{"id":5023,"date":"2014-02-13T08:59:48","date_gmt":"2014-02-13T08:59:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/?p=5023"},"modified":"2015-02-16T10:43:54","modified_gmt":"2015-02-16T10:43:54","slug":"lennon-and-lenin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cvm.org.uk\/blog\/50plus\/lennon-and-lenin\/","title":{"rendered":"Lennon and Lenin"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was thinking about the lives of John Lennon and Vladimir Lenin recently when I came across a trivia quiz where you have to decide if a given quote was said by Lennon or Lenin.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a couple of examples:<\/p>\n

\u201cGod is a concept by which we measure our pain.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThere are decades when nothing happens; and there are weeks where decades happen.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cCan a nation be free if it oppresses another nations?\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cA lie told often enough becomes truth.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

You can take the test and find the answers here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The quote that started my thought process was Lennon\u2019s assumption in 1966 that \u201cChristianity was in decline and the Beatles had become more popular than Jesus Christ.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Lenin, writing on Socialism and Religion, agreed with Marx that \u201dReligion is opium for the people. Religion is a sort of spiritual booze, in which the slaves of capital drown their human image, their demand for a life more or less worthy of man.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n

Here we are 90 years after the death of Lenin and 34 years since Lennon was murdered and Communism hasn\u2019t crushed religion and, certainly worldwide, Christianity goes from strength to strength.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m reminded of the words of Jesus when He told Peter that, \u201cI will build my church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

<\/div>