free nation, what is free enterprise capitalism, did the early Christians practice communism, and what is the secret weapon of communism? The answers to these questions are things that every human being who desires to live in a truly free nation needs to understand.

I was pleasantly surprised when I reached the last two chapters of the book, to see the strong spiritual emphasis. The bottom line of the book is that the best weapon against communism is Christianity. The author gives a list of all the teachings of the Bible that directly contradict communistic principles, with scripture references to back up his claims. It was quite a refreshing ending to a book on history!

After finishing this book, I have a much better understanding of communist propaganda tactics, the consequences of a communistic government, and the importance of fighting communism. This is a subject that I normally wouldn’t be interested in, but Skousen’s book has helped me realize the importance and urgency of fighting communism before it dominates the world. I would recommend that everyone 15 years and older read this revealing book!